Best Large Format Printer For Mac

Best Large Format Printer For Mac Rating: 3,8/5 1591 votes

The OfficeJet Pro 7740 offers full wide format printing, up to 22 ppm print speeds, ethernet and wireless connection, smart app functionality and an onboard 2.65-inch color display. It also has office-friendly features fit for a super high volume of print jobs. Bottom Line: The Canon imagePrograf PRO-1000, a 17-inch wide-format photo printer, churns out stunning photos with deep blacks and brilliant colors. We just wish it supported roll paper. Check out our current picks for the best wide-format photo printers on the market so you can share those prize-winning panoramas and Instragram photos with friends or hand them on the walls of. The best wide-format photo printers of 2018 Sometimes size does matter: The 5 best wide-format photo printers By Gannon Burgett @gannonburgett — Posted on October 1, 2018 - 1:02PM 10.1.18 - 1:02PM. HP OfficeJet Pro 7720 All in One Wide Format Printer with Wireless Printing Get it done like a pro with this wireless, all in one, wide format printer. The 4-in-1 large format design allows you to print up to 11x17 inches, and scan or copy any size document you want up to legal size.

  1. Best Large Format Printer For Photography
  2. Best Large Format Printer For Gis
  3. Large Format Printer Reviews
  4. Best Large Format Printer For Posters
  5. What Is The Best Large Format Printer

Tabloid-Size Printing..and Beyond

Once upon a time, there were two kinds of printers—letter-size ones, and bigger ones—and seldom did the two share much in common. Inkjet printers that could print bigger than letter-size were traditionally expensive, dedicated models reserved for professionals: graphic artists outputting poster-size media, or pro photographers fashioning outsize versions of their best shots. Meanwhile, the very largest models—'large-format' plotters, the big, roll-fed mega-printers you may see in passing at Fedex/Kinko's and graphics shops—were the province of architects and others who needed blanket-size prints for schematics and other technical output. These big printers had big prices to match their specialist bearings. And they still do.

In recent years, though, we've seen a trend toward incorporating limited support for oversize output into consumer and small-business inkjet printers. You won't be able to print poster-size 24-by-36-inch output on these models (at least, not on one sheet without tiling), but these models can do 11-by-17-inch prints (and in some cases, 13-by-19-inch) in small quantities.

The Occasional Oversizers

If we had to give this emerging group of printers a name, we'd call them 'the occasional oversizers.'

They're a mixed bag, and their dynamics change every time one of the major printer makers introduces a new oversize-capable model. But they're here to stay, as more and more buyers take a fling on these models and realize just how handy it is to be able to print to big sheets now and then. Best scanning organizer software for mac os. You no longer have to compress and shrink that complex spreadsheet to a single letter-size page, or tape together tiled sheets. And the ability to do a one-off giant vacation-picture print for framing is nice—and many of these printers listed below are very capable of fine photo output.

Pricing on these models varies a bit, but most of the all-in-one machines in the lot we've reviewed below range from $150 to $300.

One thing to note: We've intentionally not covered here professional and semi-pro, photo-centric wide-format models like the venerable Epson Stylus Photo R2000, Epson's various SureColor printers, and the Canon Pixma Pro-1, Pixma Pro-100, and ImagePrograf Pro-1000. These are really a separate class of printer altogether, with a whole different set of considerations around quality, sheer size, ink cost, and support for exotic art-minded media.

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If you're looking for the ability to output to bigger-than-letter-size paper stock every now and then, here are the main factors to contemplate.

Paper-Size Terminology

The most common inkjet 'oversize' paper is known as tabloid stock, or 11 by 17 inches. (The term 'tabloid' is also, at times, used interchangeably with 'A3,' but they are actually two different sizes, if functionally close; A3 measures 11.69 by 16.54 inches.) All of the printers we've rounded up below support at least tabloid printing.

