Hi John,
What seems like a simple set of questions has quite a few different
considerations in it.
Let's first correct a few things. Almost all printers today (either
inkjet or color laser) use CMYK colors in printing color. There were a
few exceptions, (the C80 and maybe C82 Epson inkjet, which used s
different black formula ink and switched to CMY for printing on glossy
stock) and a few HP and Canon printers that used pigment only black ink
which didn't mix well with the dye inks.
In general today current models either use compatible formulations in
CMYK (Epson C-84, C-86) just for example, or other having both a pigment
and dye ink black cartridge installed at the same time.
Glossy paper for inkjet printers tends to be costly, unless you buy
thinner types, which tend to not sit flat once printer. Most are also
glossy only on one side, and they tend to not hold up well if they get
creased, folded or abraded.
There are some matte inkjet papers that have the mordents integrated
into the paper pulp, so they both produce a sharp image while not being
vulnerable to those types of damage, which are good for dye ink
printers. Again, the problem with matte papers that are coated one or
both sides, is they tend to be somewhat fragile to handling.
I expect some people will accuse me of directing you with bias to Epson
printers. I am much more familiar with their line of products and the
features, but they are one option. The reason I am pushing them in this
case, is that the C66 and C86 use pigment colorant ink. Although the
ink is more costly as a result, the printers are quite reasonable (the
C86 is faster than the C66, and the higher priced one, but still about
$100). Pigment inks will give you this advantage. They tend to supply
a crisp image on uncoated paper. The image will be waterproof when dry,
and if you use a stiff and opaque stock you can print on both sides
without bleed through. If you will be printing mainly text or text and
spot color or small images, ink cost won't be too bad. If you print a
lot of highly saturated images, ink costs will probably be more high for
these printer than others. You will save on using non-specialized paper
however. These same printers can be printed on semi-gloss and glossy
stock, but cost then goes up on paper. These printers, in spite of only
4 color are very capable of good photographic images.
Color laser will be faster if you are printing repeated copies. The
principal cost with the low end color lasers is again colorant, in this
case toner. Again on the low end models you pay for the toner, printer
is "free" because replacement toner is costly. Consider initial
investment of $400 to $800 US. Image quality tends to be reasonable
although not as good at the best quality the inkjet will provide on
quality paper. Color laser printers do best with specially formulated
pulps which cost a bit more than bond paper. These papers use a more
refined milling and surfacing. Most smooth card stocks will work well
up to limitations set by the printer manufacturers.
Personally, I find glossy laser paper doesn't always work out, since the
toners tend to be fairly matte. I think gloss if overrated for
advertising use. The glare can make it harder to read.
I don't know what kind of quantities you are needing to print, how fast
it needs to be, and how important the gloss is, so its difficult to
guide you.
Obviously, you can still go with an offset printer company. Some of the
new printing presses with direct to plate technology can print up this
type of stuff relatively inexpensively and quickly, and they can easily
give you that "clay coated" gloss paper if you wish.
Before making a decision take a look at some output at stores and the
papers available, also many manufacturers will send you printed samples
and you may be able to request the type of paper you wish to see.
Lastly, I recently wrote and posted this explanation of how inkjets
create color, which is below again. It may help you to understand
about how the term "DPI" is used with inkjet and to some extent laser
printers.
Art
This is a simplified explanation of how inkjet printers lay down color.
I am fully aware there are much more subtle and sophisticated methods
that inkjet printer drivers use to create gradients and images edges,
but this posting is for educational purposes and I do not want to
further complicate the process.
=========================
When a printer company indicates a dpi number, it is not translatable to
a ppi rating. A ppi number is "pixel(s) per inch", and it is indeed
what your monitor shows. Each pixel is made up of one luminosity level
(lightness) and one hue (color).
In most cases today, the video card in your computer can create 256
levels of brightness for each of three colors, Red, Green and Blue. Each
pixel on your screen is comprised of a brightness number from 0 to 255
in each of these colors. So, pure black is 0,0,0 and pure white is 255,
255, 255.
A pure red is XXX, 0, 0
A pure green is 0, XXX, 0
A pure Blue is 0, 0, XXX
XXX equals a number from 1 to 254
If every color under this system could be represented, there would be
over 16 million colors.
So, one pixel on most monitors, at least theoretically, can be one of
16 million colors. This is called continuous tone.
The problem is, the same cannot be accomplished with inkjet printers,
not even close. For simplicity, let's discuss a 4 color printer (CMYK),
and since black isn't a real color, but the absence of color, let's cut
it out of the equation for now also.
How many colors can those three inks make in any one "dot" of ink if
only one dot is allowed per ink color?
C=Cyan (Turquoise)
M=Magenta (Hot pink)
Y=Yellow
R=Red
G=Green
B=Blue
K=Black
C = C
C + M = B
M = M
M + Y = R
Y = Y
C + Y = G
C + M + Y = K (Proceed Black)
OK, now what to do about Orange, Purple, Brown, and all those colors in
between?
The only way to accomplish this, is to mix a variety of the base colors
in different quantities, plus use the white of the paper.
So, an orange, for instance, is going to be a mixture of magenta and
yellow, with more yellow dots than magenta ones. And a purple is cyan
and magenta with either more magenta for a red-purple, or more cyan, for
a bluer purple. Most browns are made by differing amounts of all three
(C, M and Y). The main purpose of the true black ink is to add
contrast. and darken the process black which tends to be muddy. It can
also save ink, since one drop of black can substitute for a drop of all
three.
Ah, suddenly we see that to create one pixel representation on paper, we
need quite a few drops, like maybe 12 or 16.
Printers with more ink colors, or variations of droplet size and ink
densities need less dots to create the same amount of colors. However,
if the printer is fast enough and the dots small enough, the effect can
look quite similar with just the 3 colors plus black ink. Even so, most
inkjet printers probably cannot produce more than about 64,000 colors.
However, our eyes don't really distinguish the 16 million a monitor can
theoretically produce. That's in part why we can get away with using
Jpeg Compression on a photographic image and not notice the losses.
Back to printers: When a printer states it can offer 1200, or 2400 or
even 5600 dpi, that doesn't mean that every dot is created. In fact, if
every drop was, the paper would be saturated with ink, since the dots
are not small enough to fit. Instead, dots are laid down in a manner to
represent a color pixel. The number used by inkjet companies is the
number of addressable locations. This may take the head going over an
area several times to create that many locations.
Truthfully, most people see little different at viewing distance between
a print printed at 5600 as one printed about 1200 dpi. But the printers
can truly address those locations, however, rarely, if ever will they be
addresses right next to one another, instead dots are moved to make as
accurate a dot pattern as possible.
The best inkjet printers formulate their dot pattern positions at about
1400 dpi, however, in terms of how our eyes operate, this translates to
at best a 400 dpi full color image, which is about equal to a well made
custom 4" x 6" color print made using wet photographic techniques from a
35mm neg. Most "drugstore" prints are about half that.
With proper use of unsharp masking and other techniques, an quality
inkjet printer can surpass a wet photography print, equating similar
source image size.
Art
