Are you looking to frequently reproduce colour images and text with glorious depth and shade? Or perhaps you require a cardstock printer that can handle thicker types of paper and high-yield ink cartridges for speciality art prints? Does your business need high-volume printing or the occasional recreation for one-off projects?
Whatever your needs, budget and stationery printing plans, our team of experts can help.
With over thirty years of experience within the sector and fantastic relationships with some of the best names across the industry, we deliver incredible customer service fueled by brilliant printing solutions. Whether you're looking to replace an existing printer for your stationery business with a newer model or would simply like to create gorgeous cards and invitations, we can offer you bespoke guidance to help you find your perfect match.
Finding a printer shouldn't have to feel like rocket science.
That's why we've put together this ultimate guide to the best printers for stationery, touching on everything you need to know before taking the plunge and making an exciting investment.
Created by our team of experts, we'll explore the following topics:
- What is stationery?
- What should I be looking for in a stationery printer?
- Which brands of printers work well with cardstock?
- Which types of printers are best for crafts?
- Which variety of paper finishes and types can I use?
How Printerland can help me find the best printer for my needs?
Throughout this guide, we'll take a closer look at some of the best names and functions from the printing sector's biggest competitors, giving you a broad scope of options to suit your needs exactly.
But if you have any other questions about buying a printer, we can give you even more tailored advice to help you make an informed decision. Whether that's on accessing our brilliant subscription print services, unpicking multifunctional features, setting up queries or hunting according to your budget - we are just a click or a call away.
If there's anything else you need to know regarding any aspect of the buying journey, we can give you the best guidance on printing - whether that's on budgeting affordable printing costs, discerning additional features, our unmatched subscription print service and more - our team is on hand to help.
To talk to a friendly member of the Printerland team, give us a call on 0800 840 1992 or drop us an email at [email protected].
What is stationery?
Stationery comes in many different forms, so it’s a good idea to have already identified the types of stationery that you’ll be creating before you start to consider the printing devices that are available to assist you in the production process.
Different types of stationery may require slightly altered printing methods. So by deciding on the types of stationery that you’ll be creating, you’ll be able to select a solution that ticks all of the boxes and provides the most effective printer for different media types.
But what are the most common types of stationery that you might be looking to print?
Notebooks
Notebooks are an essential form of stationery that’s used by almost everyone across the globe.
Whether it’s jotting down a few ideas, writing stories, or simply making a couple of notes during meetings, having a notebook to hand can be a real lifesaver.
If you’re looking to create bespoke notebooks for your customers, you’ll need to use a printer that’s capable of printing on this type of stationery.
In general, you’ll be looking to print designs on the front of the notebook as well as on the pages inside, so your printer needs to be able to handle different sizes of paper as well as different printing media such as paper and cardstock.
Planners
If you’re looking to up your organisation skills at home or work, a planner is a perfect companion to keep by your side at all times!
With a planner, you’ll have everything laid out in front of you clearly, giving you set plans and dates - this is great for trying to keep track of plans or deadlines.
Of course, you’ll want your planner to look the part too, which is where high-quality printing solutions come in.
When printing a planner, it’s important to ensure that you’re using the best quality materials - you wouldn’t want your planner to fall apart, nor would you want sub-par printing inside of the pages.
With our top-of-the-range stationery printers here at Printerland, we can ensure that you’ll be able to produce excellent quality planners every single time.
Calendars
It’s so frustrating when you lose track of time and find yourself forgetting about important events and dates.
But with a calendar, those worries simply disappear.
Printing a calendar, either for yourself or as a product to sell to customers, gives you full control over the design that you choose to put onto the paper - if there’s any additional information you’d like to add to the page, simply factor that into your design and you’ll be able to add that onto your printer calendar!
With a bespoke calendar, you’ll be able to keep on top of those family birthdays, meetings, and events with ease, saving you the hassle of the last-minute scramble the day before.
