This roundup doesn't include professional and semi-pro wide-format models that are dedicated to photo printing, such as Epson's various SureColor printers or Canon's Pixma Pro-100, Pixma Pro-300, and ImagePrograf Pro-1000.
Pricing varies, but most of these machines range from $150 to $400, well within reach for just about anyone. Most of these small-office, home-office (SOHO) wide-format models are all-in-one (AIO) printers that can also scan, copy, and sometimes fax. The Epson Expression XP-15000 excels at printing photos. Many of these printers take advantage of recent improvements in inkjet technology to turn out fine photos, so you can advertise real estate or travel destinations, promote events, boost morale with inspirational posters, or show off your vacation snapshots. With a wide-format printer, your complex spreadsheet or array of charts and graphs can fit on one page. The paperless office is a nice dream, but most businesses still need to print data or images from time to time. But the major manufacturers-Brother, Canon, Epson, and HP-have introduced new oversize-capable models to meet the growing demand for printing larger documents. An Oversized Printer for Every ApplicationĪ couple of years ago, we dubbed this group of machines "the occasional oversizers," primarily because they were expensive, expensive to use, and set up to print only the occasional wide-format page. So save yourself all those trips to the copy shop and check out our favorite machines for doing wide-format printing right in your home or office. Several wide-format printers now have impressive output quantity ratings as well. These models can't handle poster-size 24-by-36-inch output (at least, not on one sheet without tiling), but they're right at home with 11-by-17-inch (tabloid or A3) prints, and some can manage 13-by-19-inch (supertabloid) and banner printing. If your business calls for large-format printing, there are now a number of inkjet printers that will turn out beautiful larger color prints for you. Gone are the days when wide-format printers were solely the domain of graphics professionals and architects.