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Which Printer is Best for Putting Cardstock Through?
I have a couple of printers, but neither of them will print on cardstock. Does anyone have recommendations for printers that do a good job on cardstock?
I have found that the key to getting cardstock through (especially heavy weight) is to have a top load printer! My cardstock would NEVER go through my HP printer because it loads from a tray on the bottom. Heavy cardstock has a hard time going through the bottom loaders because it has to curl up through the printer. Mine wouldn't grab and just made a mess of my perfectly wonderful cardstock! So I bought a cheap (30 dollar) top load printer for my stamp room, dedicated for printing templates and even heavy weight PTI cardstock goes through like a dream!
I have an HP C6180 that easily prints SU cardstock (color, Whisper White and Very Vanilla) as well as Georgia Pacific 110# cardstock. I think it also prints the heavyweight white cardstock from TAC/The Angel Company but it's been awhile since I've printed on white cs I cannot be sure if I tried that (probably; it's my favorite white cs).
I have a Canon PIXMA (not sure of the model number but it's a couple of years old). It does feed from the top and I've had no problem with SU, PTI or Georgia Pacific cardstock.
I just this week was able to print on my PTI paper with my HP Photosmart C4680. I had to change the paper type to Matte Greeting Card, and the PTI Kraft cardstock went right through. And mine is a front loading printer. You might want to try changing the paper type and see if it helps. There are a few of us that tried this and were successful!!
I have the HP C4480 and have had no problems with GP white cardstock. I've also fed random colors from various companies and had no problems. I've also had Canon and a Kodak that were fine with cardstock.
__________________ Denise
"If a person who indulges in gluttony is a glutton, and a person who commits a felony is a felon, then God is an iron.�
― Spider Robinson
I have an Epson Artisan 810 and it works great for printing on cardstock.
I had an old HP printer that worked fine too. The one thing I had to do was go under "printing preferences" and select "specialty paper" so it knew that it was a heavier cardstock coming through.
We purchased a Canon PIXMA 330 from Best Buy back in July specifically so that I could print directly onto cardstock (like the PTI templates). It has a feed from the back of the machine so that cardstock is only bent slightly rather than folded over completely. I love it and have had no problem with it. It works as a scanner and a copier too and you only have to turn it on to work - the computer does NOT need to be on to use it and you can scan and save directly to a stick drive.
So far, I am VERY happy with this printer. The only downside is that it does seem to go through ink pretty quickly, certainly MUCH faster than our Brother laser printer, so we don't print regular documents with it, but for my crafting purposes it is PERFECT.
I believe Lauren Meeder said somewhere on her website that Canon printers in general work well with cardstock for printing her templates (I did some research before we purchased this one).
Depending on the weight of your cardstock, I would bring a few sheets along when you go shopping and make sure it works.
My issue awhile back was not being able to get heavy cardstock through our printer. I had to get a separate inexpensive printer to use for printing on cardstock. I contacted HP last year to find out which printers they had that could take heavy weight cardstock. I am able to put 120 lb. paper weight through it easily. It is the HP J4500 Series All-In-One printer (Printer/Fax/Copier/Scanner). The quality for printing photos is not great, but it is just fine for printing images on cardstock. I bought it at Costco (west coast) with instant rebate for $69.99. It's also available on Amazon.
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I have a Canon Pro9000 that works on GKD 120lb cardstock. However, I have not tried to load the paper tray with it. I use the top paper feeder and only load a couple sheets at a time.
I use a Canon MP620 and even Gina K. Designs card stock goes through it and our Pure Luxury is the heaviest on the market at 120lb. Not a problem at all! Hope you find a printer you love!
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I have a HP PhotoSmart 3650, it is several years old. I have never had a problem with any weigh card-stock, even the heaviest. It is a bottom feeder, and I place just a couple sheets of normal paper in the tray then place 1 sheet (card-stock) at a time in the tray to print. I also always change the printer preferences to speciality paper. For some reason if I don't place a couple sheets of normal weight paper down first it always jammed up... I played around with it, till I found something that worked and never had a problems after that.
