Printer for GCSE/A Level Art

[Cruachan]

Does anyone have suggestions for a printer which will produce decent quality photos for GCSE/A Level Art? We have an Epson 760 which photocopies and scans and is great for document printing but the photo quality isn't brilliant. We are not a graphic design office however, and therefore aren't really in the market for spending £500 on something amazing.

I’m a bit confused when you say you are not a graphic design office.

Does someone you know or a family member need a personal project printed , or is this a business enterprise of your own?

Could they just use a print shop if it’s a personal project? Possibly not worth you spending lots of money for printing kit that’s not often needed in your office

Shouldn’t the school/college do the printing?

Not sure how it is confusing . We want a printer at home for photographs, and possibly other art related things, but primarily photos required for KS4/5 Art.
It is so much more convenient to be able to print at home, especially with weekly homework, rather than a longer term project.

Ah, ok I see now. It was mention of an office in the post that threw me. Home office?

The school should have printers, or you could take a USB to a photo center. It is more convenient to print at home, but being organised in advance is a good life skill to develop.

I doubt many families spend £££ on a printer for Art homework.

Yes, but then most families don't spend £££££££ on private education and there are thousands of threads about that on MN . Anyway, we are fortunate enough to be able to spend some money on a printer and wondered if anyone had suggestions.

uk.pcmag.com/photo-printers/7928/the-best-photo-printers. This might help you choose one

@HalzTangz

https://uk.pcmag.com/photo-printers/7928/the-best-photo-printers. This might help you choose one

uk.pcmag.com/photo-printers/7928/the-best-photo-printers

DD is doing A level graphics and did Art GCSE and Graphics GCSE.

You'll get through a lot of ink, which is probably as much of a problem as print quality.

We have an Epson 27-50 ecotank printer with an unlimited ink contract. The unlimited ink is an absolute bloody godsend. The printer can produce really good photo results, but it does take effort in picking the right paper, choosing the right settings, test sheets and reprinting. I think that's probably true of any home printer. But the Epson got her top marks in both of her GCSEs.
If you need a lot of top quality photos, your best bet is to pay a copy shop for printing, or use one of the online services. We did this for work that needed to be A3, it's not expensive. We also have another printer which is an A3 printer (also Epson), but it is currently in the loft as it just isn't viable to use due to ink costs.

And lol at the pp who said shouldn't the school be doing the printing? In an ideal world. They aren't allowed to print at school, and have to supply most of their art materials to.

*too

Thankyou, that's really helpful. We print photos for ourselves infrequently so already know the joys of trying to get a combination of ink and paper to work - mostly not entirely satisfactorily! And YY to inks being the real ££.

One of mine did A Level Photography and all printing was done at school. This was three years ago. So maybe things have changed.

@daisypond

I suspect it just depends on how each school spends its budget.

Honestly best place is school. They’ll have either a printing allowance or capability to print and pay for it. For art id do that because you need quality paper and inks.