The Best Wide-Format Printers for 2021 are reviewed by PCMag.
Do you need prints at home or in the office?These top-rated wide-format printers can produce photos and documents up to 17 inches in length.
The domain of wide-format printers has changed since the days of graphics professionals and architects.If you need large-format printing for your business, there are a number of inkjet printers that can do it.These models can't handle poster-size 24 by 36 inch output, but they're right at home with 11 by 17 inch prints, and some can manage 13 by 19 inch.Several wide-format printers have impressive output quantity ratings.If you want to do wide-format printing in your home or office, check out our favorite machines.
We dubbed this group of machines "the occasional oversizers" because they were expensive to use and set up to print only the occasional wide-format page.The major manufacturers have introduced new models that can print larger documents.
The paperless office is a nice dream, but most businesses still need to print data from time to time.Your charts and graphs can fit on a single page with a wide-format printer.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, or show off your vacation snapshots.
All-in-one (AIO) printers that can also print, fax, and copy are a majority of the small-office, home office (SOHO) wide-format models.Most of the machines range from $150 to $400 and are within reach for most people.
It doesn't include professional and semi-pro wide-format models that are dedicated to photo printing, such as the Canon Pixma Pro-100, the SureColor printers, and the ImagePrograf Pro-1000.Quality, size, ink cost, and support for fancy art-minded media are just a few of the things that make those printers separate from the rest.
The most common paper size is tabloid stock, which is 11 by 17 inches.The term tabloid is sometimes used interchangeably with A3 but they are actually two different sizes.All of the printers we've found support tabloid printing.
13-by-19-inch media is supported by some of them.The WorkForce Pro is an All-in-One Printer.In the industry jargon, tabloid and supertabloid printing are collectively referred to as "wide-format" output.
If you're looking for the ability to turn out larger prints occasionally or regularly, here are the main factors.
Over the past few years, we've seen a lot of wide-format printers with different intended applications.The oversize stock is fed through a paper-bypass slot on the back of the printer.They are best for printing a single large page.Most vendors have at least one model with a tray or trays meant for pre-loading a supply of wide-format stock, which means much less babysitting for a run of oversize prints.The Brother MFC-J6945DW INKvestment Tank AIO has three trays that can hold 600 tabloid-size pages.
Some of the printers have automatic document feeders that allow them to feed in all the sizes of paper that the printer can print on.The Brother MFC-J5845DW can print up to tabloid-size stock, but it can only copy letter- or legal-sized documents, while the Editors' Choice–winning Epson EcoTank Pro ET-16650 is a bulk-ink wide-format model.To make sure you're getting a printer with features you need, check the manufacturer's spec sheet and our expert reviews.
It varies quite a bit.Automatic scanning can be done on both sides of the source sheets.You have to flip double-sided source materials manually if you have an ADF that cannot auto-duplex.
The scanning element is one of the questions.The "single-pass" scanner is an emerging feature on higher-end AIO printers.A single-pass scanner can double the scanning speed by scanning both sides of a document at the same time.
Lots of desk space is taken up by wide-format printers.It's a good idea to look for built-in wi-fi, which will allow you to place your printer where you have room for it without having to worry about running cables to it.There are slots for flash-memory cards and a port on the front for printing from a tethered digital camera, among other things.
Some models may have near-field communication (NFC) hotspots for wireless tap-to-connect printing from mobile devices, but that's fallen out of fashion.You're more likely to see support for AirPrint if you use a computer without a network.
The number and configuration of ink tanks and their rated costs are just some of the things that vary in price and intended usage.Business-oriented models will usually have four ink tanks, while photo-minded ones will add another tank or two.
For letter-size pages, our printer reviews give a cost per page.If you double the letter-size CPP, you can get tabloid running costs.The supertabloid will be more popular than the tabloid.Printing full-page color photos on oversize stock with 100% ink coverage can quickly drink down a lot of precious ink, so see our reviews for more on the ink economics for each printer.
Is a wide-format printer really necessary?Take a look at our picks for the best inkjet printers and best laser printers, and our guide on choosing between inkjet and laser, so you can find the exact right printer for your needs.
John is the executive editor of PCMag.A veteran of the popular tech site and magazine Computer Shopper from 1993 to 2017, he has covered just about every kind of computer gear, from the 386SX to 18-core processors, in his long tenure as an editor, a writer, and an advice columnist.He was the editor in chief of Computer Shopper.He was an editor of computer-tech books for Paramount Publishing.A lifetime New Yorker, John is a graduate of New York University.
A contributing editor is William Harrel.He has been writing about computer technology for a long time.He has written 20 books, including titles in the popular "Bible," "Secrets," and "For Dummies" series, on digital design and desktop publishing software applications.A handbook for creating websites for smartphones and tablets is his latest title.In addition to writing hundreds of articles for PCMag, he has also written for several other computer and business publications, among them Computer Shopper, Digital Trends, MacUser, PC World, The Wirecutter, and Windows Magazine.