Top 15 Best Large Format Printers in 2024

• HP Designjet T210 - Best for Overall

• HP OfficeJet Pro 7740 - Best for Budget

• Epson Expression HD XP-15000 - Best for Tight Space

• Canon imagePROGRAF TA-20 - Best for Durability

• Canon imagePROGRAF PRO-300 - Best for Professionals

Top 15 Best Laser Printers in 2024: Are you finding the best laser printer for producing high-quality documents quickly? Check out my recommendations for the ideal picks and buying guide!.

You can narrow your search by choosing the right type of product you need. 

Not only stopping there, determining the type of product that meets your needs well will also help you make the most suitable choice.

Aqueous Inkjet Printing

As the name suggests, this model uses water-based ink. The specialty of this ink is to deliver highly detailed prints. 

Because it uses friendly inks, the printer is also relatively easy to use and maintain. The advantages above have made aqueous inkjet printing the most popular large format printer today. 

You can use this device to print large format posters for trade shows. The most successful devices using this technology include the HP Designjet T210 or the HP OfficeJet Pro 7740.

Solvent Printing

The most significant advantage of solvent printers is that they produce excellently durable prints despite exposure to sunlight or other adverse factors. 

Because of this excellent durability, people often use solvent printers to print billboards, car wraps, and presentation graphics outdoors.

In addition to color fastness, this device also impresses with a reasonably affordable price. However, this does not mean that this method's models are without disadvantages.

Solvent printing is the technique that generates the most emissions. To use this printing technology, factories and offices need to have good ventilation.

Dye Sublimation Printing

Dye-sublimation printing uses special ink to convert the dye from a solid state to a gaseous state. The paint, after the transition, will quickly seep into the substrate. After cooling, the shade reverts to a solid state.

This method produces prints with vivid colors and incredible detail. But as you can see, the processing is quite complicated, requiring specialized dyes.

Latex Printing

With outdoor large format printing solutions, it is impossible not to mention the rubber printer models.

Devices that use this technology produce prints with excellent durability. 

More specifically, rubber printing is one of the most environmentally friendly methods by only using water-based inks of natural origin.

UV-Based Printing

UV-based printing devices use ultraviolet light to spray and directly solidify the ink in seconds. A common feature of prints with this technology is a bright, translucent appearance that is not completely dry.

Many major advertising brands worldwide have switched to using this printing technology.

The main reason is that genuine UV ink is more environmentally friendly than traditional products. 

The pretty good print quality and impressive longevity are also why this new type of printing technology is receiving more and more attention.

Top 20 Best Portable Photo Printers Of 2024: The best portable photo printer will help you not only print pictures but also documents anywhere. If you need one, check out the detailed guide below!.

After researching a bunch of information above, have you found the most suitable device model? Let’s continue to narrow your search.

Priorities

Identifying priorities is more important than you think. Questions you need to consider before making the next selection steps can be mentioned as follows:

Are you an amateur or a professional user? Do you have your printing process?

If you're inexperienced but still want to be able to print yourself, an easy-to-use wide-format device like the HP DesignJet T210 is perfect.

Meanwhile, if you want to improve your work performance, look for devices that possess many useful modern technologies.

Requirements

Printers, in general, often try to serve many different uses. But comprehensive format printer models are usually focused on helping a specific service. 

Therefore, your task is to accurately determine the device's ability to meet and compare it with your user needs.

Some areas that extensive format printers support include documents, murals, photography, and signage.

For example, the Canon TA-20 will best serve the needs of small businesses, while the Canon PRO-300 will help a lot for professional photographers.

If you don't have too much experience with this, you can talk to printer vendors and experts in the field.

Material

What's your printing material? Answering the above question will help you find compatible inks and supported printer options.

Some models of large format printers today are quite versatile, able to work well on many surfaces other than paper. 

Meanwhile, some products can work quite limited when only supporting printing on type, plastic, or acrylic.

Speed

Print speed is also an essential factor to consider when making a selection. In particular, if your workload is too large, you will need to prioritize products with outstanding print speeds.

Devices with impressive performance will have a relatively high price tag. 

 Considering your significant usage needs, the investment in a product that can print high volumes at high speed is entirely worth it.

On the contrary, if you do not have high requirements for print speed, a product with a medium yield will be a better choice for the budget.

Placement

Compared to traditional devices, wide-formers are larger and more significant than regular desktop printers. It would help to consider the available workspace to choose the right equipment.

If you have a limited workspace, look to compact devices like the Epson HD XP-15000. This device is 30% more compact than its predecessor. 

This model still contains an extensive tray with 50 sheets in the back and up to 200 sheets in the front. 

More specifically, the product also supports you to print wide-format up to 13''.

Also another issue to keep in mind is emissions. Some printing technologies release volatile organic substances.

These glasses can cause serious harm, especially in closed offices. To ensure worker safety, guarantee the equipment you choose is suitable for the setting.

Operator

Operation is a factor that many people overlook when choosing a printing device. However, it would be a mistake if you did not consider this issue.

If you are self-employed, you will want your device to be simple and easy to use.

Meanwhile, if you have a professional operation and support team, you won't want to sacrifice the versatility of your device. 

Instead, you should prioritize products that allow multi-tasking, including multiple print jobs and new functions.

Each product is aimed at a specific audience. HP Designjet T210 can deliver high-quality internal prints. Meanwhile, the Canon imagePROGRAF PRO-300 helps bring images to impress even professional users. The HP OfficeJet Pro is the best choice for cost savings.

So what are your best large format printers? I hope the above guidelines and information have been helpful enough to help you make an easy decision. 

Good luck with your investment, and get high-quality large-format prints.

In addition to the above essential criteria, you need to master a lot of information to choose and use a large format printer. Here is some critical information like that.

1. Is 4800 dpi Good for printing?

DPI is a term used to refer to print dot density, the amount of ink sprayed on 1 square inch.

4800 dpi is high resolution. A photo of this resolution will have incredible detail. Some graphic products often have a resolution of 4800 dpi, such as film negatives and slides.

Of course, in industrial printing, this number is not yet able to meet the large capacity of a manufacturing plant. You will probably need between 6000-8000 DPI for each one.

2. What is the difference between a plotter and a printer?

The plotter will receive the computer's command and automatically create the image on the page. 

Ordinary plotters are pretty expensive, while the efficiency is not too high.

The printer receives a command from the network and then prints the text or image. Printers are significantly more cost-effective than plotters, so it's not surprising that this device is quite popular.

3. Does higher DPI use more ink?

Larger DPI numbers don't use more ink. You also don't have to wait longer than usual when printing higher DPI photos.

However, with older machines, too high DPI often makes it tend to waste 1.5-2 times more ink than standard versions. At this point, its performance drops significantly.

4. Is 600 or 1200 DPI better?

In theory, the higher the DPI number, the higher the resolution, resulting in higher output print quality. Therefore, 1,200 DPI is a lot better than 600 DPI.