Top 5 Best Printers For Artists In 2024
Our home and office printers can actually be pretty versatile machines. Alongside being able to produce printed documents, there are printers that can also be used to print studio-quality photographs and art prints in a range of different sizes, matte or glossy brochures and pamphlets, and even stickers.
Some of the best art printers (namely sublimation printers) can even allow creative types the opportunity to produce their own iron-on prints. It’s crazy to think just how many applications our art printers can have, but once you do delve into the weird and wonderful world of DIY art printing, you just never want to stop.
Whether you’re working with mixed media, photography, graphic design, or all the other digital art disciplines that can be dabbled in, the five printers we’ll be outlining below may very well become the next addition to your studio space.
Top 5 Best Art Printers in 2024
Read on to unearth our top picks for the best art printers for artists in 2024.
- Epson Expression Photo HD XP-15000 Printer
- HP OfficeJet Pro 7740 Inkjet Printer
- Canon MG3660 Inkjet Printer
- Canon ImagePrograf Pro-1000 Inkjet Printer
- Epson EcoTank Photo ET-8500 Printer
1. Epson Expression Photo HD XP-15000 Printer
Best Printer For Digital Art
Price: $525.01 (+ Free Delievery)
Heading this list of our best art printers is the Epson Expression Photo HD XP-15000 Printer. This monolith of an A3 printer is jam-packed with a range of different print features and functionalities – including high resolution borderless photo printing for photo paper sizes from 4” x 6” and up to 13” x 19”. And with a print resolution of 5760 x 1440 dpi, you can be rest assured that even ultra wide photo prints will be printed to the utmost quality and picture clarity. And you can use glossy or matte photo paper.
The HD XP-15000 printer is also perfectly equipped for high-capacity document printing, with average print speeds of around 9ppm for both mono and colour print jobs and a 50-sheet paper feed and accompanying 200-sheet front paper tray. As for its print volume, the HD XP-15000 is compatible with 312 and Epson 312XL ink cartridges, which provides page yields of around 500 pages for mono prints and 830 pages for colour composite print jobs.
The HD XP-15000 can also print directly onto CDs and DVDs, which makes this a great art printer for virtually all different types of creatives, ranging from musos to photographers and even graphic designers.
Check out some of our other best printers for graphic designers.
2. HP OfficeJet Pro 7740 Inkjet Printer
Best A3 Art Printer
Price: $451.21 (+ Free Delievery)
If you are looking to produce larger art prints, then a reliable and high resolution A3 printer is guaranteed to be an invaluable investment for you. And the A3 printer that takes the cake as the best fine art printer for us has to be the HP OfficeJet Pro 7740 Inkjet Printer.
With a maximum print resolution of 4800 x 1200 dpi, the OfficeJet Pro 7740 is a powerhouse that’s been able to balance quality with quantity. It has page yields in the thousands too, thanks to HP’s high yield 955 and 955XL printer ink cartridges.
The OfficeJet Pro 7740 also comes fitted with a large scanner, which is capable of scanning documents or prints measuring up to 11” x 17” wide and at a resolution of 1200 dpi. Imagine being able to make digital copies of larger art prints with just the tap of a button!
Being an OfficeJet, the Pro 7740 also boasts an impressive capacity for document printing and copying, boasting print speeds of around 22ppm for mono print jobs and 18ppm for colour printing. It also has automatic duplex printing, meaning you can print out your art prints and even your lengthy artist’s manifesto with the same printing machine!
Given its startlingly high number of applications, we have to recommend the HP OfficeJet Pro 7740 for creative agencies or businesses rather than independent creators. Anybody who’s producing art prints for commercial purposes will find plenty of uses for this monster of an A3 art printer.
3. Canon MG3660 Inkjet Printer
Best Printer For Art Prints On A Budget
Price: $85.94 (+ Free Delievery)
Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need to shell out big bucks in order to enjoy studio-quality art printing. In fact, there are some low-cost and high-performance inkjet printers out there that can allow you to print high quality art prints on a budget. One of our top recommendations for the best printer for art prints is the Canon MG3660 Inkjet Printer.
With a printing resolution of 4800 x 1200 dpi, the Canon MG3660 is able to deliver document and photo prints at a clarity that rivals so many other home printers. The MG3660 is also capable of scanning and copying documents, with a scanning resolution of 1200 x 2400 dpi. Whilst this may not be the highest resolution available, it caters well for less detailed photos and documents sized A4 and under.
