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Laser Paper or Inkjet Paper?
Hi,
I’m in a spot of bother and I didn’t know who else to turn to since I can’t seem to find much information on-line.
I just bought a second hand Xerox Phaser 7760DN laser printer and to test it out I bought a pack of 160gsm laser photo paper off eBay. The paper has a glossy finish, but when I printed out a few test sheets containing graphics, text and images, the printouts didn’t look very glossy at all. I read somewhere that if you put glossy inkjet paper through a laser printer, the gloss can come off the paper and ruin the printer. I’m now worried that I have been sold inkjet paper instead of laser paper, and that my printer could be ruined.
Any thoughts/knowledge/advice on this matter would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Simon
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6 Replies
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Simon,
Don’t even think of using inkjet paper in a laser printer. The coating on the paper may melt in the high-temperature fuser rollers. The package should tell you whether the paper is suitable for laser or inkjet.
You need to test various laser papers until you find one you like. We use HP Premium Presentation paper, which has a nice glossy surface. This paper would be suitable for photographic quality printing.
Bill Stephan
Senior Editor/DVD Author
USA Studios
New York City -
Thanks, I purchased what was advertised as (Xerox) laser photo paper but it came in a plain package. I asked them if it was genuine laser paper and they said yes, it was Xerox laser paper, but they split the pack to sell in smaller packs. The prints weren’t glossy at all, but the paper was glossy wherever the printer had not printed, which made me think that maybe I had been sold inkjet paper. I’ll take a sample into a store when I get time to see if they know if it’s laser or inkjet paper.
I’m going to be more careful in future, to make sure what I am buying is in fact laser paper. Just hope it’s not too late!
Thanks,
Simon
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The problem is that laser toner isn’t glossy. It’s a sort of waxy matte finish – kinda like a crayon. No matter what paper you use, the toner will still be the same. Inkjet ink is different: it transmits light differently and will reproduce the glossy better from the paper.
Save early. Save often.
Jonathan Ziegler
http://www.electrictiger.com
520-360-8293 -
Thanks, that’s a lesson I’m learning the hard way by the looks of it. I bought the laser printer with a view to printing out flyers but now I’m not sure it’s the right printer for the job.
Is there any way you know of to make the prints look better? I have a flyer here that I’m guessing was printed on a laser printer and whilst it doesn’t have a high gloss, wherever there is solid colour there is a bit of a sheen, yet wherever there is no colour there doesn’t appear to be any sheen at all. It looks like the opposite of my test prints.
Thanks,
Simon
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Well, it should deliver SOME sheen even with heavy toner, but it won’t be as good as a print shop can deliver. Your best bet is to have them printed or pay the $.49 a copy to print at Kinkos or look at VistaPrint and other online printers.
If you have more than a few to print up, talk to printers in town. Look also for quick printers who will basically use a high end inkjet or dye sub printer to print your stuff for xyz a copy (they wrap the setup cost into the per-unit price). If you take into account the cost of the printer, toner, paper, electricity, time spent, etc., it’s usually cheaper to hire a printer unless you are doing a LOT of printing. And you can always get cheap prints from Costco and a ton of other places online.
Save early. Save often.
Jonathan Ziegler
http://www.electrictiger.com
520-360-8293 -
Thanks, but that’s no good to me. I just bought a printer and I want to use it, not just look at it lol
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