For calendar printing, we’d suggest a printer that’s capable of printing in slightly larger sizes such as an A3 laser printer - this makes the calendar more visible and less restrictive, enabling you to add multiple pieces of information without running out of space too soon.
Cards
From “hello!”, “Congratulations!”, and “happy birthday!” to “get well soon” and “condolences”, there’s a card for every situation.
But you have to ensure that you treat every occasion with the utmost care and respect.
Cards are seen as a token of gratitude and affection, so you don’t want to be delivering sub-par quality and grainy designs to your recipients.
So, how do you ensure that you’re able to print high-quality cards for every occasion?
It’s simple - you invest in a sophisticated stationery printer that’s capable of printing on cardstock with ease, just like those in our range here at Printerland!
What should I be looking for in a stationery printer?
When you’re choosing a printer for stationery, there are a lot of things to consider and by spending the time thinking about those, you’ll be able to find a printer that suits your needs more effectively.
Here are the top things that we think you need to think about before you commit to a printing device for your stationery production needs:
Does the printer work with both paper and cardstock materials?
The most important aspect to consider is the types of materials that you’ll be printing on. Whilst most standard printers are designed to work with just standard weight paper stock, you may be working with thicker materials and unique sizes.
To do this, you need a printer with the right functionality.
Thankfully, there are lots of printers on the market that are designed for exactly these situations - they’ll be able to print on thicker cardstock and thinner paper whilst also providing a range of different finishes, giving you the perfect final product for your notebooks, cards, and calendars.
Make sure your printer doesn’t damage your materials
Thicker materials, such as cardstock, are often less flexible than paper, meaning you can be faced with bends, folds, and creases if your printer doesn’t handle your print media with care.
Here at Printerland, we provide a fantastic collection of stationery printers that are designed to minimise material damage, which in turn reduces paper and card waste significantly over extended periods of use.
If you’re using particularly thick cardstock that isn’t capable of bending through the standard feeding mechanism of a printer, you could opt for a flat-feeding printer, which keeps your cardstock flat and protected as it is pulled through to the printer head.
Choose ink that’s suitable for use with cardstock to avoid waste
Some inks dry quickly and do not smear or bleed (quick-drying inks), this isn't always the case, so you need to ensure that you're selecting ink cartridges that will produce high-quality results and less waste.
Laser printers use polymer-based toner and feature a fuser unit that heats the page so that it is dry as soon as it is printed. Toner does not normally sink into the page as much as the ink does with an inkjet printer, which can reduce waste and result in the best quality prints on cardstock.
Find a printer that prints in the right sizes for your stationery
Notebooks, calendars, planners, and other types of stationery can vary in size massively, so you need to make sure that you’ve got a flexible, adaptable printer that can tailor the size of the print to the dimensions that are required.
You can find our collection of A3 printers by clicking here - these printers are capable of printing in larger formats, which is ideal for large-scale wall calendars for the office!
Which types of printers are best for crafts?
In theory, any printer can be used for arts and crafts. However, when a machine is both adaptable and capable of printing with more power and precision, you'll notice the difference in the quality of the results in your DIY projects.
All good printers should ideally offer high print speed, exceptional ease of use, and a range of bonus features, but the best printers for crafters will all be able to meet the following criteria:
- In terms of DPI, they should rank very highly
- They should be capable of printing on the types of material that you’ll be using in your crafting projects (especially if you’ll be using materials other than standard printer paper)
Let's begin with DPI. Dots per inch refers to how many microscopic dots of ink are pressed into a single square inch when printing. The greater the number, the higher the quality of the finished print will be.
A normal text document does not require a high DPI - in fact, it would likely be a waste of ink to print these documents in very high quality - but crafting endeavours almost always benefit from a higher print resolution.
When printing patterns and illustrations, you'll want a DPI of at least 600, and when printing photographs, try to choose a printer with a DPI of at least 1,200.
You should also evaluate what materials your printer can handle. The maximum material thickness that a printer can print on will differ from device to device, so be sure to select a printer that can work with the thickness of your chosen material before you invest.