The Canon MG3660 also allows printer users to print directly from their phones or tablets by using the Canon PRINT app. And thanks to PIXMA Cloud Link smart connectivity, you can even print directly from Dropbox, Google Drive, and a handful of social media platforms, including Facebook and Instagram.
This is a whole lot of versatility from a printer that retails at just under $100. So what’s the downside, you may ask? For starters, the MG3660 has one of the lowest page yields on this list of our best art printers. As the MG3660 is compatible with Canon 640 & 641 ink cartridges, printer users can enjoy page yields from around 180 - 600 for black (based on standard, high yield, and ultra high yield cartridge variants) or just 180 - 400 for colour prints (based on standard and high yield cartridge variants). So whilst you may not spend a lot on the MG3660, you may find yourself spending a bit more on your replacement ink cartridges.
4. Canon ImagePrograf Pro-1000 Inkjet Printer
Best Inkjet Printer For Art
Price: $1,890.26 (+ Free Delievery)
The smooth and balanced production capabilities of inkjet printing technology almost gives the impression that inkjet nozzles were made for fine art printing. So it’s only natural that the best fine art printer on this list just so happens to be an inkjet – and a Canon inkjet printer at that.
The Canon imagePROGRAF Pro-1000 Inkjet Printer is one of Canon’s most impressive photo and fine art printers. With 12 different ink cartridge slots for insanely precise colour matching, the imagePROGRAF Pro-1000 is considered to be one of the printing industry’s leading machines for professional artists around the world.
We originally wanted to name the imagePROGRAF Pro-1000 as the best A3 printer for art prints, but that wouldn’t be an entirely accurate call – because the Pro-1000 can actually print up to A2-size printing jobs. And the Pro-1000 is just the smallest model in Canon’s imagePROGRAF series!
And like most of Canon’s other professional-grade photo printers, the Pro-1000 is also compatible with Canon’s Chroma Optimizer photo ink that’s been developed to minimise microscopic bumps between ink droplets in order to produce a uniform glossiness for photo prints.
Check out some of our other best inkjet printers.
5. Epson EcoTank Photo ET-8500 Printer
Best Printer For Stickers & Sublimation Art Prints
Price: $1,197.35 (+ Free Delievery)
Last but certainly not least, we have the Epson EcoTank Photo ET-8500 Printer – our best printer for sticker printing. Being a sublimation printer, the ET-8500 is a superb investment for all crafty artists. Whether you’re selling stickers on Etsy or customised shirts on Depop, you’ll be sure to find plenty of use for your ET-8500.
If you are looking to print documents or even photos, however, then you’ll find yourself pleasantly surprised by the ET-8500’s impeccable resolution as well, with a printing resolution of 5760 x 1440 dpi. And being a truly versatile all-in-one printer, the ET-8500 also comes fitted with a CIS flatbed scanner that’s capable of high-quality photo and document scans at a resolution of 1200 x 4800 dpi.
And being an Epson EcoTank printer, you can expect to enjoy literally multiple thousands of prints straight out of the box. To be more specific, you can enjoy page yields of a whopping 6200 sheets for colour prints and 6700 for mono printing with Epson’s T552 replacement ink bottles.
This incredible versatility and value for money to boot is what got the Epson EcoTank Photo ET-8500 printer a spot on our list of the best sublimation printers available here on CartridgesDirect too. So you can be rest assured that investing in this nifty sublimation printer will provide so much more value than just sticker production capabilities alone.
Check out some of our other best printers for sticker printing.
Best overall art printer for artists
So with all these exceptional art printers reviewed, only one question remains to be answered: what’s the best printer for art, prints, and all things creative production? What printer model takes the crown as the best investment for your studio space?
Well, it largely depends on what print functionalities you need, and what kinds of media you’re looking to work with. If you’re looking to produce high-quality photo prints alone, then the Canon imagePROGRAF Pro-1000 or even the MG3660 are guaranteed to deliver the output you’re looking for.
But if you’re looking for the best art printer that can do photos, stickers, sublimation prints, and documents on top of it all, then we have to recommend the Epson EcoTank ET-8500. We’ll admit that we’re suckers for Epson EcoTanks, but the specs speak for themselves on this one too. This is hands down the best printer for arts and crafts that we’ve seen on the market in 2024.
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