An A2 printer is probably the smallest sheet size a professional designer could get away with, although I am sure there will be plenty of feedback from people who are quite happily getting along with A3 and A4 output.
It depends on what you are drawing and who needs to work with the sheets as to what output size is appropriate. We're looking at A2 printers here because it is the smallest of the "large-format" printers on the market.
We look at the Epson Stylus Pro 4450 and Canon iPF510.
Many issues related to printers only reveal themselves over a period of time in practical situations. We're interested to know about things like...
- Ink capacity
- Third party ink systems/supplies
- Print durability
- Printing speed
- Paper handling
Every manufacturer will tell you that using other than proprietary replacement cartridges will void your warranty. Why is that not surprising? The inkjet cartridge replacement business is much more lucrative than the hardware itself. Two or three cartridge set replacements is often equal to the cost of a new
printer. I often wonder if the printer profits are being sacrificed in order to sell more ink or are they just skinning us blind on ink costs? But that is another story.
There are numerous third party ink and cartridge suppliers and their prices are significantly lower. It is very tempting to try them out.
Some suppliers even offer entire ink system replacements - a service that must horrify the manufacturers. Such systems typcially replace the ink cartridge system with a tube feed connected to external ink tanks, usually of capacious proportions. This allows you to print runs well in excess of anything the cartridges could allow. However I have not been able to locate a continuous ink system (CIS) that is specified to work with either of the printers mentioned in this article.
Ink cartridges now incorporate built-in chips that allow the cartridges to report their status to the printer. They also disallow refilling unless reset, a function not readily disclosed by manufacturers.
