Printer advise needed & Hello!

Geoff Vane

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Hello I’m Geoff and I’m new here.

I’m researching for an artist to find the ideal printer for a certain proces.

The artist wants to print like the risograph method. But for that in CMYK you would need two riso machines. This would be too big and too expensive. Overkill. Using these riso machines means you can fake the silk screen cmyk method. So what is the plan: design something on the PC. Either draw in C, M, Y and K separately or have work split by photoshop for instance. Then, print paper in overprint by printing each CMYK pass separately. So you would feed the paper four times into the printer. Not print in one go. I am VERY sure I read about doing this with a simple home color printer. I forgot how this is called. Maybe someone knows here?

The printer should have certain characteristics:
1. Preferably it would have an A3 flatbed A3
2. Print size A3 and A4 should both be possible without difficult tricks.
3. The ink quality should be pigment quality and last a lifetime (no dye)
4. The printing system is still a mystery to us: laser or ink-jet? The prints will be rough style. Cost effective is more important than precision but the result must last.
5. The printer must be able to process heavy paper like watercolor paper. Real art paper for traditional media. No special color printing paper if possible!
6. The mechanism and printing material should be able to take multiple passes in overprint. So no clogged heads, smeared drums or other overprinting problems.
7. Even though the printer is forced to print each pass separately, one still could choose for a printer that handles the paper internally with a multi-pass or one-pass mechanism. What is the best choice?
8. The ink should be refilled in the most cost effective way. Separate colors.
9. If the printer must be an inkjet, then please advise us on the right head strategy: heads on the cartridges or a head that stays on the printer. Clogging is a risk for a head in the printer but heads on the cartridge might be very expensive… Refilling heads on the cartridge seems best. Throw them away when they break?

I hope someone can point me to the name of the process and give me advise about good printers.
 

Ink stained Fingers

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I'm not sure to understand which difference it makes to print the colors in separate passes, but o.k. I'm much more concerned that a typical inkjet printer cannot assure the exact paper alignment across multiple passes with subpixel accuracy.
Most of the other points addressed vs. inkjet printers should not be an issue - printers like an Epson P600 or Canon Pro10s or similar use pigment inks, can handle a wide variety of papers, clogging is not an issue as long as a printer is used somewhat regularly, refill is possible or the use of 3rd party cartridges.
Papers should be tested if prints are o.k. but papers with a special inkjet coating excel vs. other papers with the black level and color saturation.
 

Geoff Vane

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Thank you ISF. The misalignment is part of the game. The printing will look rather rough. Think Hatch Show Print:
http://bit.ly/2iB38Tj
It's not such a problem is the printed colors look a bit filthy.
 

Ink stained Fingers

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so it's about poster printing - why should they get any better by printing the colors separately in 4 passes - you are not doing silk screen printing or offset or other techniques. If you are concerned about color saturation you need to use inkjet coated papers - other papers give you less color saturation, and inkjet papers are available in lots of specialty varieties - fabric, gloss, matte , baryt and lots of more surfaces. And if that's still not meeting your requirements you can look to large format printers with (eco)-solvent inks and other giving you even more choices.
 

Geoff Vane

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There is definitally a very different effect when you overprint solid cmyk layers. It's about art print that looks like poster print. 1/1 Print may be issued and that's not good when you create actual silk screen prints.

I will include some jet serigraphs.

bk_01.jpg
bk_02.jpg
want_detail.jpg
 

Ink stained Fingers

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the exact paper registration for repeat passes is not that precise, I don't think that's a domain for regular inkjet printers. There are companies specialized for that with the right equipment like here
https://www.maxartpro.com/serigraphy-spot-silkscreens

You may probably be able to do some of the effects digitally in Photoshop or alike and print on a regular printer the typical way, but that's probably not the quality level you are looking for.
 

The Hat

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I do a similar thing on my printers when a need extra colour bump on my posters, about 1 in 6 don’t register properly, but I find that acceptable...

I don't like the printers with the centre feed..:(
 

Geoff Vane

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Hello The Hat, this is what I mean. Could this be done with a laser or would it damage the drum?
 

Geoff Vane

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The examples I posted in this thread, have been printed with an ink jet. With the "serigraph" method.
 

turbguy

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I believe the real advantage to risograph is speed of reproduction and relative economy (per print). I don't see anything about your serigraph prints that cannot be accomplished in one pass through an inkjet (unless it's a tactile a characteristic)...what might I be missing?

If imperfect registration per pass is a non-issue (or perhaps even desirable), then the next largest challenge will be paper "warpage" in areas heavily saturated with inkjet ink. A follow-up flattening in a dry mount press after each pass might be required to assure warped paper does not contact the printhead during it's raster printing motion...

All that said. I have passed "previously laser printed paper" through the laser printer again, with no unusual effects, but YMMV. At least there's less "warpage".
 

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