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what is a good printer to get?
for printing dvd covers.
and possibly dvds as well.
may start doing my own covers to my dvds and bung them into slimline cases.
or take the scissors to existing ones and cut to size!
over.
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Get a color laser printer. Here's why:
- Color lasers are now pretty cheap, under $200 USD. I remember paying that much for a color inkjet 10-15 years ago.
- Ink fades over time, in just a few years from consumer printers -- toner takes MUCH longer to degrade.
- Ink costs more in the long-run, due to drying of wells, printer waste from start-up and "clean" functions, and the limited number of prints that a cart can provide ink for. While those toner carts can run $100 each, they can last several years for an average printer user! it doesn't dry out and get wasted, either!
- Most inkjets still use the multi-color cartridge, plus a black cart. If your yellow gives out, the other colors are just wasted. Toner is always individual carts.
If you were in the USA, I'd suggest the Konica Minolta Magicolor 1600W,
currently only $157 from Amazon (including the shipping).
Yes, that is the best price, too (from a reliable merchant), I did some price comparison shopping, since the question asker is a Premium Member and project client. That topic was asked and answered just yesterday:
http://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/show...nter-2059.html
I'd also like to quote something I wrote yesterday, because it's important:
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By far, the best printers for COLOR QUALITY and ACCURACY -- i.e., what you see on screen really is the color that ends up on the page!! -- is a Konica Minolta color laser. Many people think of HP first, but HP has lousy accuracy, and the toner carts are expensive. (Well ... ALL toner carts are expensive, but HP is more expensive.)
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However, I know you're in the UK! 
--- Ready to laugh? It took me a few minutes to realize why I couldn't find any printers online -- I wasn't spelling colour correctly! Doh! ---
Although I'd love to
recommend buying from Amazon.co.uk through one of our affiliate links for £110 delivered, I think you may be able to find that same Minolta printer for about £20 cheaper from another store. I did a quick look at Pricerunner.co.uk, and came across one store where it sells for £90 and includes free delivery:
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/172309
As of today, according to xe.com,
$157.00 USD = £104.467 GBP, so you might be able to get that printer cheaper in UK than we can in USA! Nice! The
Amazon UK price is pretty close to the USA price.
I don't know who ebuyer.com is, so
Amazon UK may be safer -- I leave that for you to decide.
Good quality artwork (300dpi or better), printed on good 28 lb paper stock, from a color laser, will often rival the image quality from a retail DVD release, with its printing press artwork. It's near-impossible to tell the difference between my cases, and the cases of DVDs I have bought, when placed on a shelve side-by-side. This is truly a professional solution, when not mass-printing for distribution.
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and possibly dvds as well.
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Going back to this part of your question, you'll want to get a dedicated disc inkjet printer, or a thermal disc printer. These are higher in cost, hell to maintain (both in time, frustration and costs), and most people would be just as happy with neat handwriting on top of a disc.
Think about the ROI (return on investment)
- DVD menus get the most viewing time, minutes of viewing time
- DVD cases get the next most viewing time, also minutes of reading/admiring/etc
- DVDs themselves get a fleeting few seconds of viewing time, mostly during that brief moment as a disc is removed from a case, and placed into a player
So the ROI on cases and menus is high, while the disc itself is not -- it just needs to be need enough to ID the disc. A disc has no valuable info, artwork, etc -- just an ID for what disc it is. Even retail releases have started to realize this, with many being very skimpy on the art and graphics.
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or take the scissors to existing ones and cut to size!
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No, don't do that. Use a cutboard, metal ruler, and an exacto knife (or box cutter). Make nice precise cuts. Even the best scissors work is wobbly and uneven.
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