Some of them, however, also support 13-by-19-inch media, or supertabloid. One example is the Epson WorkForce WF-7110. But note that tabloid and supertabloid printing are often referred to collectively as 'wide-format' output in the industry lingo.

Paper Handling

This varies widely, and it has a bearing on just how 'occasional use' your printer will be for oversize printing. Some models are best suited for printing a single oversize page once in a while, not churning them out in great stacks. That's because they feed the oversize stock, one sheet at a time, through a paper-bypass slot on the back of the printer. Conversely, models like the HP Officejet Pro 7740 have a tray or trays meant for pre-loading a supply of wide-format stock—which means much less babysitting for multiple-page oversize prints. (That Officejet, for example, has two trays that can each hold stock up to 11 by 17 inches in size.)

Best Large Format Printer For Photography

ADF Details

Some, but not all, of these printers here have an automatic document feeder (ADF) that handles scanning documents. Of course, that only applies if the printer is an all-in-one (AIO) model. Don't assume, however, that the ADF can necessarily handle all the same paper sizes that the printer can print; check out the details on the manufacturer's spec sheet. Some models may print to tabloid-size stock, but can only scan letter- or legal-size documents.

Also know that ADF functionality varies quite a bit. Some models can scan both sides of their source sheets automatically (a feature known as 'auto-duplexing'), others not. An ADF that cannot auto-duplex will require you to flip double-sided source materials manually to scan or copy both sides, and collation thus may be tricky.

Another ADF-related detail to keep an eye out for has to do with the scanning element itself. An emerging feature on higher-end AIO printers is the 'single-pass' scanner, which has a scanning element above and below the feed path. A single-pass scanner can thus scan both sides of a two-sided document at the same time, effectively doubling the scan speed.

Best Large Format Printer For Mac

Best Large Format Printer For Gis

The Importance of Connectivity

Large Format Printer Reviews

Wide-format printers, even occasional-use models like these, are far from the subcompacts of the printer world. Because their printer paths are by necessity at least 11 or 13 inches wide, you're looking at a printer that takes up lots of desk space because of its extra width versus a letter-size model. Look for built-in Wi-Fi (not always a given), which will give you the flexibility to place your 'oversized oversize' printer in a convenient spot without worrying about running Ethernet or USB cables to it.

Other connectivity features worth investigating include slots for flash-memory cards (if printing directly from camera-media cards is important to you) and a USB port on the front for printing straight from a tethered digital camera, a USB flash drive, or a hard drive. (That's in addition to the conventional USB interface that most inkjets feature.) Some models may support near-field communication (NFC), which implements a hotspot on the front or top of the printer, for wireless tap-to-connect printing from NFC-compliant mobile devices such as smartphones.

You'll also want to look for other support for printing from mobile devices you may own. If you lean Apple in the gear you own, you'll want to look for support for AirPrint; if Android is your tipple, support for the MOPRIA specification will ease printing from that Android tablet or phone.

Ink Cost Per Page

Here's where our reviews come in. These printers vary widely in price and intended usage, as do their ink schemes: the number and configuration of ink tanks, and their rated costs for each color or monochrome page. Business-centric models will typically have four ink tanks (cyan, magneta, yellow, and black), while photo-minded ones will usually add another tank or two. (These are often lighter variants of the three CMY colors, or a 'photo gray' for finer gradations in monochrome printed content.)

Printing full-page color photos on oversize stock with 100 percent ink coverage can drink down a lot of precious ink quickly, so examine our reviews below for more on the ink economics for each printer.

Best Large Format Printer For Posters

Best Wide-Format Printers Featured in This Roundup:

What Is The Best Large Format Printer

  • Brother MFC-J6945DW INKvestment Tank Color Inkjet All-In-One Printer Review


    MSRP: $349.99

    Pros: Low running costs. Good print quality. Prints, scans, copies, and faxes tabloid-size pages. Single-pass duplexing ADF. Three paper input sources.

    Cons: Super-tabloid support would provide greater value.