Recently my printer broke.. so now we must buy a new one... I know I want a Photosmart or equivalent because all my pics are digital and I must be able to print them off quick and have a good quality to them.
We purchased a Canon PIXMA 330 from Best Buy back in July specifically so that I could print directly onto cardstock (like the PTI templates). It has a feed from the back of the machine so that cardstock is only bent slightly rather than folded over completely. I love it and have had no problem with it. It works as a scanner and a copier too and you only have to turn it on to work - the computer does NOT need to be on to use it and you can scan and save directly to a stick drive.
So far, I am VERY happy with this printer. The only downside is that it does seem to go through ink pretty quickly, certainly MUCH faster than our Brother laser printer, so we don't print regular documents with it, but for my crafting purposes it is PERFECT.
I believe Lauren Meeder said somewhere on her website that Canon printers in general work well with cardstock for printing her templates (I did some research before we purchased this one).
Good luck!
I have a Canon Pixma ip3500 and I love it! It prints on 110# cardstock with no problems. I load 10-20 sheets in the feeder and it never jams. I also love the seperate ink tanks so I only replace what I need. I am very happy with this printer.
Have you tried checking your printer preferences for more selections on paper to print on? Maybe try another paper selection, and see if that works for cardstock
__________________ Carolyn
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Armadillo - My Epson Artisan 800 will not take heavy cardstock - 100lb. How do you get yours to do this?
I had an Artisan 800 that was very inconsistent with cardstocks. The printer died a few weeks ago, just days after the 1 year warranty was up, via an error message that couldn't be cleared. I generally LOVE Epson printers but this one I can't recommend at all.
I also had a Canon Pixma MP500 as a backup. It took most cardstocks with little or no problem but the prints came out streaky quite often so I had to do a lot of head cleaning (which is a major waste of ink). My 10 month old son (bless his heart) ripped off the LCD display on the Canon the other day so I'm in the market for a new printer. :-)
I have found that the key to getting cardstock through (especially heavy weight) is to have a top load printer! My cardstock would NEVER go through my HP printer because it loads from a tray on the bottom. Heavy cardstock has a hard time going through the bottom loaders because it has to curl up through the printer. Mine wouldn't grab and just made a mess of my perfectly wonderful cardstock! So I bought a cheap (30 dollar) top load printer for my stamp room, dedicated for printing templates and even heavy weight PTI cardstock goes through like a dream!
I have the HP C4480 and have had no problems with GP white cardstock. I've also fed random colors from various companies and had no problems. I've also had Canon and a Kodak that were fine with cardstock.
Hi Denise, I have the same HP printer, could you please inform me if you have printed on the 120 lbs GP or the 80lbs? I have printed many times on the 80lbs but I'm afraid to try with the 120lbs...
I just got a HP Photosmart C4580 for Christmas and am curious to see if cardstock will go through it. I've gotten lots of good tips from this thread. I'll have to try it! (a litttle scared! I don't want to break my new toy!)
I have found that the key to getting cardstock through (especially heavy weight) is to have a top load printer! My cardstock would NEVER go through my HP printer because it loads from a tray on the bottom. Heavy cardstock has a hard time going through the bottom loaders because it has to curl up through the printer. Mine wouldn't grab and just made a mess of my perfectly wonderful cardstock! So I bought a cheap (30 dollar) top load printer for my stamp room, dedicated for printing templates and even heavy weight PTI cardstock goes through like a dream!
I can second this advice. My HP won't print, for example, Lauren Meaders templates. I have to just print them on copy paper, use temp adhesive to the cs and then cut out. It's a workaround. But in addition to this issue, I'd like to know what's the best printer for printing digi downloads or vintage images you get off the internet. Mine never seems to look as good. I realize dpi, quality of paper, resolution etc enters into this but some people downloads printed out look wonderful!