If you try to use materials that are too thick for your printer, you'll likely cause a jam that could lead to further technical issues down the line.
Almost all printers can handle conventional printer paper and envelopes, but if you want to deal with cardstock or thick, glossy photo paper, you may need to invest in a specialised machine that's built for these types of materials.
Wedding stationery printing
When preparing for your special day, the devil is in the detail. Whilst you could rely on an expensive third-party printing company to carry out your printing needs on your behalf, an in-house stationery printer allows you complete control over every aspect of your printing processes.
Here are just some of the printing projects a stationery printer is capable of producing to enrich any wedding event.
Wedding invitations
A wedding invitation is arguably the most important piece of wedding stationery there is, acting as a first point of contact for your guests, it’s important to get it right.
A bespoke wedding invitation adds a personal touch when informing your guests of the big day. A high-quality stationery printer will allow you to print on a wide range of media types including cardstocks to ensure your invitations have a professional quality feed.
Set off your wedding invitation with unique designs and photography and enjoy complete creative control over your invitations design.
RSVP Cards
Additionally, an RSVP (répondez s'il vous plait) card is a crucial part of any wedding invitation containing important information including date, time, and venue location.
As a key part of wedding planning and logistics an RSVP card must be clear, legible and include a personal touch.
A stationery printer is the perfect choice for producing a high-quality RSVP card tailored directly to your needs.
Our range of stationery printers will allow you to create the perfect RSVP card which will rival any professional printing companies’ products at a fraction of the cost.
Customised Envelopes
Often overlooked, an envelope is often the first point of contact between you and your wedding guests.
Instead of using a generic, blank envelope to send out your wedding correspondence, a customised envelope helps to further enhance levels of personalisation ensuring no detail is overlooked.
Stationery printers are capable of printing directly onto envelopes ensuring that your guests receive a personalised and bespoke invitation inside and out.
Menu Cards
After the wedding ceremony has finished, it’s time to celebrate and enjoy food and toasts with family and friends.
A bespoke menu card is the perfect way to finish a table and display their meal choices in a tasteful and elegant way.
A stationery printer allows you to produce fully customised menu cards on an array of media types to perfectly match the theme of your wedding and venue.
Additionally, with some wedding stationery printers you can produce professional grade waterproof menus perfect for a wedding reception and able to stand up to accidental spillages.
Place Cards
Seating arrangements can be overwhelming to both you and your guests, to make your special day run that much smoother why not produce your own personalised place cards.
With a place card needed for every single guest including children and plus-ones, a place card is a subtle yet important printed item that can be easily overlooked during the planning stage.
Giving you total control over your place card designs (including correct name spelling!) a stationery printer allows you to tailor your place cards to be in keeping with the overall theme and tone of your wedding reception.
Ceremony Programmes
From the aisle walk to the exchanging of the rings, a ceremony programme gives your guests a step-by-step guide to your ceremony’s proceedings as well as serving as a priceless memento from your special day.
Thank You Cards
After your special day is over, it’s important to show your appreciation for your guests and the gifts you have received.
A stationery printer allows you to create professional standard thank you cards which can be combined with a custom printed envelope for a special way to show your gratitude.
Thank you cards can be printed on a broad range of paper and cardstock types and could include high quality photographs of the happy couple and serve as a commemorative token of your wedding day.
Stationery printers for professional use
Established wedding planning companies can leverage the benefits of a stationery printer to slash third party costs and to enjoy total control over their customer facing products. An in-house stationery printer also allows wedding planners to drastically cut down on turnaround times giving you a competitive edge against rival companies.
How Printerland can help me find the best printer for my needs
If you’d like to chat with a member of the Printerland team to discuss the options available for your stationery printing needs, be sure to get in touch with us online or by phone today!
After a quick consultation with our expert team, we’re sure we’ll be able to find a printer that’s a perfect fit for your printing needs!
Alternatively, you can check out our guide to the best printers
