Guides

Buying guides

What to know before the quote request. No figures are invented here — where a number matters, the guide says where the real one comes from.

• UV, solvent or eco-solvent — which fits your work

  The three ink families do different jobs. Pick the family from the product you sell, then the machine from the width and volume you run.

• Ricoh, Epson or Konica — choosing a printhead

  The most expensive replaceable part in the machine. Nozzle counts, native resolution and what each head family is actually built for.

• UV DTF: what it is, and what it is not

  A cold transfer for curved and awkward objects a flatbed cannot reach — and why it has almost nothing in common with the garment DTF it keeps being confused with.

• 3D emboss and relief printing

  How a UV printer builds physical height out of stacked varnish, the four things that decide how deep it goes, and the three questions that turn a quoted emboss height into an actual specification.

• What to charge per square foot

  The seven costs behind a rate, the conversion between the square metres your machine is specified in and the square feet your customer asks for, and four ways shops underprice themselves.

• What decides the price of a UV printer in India

  Print area, printheads, colour channels, the platform, and what surrounds the machine — and how to compare two quotes that look nothing alike.

• Financing a printing machine in India

  The routes that exist, what a lender actually looks at, and why the instalment is never the comparison. General information, no rates quoted.

• How to start a printing business with one machine

  Choose the product before the machine, size the machine to the job, plan the room, learn the workflow, count the running costs, and watch it print first.

These guides are for choosing a machine. For running one — printhead maintenance, ink adhesion, diagnosing banding, setting up the room — see the technical articles.