I just figured out how to use my HP Photosmart C6280 All in one to print on coloured cardstock. It's a front feed. So I take the back off, tell it to print, let the plain paper shoot through and then feed the cardstock in where the paper would have curled up to. Voila, it works! Ya, it's complicated, but at least I don't need 2 printers now!
I have an Epson RX620 that works great with thick cardstock. It is an all in one printer and is quite a few years old now. Never had any problems with the PTI cardstock which is pretty thick.
Thanks for this great information. I have been looking to buy a new printer that can accommodate 12 x 12 cardstock. This will really help me on my quest.
I have an HP Deskjet D2530 that I bought because I needed a cheap printer to get me through until I could afford a nicer one. I'm still on the hunt for the "perfect printer" but I can wait quite some time now! This one does amazingly well for the price. Photos are not terrific quality - nice, good quality but not print-lab quality. That's my only real complaint however. It takes HP60 inks which are a decent price ($13.99 for black, $19.99 for color) and they last awhile. It also prints on my Gina K 120lb cardstock very well, without putting black marks on the back or getting stuck. I was very doubtful it would - but it does! And I love the way it prints on the Gina K, it's so beautiful.
Sometimes I have trouble getting it to accept red and it will take me 2 or 3 shots. Same with black. All other colors I don't have an issue with.
Again, still on the hunt for the perfect printer but now I don't HAVE to buy it right now, it can wait (which means I get my Bosskut Gazelle now!! I AM SO EXCITED! Sorry. Got off-track there for a minute.)
I'd love to own a laser, I need to research it more. See if I can find one for a reasonable price (under $300) that will take thick Gina K cardstock and the ink is reasonable (I go through at least $75 worth of HP ink right now per month, but I do a *ton* of printing. I printed 10 reams of GP cardstock in one month - last November.)
What I'd REALLY love is to own a commercial-grade printer. With how much printing I do, it'd be amazing. The cost however...not so much loving it. lol!
I have an HP Deskjet D2530 that I bought because I needed a cheap printer to get me through until I could afford a nicer one. I'm still on the hunt for the "perfect printer" but I can wait quite some time now! This one does amazingly well for the price. Photos are not terrific quality - nice, good quality but not print-lab quality. That's my only real complaint however. It takes HP60 inks which are a decent price ($13.99 for black, $19.99 for color) and they last awhile. It also prints on my Gina K 120lb cardstock very well, without putting black marks on the back or getting stuck. I was very doubtful it would - but it does! And I love the way it prints on the Gina K, it's so beautiful.
Sometimes I have trouble getting it to accept red and it will take me 2 or 3 shots. Same with black. All other colors I don't have an issue with.
Again, still on the hunt for the perfect printer but now I don't HAVE to buy it right now, it can wait (which means I get my Bosskut Gazelle now!! I AM SO EXCITED! Sorry. Got off-track there for a minute.)
I'd love to own a laser, I need to research it more. See if I can find one for a reasonable price (under $300) that will take thick Gina K cardstock and the ink is reasonable (I go through at least $75 worth of HP ink right now per month, but I do a *ton* of printing. I printed 10 reams of GP cardstock in one month - last November.)
What I'd REALLY love is to own a commercial-grade printer. With how much printing I do, it'd be amazing. The cost however...not so much loving it. lol!
I'd love a commercial grade machine too. Can't hurt to dream though!:-D So far I'm happy enough with my canon.
subscribing to the thread as I have a terrible time printing card stock with my NEW HP Photosmart C4580.
It's so frustrating with all the great templates out there!
I've changed settings and PTI white will go through, but I want the templates on color!
I've used Specialty Paper in my settings, maybe I'll try Matte greeting cards next.
Not brave enough to take the back off and feed into the back, but what ingenuity you have to try this!
I have found that the HP PHOTO Smart series printers are best for this type of printing. (They have a GREAT geared system... Used to work summers at Office Depot when I was teaching....LOL)
Which Printer is Best for Putting Cardstock Through?
