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Large Format Printers Can Be Very Useful for Craft Work

Live Large with a Large Format Printer

Did you know that it is your printer, not your software, that’s the limiting factor to what size you can print? With most standard size printers, you are limited to a few preset paper sizes.

The maximum width is 8 1/2 inches. The maximum preset length is 14 inches; however you can get around that by using your software’s banner feature.

The problem with the banner feature is that it doesn’t print on one continuous piece of paper. You need to print, trim, line up and tape several sheets of paper together.

If you need or want to print in larger formats, you ought to consider a large format printer. Paper scrappers who love the 12 x 12 size scrapbook page but want to try digital scrapping, will be delighted with a large format printer.

Some of the big guys print up to 20 inches wide!

Large format printers do take up a lot of desk space, so before you shop around be sure to measure the available space. Hewlett Packard makes a highly-rated but moderately priced large format printer with a pretty small footprint: the HP DesignJet 130.

I personally am a big HP fan. After trying several others for my graphic work, I have always come back to HP.

The HP DesignJet 130 Large Format Printer supports paper sizes from 3 x 5.6 inches to 18 x 24.

If you purchase the roll feeder, you can feed page sizes from 4.3 x 8.1 to 24.6 x 63.9, or rolls of paper that are 24" by 50' long!

Large format printers can be a bit pricey. Don't despair if you can't afford one, most office centers, like Kinko's, usually have one. Put your work on a disk - call to see what formats they accept, the USB memory sticks are widely accepted - and let them do the printing for you.

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