Printing Postcards

[Samantha]

Irritating technician question here I'm afraid!

I would like to start printing postcards, but on 'postcard' card - so shiny on one side.

Any idea how this is done? I know I can't put inkjet paper through the machines, so I imagine I can't put this through either?

In which case, how do people actually print postcards en mass? Is there special equipment I need?

Thanks for any advice.

[mccoyh]

Re: Printing Postcards

It is usually done with a printing press or offset printing. Both of which are large and expensive.

[TonerMunkeh]

Re: Printing Postcards

Best way to do it would be from the bypass but with "Thick 3" as the paper setting. Also, make sure whoever you buy the blank cards from GUARANTEE the cards are suitable for laser printers, that way if it wrecks your machine, you've got some comeback. What breed of machine are you likely to be feeding these through anyway?

[Samantha]

Re: Printing Postcards

Well not definate for now, I don't want to do it if it's going to wreck the equipment, but current machine is Aficio 3235c (only colour one we currently have)- due for an upgrade very shortly though, so is there anything I should look out for in particular?

[xordi69]

Re: Printing Postcards

clean polygonal motor, in laser, this is the cause of a side clearer than other

[wfinn]

Re: Printing Postcards

If thick 3 doesnt work then I have had really good luck with Special paper 2 for coated or slick paper.

[cobiray]

Re: Printing Postcards

I don't recall for sure, but I don't think the B180 series of machines has a thick 3 setting. IIRC, they only do thick 2 through the bypass single sided. I think they only handle up to 43lb paper which isn't very heavy if you're looking to run postcards.

The newer color units run the thick paper much more reliably and can be fed through the paper trays, depending on the model. With any special media, you will have an increase chance of jamming in addition to more wear and tear on consumable items. I have a customer who has a run of heavy stock weekly on a MPC4000 and the life of nearly every consumable is significantly decreased. Just something else to think about if this is your only or primary machine for output, it could be impacted by running.

If you have a discussion with a sales person about the machine, make sure you mention that you want to run these and an approximate amount and frequency of the run. A quarterly postcard will make much less impact than say a weekly run of the the postcards. I can't promise the sales person will listen, but at least you've let them know before purchasing.

[teebee1234]

Re: Printing Postcards

Probably the most important thing to do once you have narrowed your selection is to take the exact stock you intend to print on and go to the dealer(s) showroom and run test prints on them. That will give you a pretty good idea of how the stock will feed and the output will appear. Or better yet try and have a demo machine delivered to your business for a few weeks.

[Samantha]

Re: Printing Postcards

We have been recommended an 4500 machine - 'recycled' although, to be honest, I'm not convinced on the whole recycled scheme. I think it's just rebranding outdated machines - and I've got plenty of those already!

I'll try and hunt down some postcard card and see what to make of that.

Thanks for all the responses.

[TonerMunkeh]

Re: Printing Postcards

Best machine for this will probably be an MPC6000 or similar with the cards being fed from the bypass. That way, the paper path is straight through the machine with no turnarounds. It'll be much faster too.

[Samantha]

Re: Printing Postcards

Best machine for this will probably be an MPC6000 or similar with the cards being fed from the bypass. That way, the paper path is straight through the machine with no turnarounds. It'll be much faster too.

I shall enquire about that machine - thanks. It's not so much the thickness of the paper i'm concerned about, but the shinyness of it. I've seen what happens when you put photo paper through the machines and it's not pretty!

[wfinn]

Re: Printing Postcards

I wouldn't go that route. That machine is only rated for coated paper through the LCT with air assist turned on. DO NOT TRY THIS WITHOUT THE LCT. I have a church that tried this. Sure it works for a while then fails later on down the line and the only thing we could do was to walk in and tell them to buy the LCT. Once that happened problems went away. You can try the new C651 which basically replaced that machine but its more expensive. The other problem with the C6000 is the duplex only supports I believe 136 g/m2 so don't expect to print on both sides with any reliability. If your going to print that stuff you need a machine that can actually handle it well.

[Samantha]

Re: Printing Postcards

Thanks wfinn.

What is an LCT, (not heard of that before) and what does it do?

It is possible to put something through the machine twice though on the bypass? Print the front then put through to print the back? (Forgive me if this is an unmentionable thing to do!!)

[wfinn]

Re: Printing Postcards

Thanks wfinn.

What is an LCT, (not heard of that before) and what does it do?

It is possible to put something through the machine twice though on the bypass? Print the front then put through to print the back? (Forgive me if this is an unmentionable thing to do!!)

If you find paper rated for the right machine then yes you can. Its actually LCIT sorry, large capacity input tray which sits beside that machine and for that model for coated paper you have to use the LCIT with the air assist. It has turbine fans on two sides of the paper to lift the sheets off each other and feed in better. I would have to have the paper specs to let you know if it could run in a machine like that.

If its something you are going to do a lot or run a variety of stocks then you really need to go with more of a production machine like the C651 or C901 which these machines are made for this. They have the Fiery which is basically a color matching device, the machines have paper libraries which allows you to customize the machine in almost every way to try and run as many different kinds of papers as possible, they can print on different thicknesses without slowing down like the C6000 would. Printing coated paper on the right settings on a C6000 series almost cuts the speed in half or more.

I work with lots of churches and print shops using many types of a paper on different machines. PM me with more details on the paper or what you want to do with the machine in general.

ADDON: The LCIT that is needed for coated paper actually replaces the bypass tray and yes you can print one side, flip then the other.

[kingpd@businessprints.net]

Re: Printing Postcards

My two cents...

Contradicting what everybody else is saying or hasn't said...don't use copier or printer, even the "production" lines to produce postcards.

Several reasons:

1. None of these machines were truly made to handle such thick paper. Even the production lines that konica minolta, ricoh, and canon make. The fact is even if you can run the card stock many parts will wear out prematurely.

2. Postcards printed on digital devices are inferior to offset press printed postcards. I love laser devices but the manufacturers are bs'ing everybody when they try and call their products presses. Presses still are in many regards superior for specialty printing work. There's a reason why true presses are used to print on things as thick as corrugated boxes and why some presses run into the millions. No one will ever buy a laser device priced at near a million dollars.

3. There's a reason cardstock printed on a press works better. First of all the ink. The ink has no wax component and bonds differently to the paper compared to toner. This makes the ink more stable and permanent.

4. The second point of why postcards printed on a press are better is because of the coating options. Especially when doing full color postcards, I recommend UV coating on at least one side. This further protects the printing and makes the colors outstanding.

5. If you're mailing these postcards, definitely go with a true press. Why? Because toner based printing rubs off when the cards go through the USPS's high speed sorting equipment. I've seen it many times, from cards printed b/w on a 20ppm or less machine to a full color card printed on a KM 8000 press...the cards get messed up going through the sorting equipment.

6. Unless you're doing like a dozen or so postcards, offset press can actually be less expensive.

7. A printing firm and/or mail house can take the printed cards and add variable data to them.

So until the "inks" on laser devices change, postcards should be done on presses...but change the "ink" on a copier/printer and what will you have?