    Bottom Line: The Brother MFC-J6945DW is a wide-format color inkjet all-in-one printer that prints well and is feature-packed and inexpensive to use, making it an exceptional value for small offices.

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  • Canon Pixma TS9520 Wireless Inkjet All-In-One Printer Review


    MSRP: $249.99

    Pros: Excellent output quality. Prints borderless square and tabloid-size media. Has two 100-sheet paper input trays. Smart Home ITFFF enabled. Robust connectivity.

    Cons: Lacks NFC and Wi-Fi Direct. No automatic two-sided scanning. High running costs.

    Bottom Line: The Canon Pixma TS9520 is a wide-format printer that's rich in features and connectivity, and produces excellent output for low-volume homes and offices.

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  • Epson Expression Photo HD XP-15000 Wide-Format Inkjet Printer Review


    MSRP: $349.99

    Pros: Excellent photo quality. Prints borderless images from 4 by 6 inches to 13 by 19 inches. Uses new Claria Photo HD inks. Small and light for an oversize printer.

    Cons: Running costs a bit high. Prints speeds are slower than the competition.

    Bottom Line: The consumer-grade Epson Expression Photo HD XP-15000 Wide-Format Inkjet Printer produces output quality that's comparable with much more expensive professional models.

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  • Epson WorkForce WF-7210 Wide-Format Printer Review


    MSRP: $199.99

    Pros: Good overall output quality. Prints borderless pages up to 13 by 19 inches. Auto-duplexing up to tabloid-size. Supports Wi-Fi Direct and NFC mobile networking. Two large paper drawers.

    Cons: High cost per page. No USB thumb drive support.

    Bottom Line: The Epson WorkForce WF-7210 is a single-function wide-format printer that's fast and produces quality output, making it an excellent addition to a small office in need of printing pages up to 13 by 19 inches.

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  • Brother MFC-J6545DW INKvestment Tank All-In-One Printer Review


    MSRP: $279.99

    Pros: Good print quality. Fast. Prints, scans, copies, and faxes tabloid-size pages. Low running costs.

    Cons: ADF is manual-duplexing.

    Bottom Line: The Brother MFC-J6545DW is a tabloid-size color inkjet all-in-one printer that churns out good-looking output at a fast clip, making it a great value for small offices.

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  • Canon Pixma TS9521C Wireless Crafter's All-In-One Printer Review


    MSRP: $249.99

    Pros: Excellent print quality. Supports borderless square and tabloid-size media. Smart home ITFFF enabled. Robust connectivity.

    Cons: Lacks NFC and Wi-Fi Direct. Somewhat slow document printing. Lacks automatic two-sided scanning.

    Bottom Line: The Canon Pixma TS9521C combines superb five-ink photo and graphics output, smart home voice support, and a host of scrapbook-friendly features, making it a great wide-format AIO printer for crafters.

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  • Brother MFC-J5330DW Review


    MSRP: $199.99

    Pros: Competitively fast. Good overall print quality. Prints tabloid-size pages. Multiple connectivity options. Strong software bundle.

    Cons: Less-than-stellar graphics. Cost per page could be lower. Non-duplexing automatic document feeder (ADF).

    Bottom Line: The business-oriented Brother MFC-J5330DW is a capable wide-format, low-volume color inkjet all-in-one printer. It's relatively fast, and it prints fairly well overall, albeit with some flawed business graphics.

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  • HP OfficeJet Pro 7720 Wide Format All-in-One Printer Review


    MSRP: $199.99

    Pros: Speedy. Good text quality. Ethernet, Wi-Fi, USB, and HP wireless direct connectivity. Scans at up to legal size. Prints at up to tabloid (11-by-17 inches) size.

    Cons: Slightly sub-par graphics and photo quality. Not the lowest running costs in its class.

    Bottom Line: The HP OfficeJet Pro 7720 Wide Format All-in-One Printer is a good choice for small or micro offices, but it's worth paying a bit extra for a more feature-rich competitor.

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