4 Features to Look For in a High-Performance Commercial Printer

In your day-to-day operations, do you find that your business frequently necessitates printing items? Do you care about the quality of your prints, as well as efficiency? If so, it may be time to look into putting away the printer you purchased at a big box store and acquiring a high-performance commercial printer that has printing, scanning, copying, and faxing capabilities. 

With a commercial printer, you can print anything you need at a high page-per-minute rate without sacrificing image quality. So, whether you need to print marketing materials, books, posters, transaction statements, magazines, catalogues, or packaging documentation, you are set. 

Having your own commercial printer in-house removes the need to outsource your printing to commercial printing businesses that specialize in such services, thus saving you a considerable amount of money, time, and effort.

This also places the entire printing process within your control—from the design to the quality—allowing you to print things exactly how you like them reliably and consistently.

What are the main features to look for in a high-performance commercial printer?

If your business is considering adding a high-performance commercial printer to your office to do all your printing in-house, you will first have to find the perfect machine to meet your specific needs.

As you look at various options for high-performance commercial printers, there are certain features that you should keep an eye out for if you want to get your business the best possible printer. 

The following are some of the most significant features worth searching for as you shop for a high-performance commercial printer:

1. Print quality

Regardless of whether you choose an inkjet or a laser printer, if print quality matters to you, there are certain specs that you should pay attention to as you compare various printer options. 

While a printer’s image quality can depend on several things, ranging from the driver type to the design of the printhead to the quality of the ink, the main spec that you should look out for is the dots per inch (DPI) that the printer offers. 

DPI refers to the number of dots or toner particles that the printer can accurately place within a square inch of paper, as this is indicative of how detailed and sharp the print output will be.

DPI specs typically range between 600 x 600 to 1,200 x 1,200, but some printers can print with an even higher DPI. If you primarily print text documents or simple graphics, a lower DPI range will probably be satisfactory. For printing more complex graphics and photos, however, the higher the DPI is, the better off you will be.

2. Printer speed

If you have ever dealt with a printer that operates at a turtle’s pace, then you know how frustrating it can be, especially when you have a considerable amount of printing to do and minimal time to get it all done. 

If you intend to constantly use your printer or often need to print documents with multiple pages, another spec that you should focus on is the Page Per Minute (PPM) rate. Depending on the printer that you are looking at, its PPM could be anywhere from 20 pages per minute to 55 or even higher. 

If print speed isn’t a concern for your business, getting in touch with a knowledgeable sales representative should still be a priority. They can recommend the device best suited to your needs, as your print volume will determine which device can reliably handle the output. The higher your print volume is, the higher the print speed you’ll require. 

Another feature to keep an eye out for is double-sided printing, also known as duplex printing, as printers with this feature may be slower when used. Since printing on both sides of a page requires extra mechanical processes, double-sided printing tends to result in lower printing speeds.

3. Paper handling

As you search for the right high-performance commercial printer for your business, you must ensure it can support the paper sizes you commonly use, especially if you often stray from standard sizing. 

You will find that there are two main printer types you typically have to choose from: A3 and A4. A3 printers can handle up to 11” x 17” ledger paper, with some that can handle up to 12” x 18”.A4 printers can handle up to legal size paper (8-½” x 14”)

To determine which one may be better suited for your needs, it is important to consider how you intend to use the printer at your business. Typically, organizations in engineering, construction, and architecture (among others) require ledger-capable devices, whereas many other businesses print exclusively on letter and legal paper.

You might also want to investigate the printer’s paper capacity if you do a high volume of printing, as a higher capacity will be more efficient; otherwise, you will have to deal with frequent manual paper reloading.

4. Finishing

Many free-standing A3 devices and some A4 devices offer in-line stapling and hole punching as an option. If you require your documents to be stapled after they are printed or copied, you may want to add this optional feature to your device, which could save you considerable time.

Some of the high volume devices also have the option for GBC punching, where you can have your documents printed, punched, and ready to be put into a cerlox binder.

How DOS Canada Can Help You Find a High-Performance Commercial Printer for All Your Needs

If you need a high-performance printer that meets all the criteria outlined above, then DOS Canada can help. We have a wide range of high-quality, industry-leading commercial printers in stock for you to choose from. 

We offer both new and refurbished printers from brands you trust, like Sharp, Xerox, and HP, and all of our printers have been serviced by our team of highly skilled printer professionals. Whether you require a multifunctional product that serves as both a printer and a copier or a print-only device, we have you covered.

All of our single and multifunction printers have impressive performance capabilities and employ state-of-the-art technology, so you can rest assured that they will do wonders for the efficiency of your business. Our commercial printers are also incredibly user-friendly and come equipped with functions that are easy to customize to meet your requirements. 

Whether you are interested in leasing, renting, or purchasing one of our many top-quality printers, you can speak to one of our printer professionals, and they will be happy to help you find the right printer for you. 

For more information about the high-performance commercial printers we have available or to learn more about our renting and leasing options, call DOS Canada at 1-647-557-1788 or contact us here.