A question from one of our readers

QUESTION

Good Morning Robert,

I am very sorry to trouble you again. Vendors here are not so clear with the explanation.
All they do is praise their brand name.

I tried to google but couldn’t get accurate information.
Some color laser printers print at 600x600dpi…some at 1200×1200 and
some at 2400×600 dpi.

I am unsure which one to choose to print proof for school books.
I also would like to print my own brochure, pamplets and visiting cards.
Kindly advice me on this. I’ll be happy with less pages per minute model.
Speed is not the criteria here.

• Xerox phaser 6125 says it can print upto 600x600x4 dpi.
  What exactly does this x4 mean? Can you please let me know?

Requests:

• What exactly is the print resolution in educational text books like CBSE/Ncert Books?
• What exactly is the print resolution in brochures of vodapone or any corporate stationery?
• What should be the print resolution on visiting cards?

Kindly educate me and resolve my doubts.
Thanking you once again…

Regards,
Vijay

ANSWER

Hi Vijay,

You can go for a entry level Konica Minolta Multi Function color laser printer which would cost under Rs. 4,00,000/-. The cost per A3 size page would be around Rs. 8 depending on the ink coverage. At 100% coverage the cost is around Rs.14 to 15 excluding paper and including wear and tear of the machine for an A3 size printout. The speed is I think around 25 pages per minute. I am not sure about the model but it is in the bizhub category. You can go to this website http://www.biz.konicaminolta.com/ to see the printers. These printers come under the category of business automation as the quality is suitable for everyday office printing. You can print fairly good enough quality with these printers. Visiting cards, brochures and pamphlets won’t be a problem. The only thing you have to keep a check on is your cost of printing. For higher copies it may be cheaper to outsource it to your local offset printer.

CBSE textbooks are printed in high quality offset machines and you won’t get that color quality in the machine I mentioned above. But mostly textbooks are not in color and any offset machine could give you a decent quality in one or two colors. Vodafone brochures are also printed in high quality offset printing. There are some printed through variable data digital printing too. But these are all printed in high quality machines whether they be digital or offset.

For most printing jobs whether they be digital or offset, 300 dpi pictures are sufficient. To learn more about dpi (dots per inch) and lpi (lines per inch) you will find plenty of material in Google.

Hope this helps.

Robert.