If you’re a printables seller or soon-to-be one, there are a lot of questions that you might have when you first start out. I can relate to this! Before I switched my party decorations to printables, I was scared of all those questions that customers might ask me. But my fear really stemmed from feeling scared that I wouldn’t know the answer to some of those questions. So today, I’m here to address a commonly asked question that might help you as both a printables seller, and also a printables customer, which is, What Printer Should You Use to Print Printables?
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Your Goal As A Printables Designer
I believe that printables designers should focus on creating printables that anyone can print on their home printer. Why? Well, the whole reason someone is purchasing a printable is to have a cost-effective way to improve their life in some way. If they wanted to spend a lot of money, they would just buy it on Amazon, right?
So we want to make it easy on our customers and allow them to print on a home printer (for the most part). There are, of course, some exceptions, which I’ll discuss below. But in general, we want to make sure that our printables are ready-to-print at home.
Do I need a Special Printer to Print Printables?
Let me drop a truth bomb on you. Here’s the REAL deal about what printer you should use to print printables. The truth is that you can print printables on ANY printer.
Yes, you heard me right. But you might be thinking, “My customers would need a really nice printer to print my very colorful printables.” As I’ve discovered as a party decorations and printables designer, it turns out your printer really isn’t the key to vibrant prints.
::GASP:: I know!
What if I told you that it’s actually about the paper that you use! I know. I was shocked as well. So below I have included some blogs I’ve written about the paper I use so that you can get vibrant colors as well.
For example, The Best Cardstock Printer for Invitations will give you some good ideas in that area of the printables world. But what about general printables? In The Best Paper for Party Decorations, I break down some of my all time favorite paper. Now, if you don’t sell party decorations, don’t worry! This paper applies to you too!
What Printer Should You Use to Print Printables?
Okay, okay, so I’ve told you about the paper I like to recommend, but you might be thinking. Come on! I just want a really nice printer that I can get or recommend to my customers for printables, crafting, and everyday use. If that’s the case, I have an answer for you.
You see, on my crafting and printables journey, I found out that the only true reason that you might want to have a “special” printer is when you’re printing photographs, or printing on heavy cardstock. And guess what! I found THE BEST printer that does both of those things extremely well.
You can read all about it in The Best Printer For Heavy Cardstock. Heck, I even have a video over there explaining all the pros and cons about it. But spoiler alert, it’s the Canon Pixma Pro-100. I’ll tell you right off the bat that it’s pricey (another spoiler alert). But, it is truly the best.
When to Print Professionally
As mentioned, there are a few times, that you might want to outsource the print job for your printables. For example, if you’re selling large posters, invitations that you want to be printed on very heavy cardstock (and you didn’t buy the Canon Pixma Pro-100), or need to print back to front – all things that aren’t as easy to do on a home printer.
In that case, I have some recommendations that will help you pick the best professional printer. If you don’t want to leave your house, here’s The Best Places to Print Invitations Online. Alternately, if you have a large poster that is too big to print at home, here’s the best printers for large posters.
Thank you!
Who knew you could write so much when it comes to printers for printables? Apparently me! Thank you so much for taking the time to read, What Printer Should You Use to Print Printables? I hope this gives you some ideas about how to advise your customers when it comes to printing their printables. I love to help you celebrate life through party decorations and personal development! But above all, I’d love to connect with you. Reach out to me on Instagram and let’s chat.
xoxo, Lindsay
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