Printing greeting cards on the Epson XP-15000 inkjet printer. Choosing the right card type
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 ก.ย. 2024
- Keith Cooper looks at printing greeting cards on the Epson XP-15000 printer. Using a specially created test image and making test prints shows the importance of using the correct card type, and how with a basic plain card there are simply no settings that will give high quality results.
The test image (suitable for any printer) is available for download at Keith's Northlight Images web site www.northlight-...
Keith uses the free Epson print layout software, since it's widely available and has the ability to work with custom paper sizes, and borderless printing if supported by the printer.
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I'm very impressed. Researching printers and how to achieve a greeting card I would be proud to send. Do you think its ever possible to create a card with the same gloss on one side and matt inside where you would write?
Thanks
It's very much about getting the right media for the printer, and ideally the right ICC profile for the printer/media
For gloss finishes it's very much a matter of experimentation. Whilst an ink-cart printer like the 15000 may be OK for occasional use, it's obviously not great for any volume
I want to know what setting I need to choose for it to print on 80lb 216gsm paper and 100lb 270gsm paper because I want to print greeting cards as well
There is no specific setting - try one of the matte options
Do you have a recommendation for cardstock 100lb for printing a trading card game?
No - 100lb doesn't mean anything outside of the US I'm afraid.
Whatever you do find, check carefully for compatibility with inkjet printing.
Few media I've ever seen called 'cardstock' ever perform well - a term which generally signifies media for commercial print
Great video, thanks for sharing. I have a question about this printer (Epson xp 15000) how do I print double sided greeting cards? I've tried several settings but the inside message/text always prints upside down. Sending out Christmas cards with a printer that automatically prints double sided is great, but upside down is not.
You need to take the card out and reverse it
This is an entirely manual process, using the top feed
Practice with sheets of plain paper and two files of text...
@@KeithCooper Thanks Keith, I was hoping to automatically print the inside automatically, but oh well, Thanks again.
Ah, I've not seen a printer yet which will duplex feed good quality art/photo paper. yet alone card.
First of all, thank you so much for the reviews and all the knowledge that you share with everybody here in youtube. After looking at your videos, I decided to buy this printer, however, for some reason I can't make it work with epson print layout software. and I cannot find any other printing software made by epson I installed the software on mac OSX by any chance do you know what is the problem ?
Thanks - Are you sure you've not got the AirPrint driver installed? It's covered in the main [written] review.
www.northlight-images.co.uk/epson-xp-15000-printer-review/
@Keith Cooper Thank you so much for your answer I checked and I did not have the printer driver installed. Thank you for taking the time and the energy to reply my question. Thank you so much, I am looking forward to see more of your videos.
Hi Keith, I use your brilliant test image in this video for checking media and calibration but I’ve seen it in many places including as a Datacolor document. Have they all licensed it from you?
The colour test image is Datacolor's, and they gave me permission to include it some 15 years ago [the one they supply with their current kit is different in one panel IIRC]
The B&W test image is my own and not specifically licensed to anyone - it is free for non-commercial use
Thank you so much for these super in depth videos Keith! So helpful. In your blog post, it says the maximum paper weight is 23 mil, which is around 230gsm? (according to my Google search 😆)
I’m looking for a printer to print greetings cards, bookmarks, prints and cards, preferably 300-400 gsm - can this printer handle that paper weight ok? Wanted to double check with someone who has actually used it before I invest!
Yes it does, but take care that it is card intended for inkjet use. The wrong card will look poor no matter what settings you tweak ;-)
Whilst I tried quire a few media types I found that the 15000 was fairly forgiving of most - but sometimes only one at a time.
Also, thickness does not directly equate with gsm, since it depends on density...
Thanks so much for your speedy and thorough reply! Further down the rabbit hole I go 😁
@@KeithCooper hi Keith thank you for your videos they are very helpful. i am looking to buy a printer that supports 300 gsm cardstock to print cards. It will be possible with this printer? I'm willing to print hundreds of cards a month. Do i have to feed manually one by one??? thank you for your help!
@@marioga873 Only on card stock meant for inkjet use (with the standard inks)
This is a cheapish consumer level printer - so yes, one sheet at a time.
There are few printers of this sort which will take multiple sheets of card reliably (it's one reason I recently tested the WF-C8690)
@@KeithCooperThank you for your reply Keith. I will take a look at that one
Great video, I have this printer and went into the Epson Creative Software that came with it but the Greeting Card section is greyed out. Any idea where to go to get a free greeting card templatetemplate. I do not use Photoshop or Affinity.
Also how would the Canon Double Sided Matte Greeting Card Paper go, it states it is for inkjet printers and doing greeting cards with photos. I think it is 180gsm
Thanks
I don't know about that software (the printer is no longer here).
It's possibly greyed out because you've set the wrong paper source?
The templates I did are on the Northlight Images site, but they assume using proper editing software...
The card you mention ideally needs profiles - it will need to be manually fed since double sided card rarely works OK in any printer in duplex.
Hi sir can i use this for passport photos if not please recommend another affordable one thanks
probably - depends on the requirements of the passport office where you are
@@KeithCooper germany
Here in germany for 4 passport photos they charge 24 euros so i decided to buy a print
No idea I'm afraid, I'm in the UK
You'll need to check what the German passport office requirements are
@KeithCooper ok but if the image quality is then i don't think they say anything about it important is images quality
Hi, thank you for your video, but could you please drop a link where I can buy the paper?
Either Fotospeed or my local supplier 'Paper Spectrum' both in the UK (outside of the UK - no idea)
www.paperspectrum.co.uk/blank-greeting-cards--postcards-45-c.asp
Both do a good range of cards intended for home inkjet printers
Hi. Thanks for posting the video. What gsm is the card use tried and also what’s the max gsm for the 15000? Cheers
There is no maximum thickness mentioned in the XP-15000 specs, and unfortunately I've not yet seen a pack of such cards with a thickness or weight specified.
These cards look in the region of 350-450gsm, but without measurement I couldn't say.
The really important feature is always the surface coating and how it accepts ink
What paper and or brand would you recommend for art prints on this printer please? Your opinion would be appreciated
Depends on just what you mean by 'Art prints'?
It's a term with no common meaning ;-)
I’ve been trying to print A5 cards however the printer seems to only start printing halfway down the paper. It will feed half the paper in and then start printing. Do you have any idea why this would happen? Thanks in advance
A5 is only listed as a normal bordered size in my Mac driver, but it should work. Are you testing using the Epson Print Layout software - this is what I always use for paper testing.
Hi Keith, how does this printer performe when we want to print on both sides?
I understand that for cardstock it does not feed automatic, but setting it manually is hard? Does it have a big deviation?
Thanks for the videos, very usefull
It needs experimentation with layout.
Auto double sided works poorly with anything but the thinnest photo paper - quality is always an issue even then.
@@KeithCooper but is it hard to make the margins match?
I will be using almost always the same layout, as my product has only a few variations.
Is it like something that will take me time once or i will have to calibrate everytime i need to print a new one?
It should be repeatable, but I'd practice with plain paper
Remember though, this is not a high end printer, so card printing is mixed and absolutely needs Inkjet compatible card which rarely comes double sided.
What standard paper sizes does this printer use??? Thank you!
Lots - see the specs at the end of the written review at:
www.northlight-images.co.uk/epson-xp-15000-printer-review/
Note that only some are available for borderless printing. You can also specify custom page sizes, but these won't be borderless
Hi can the printer do custom size borderless printing?
No, I know of no printers I've tested, which support this. Just set sizes
@@KeithCooper thank you for getting back to me
What thickness gsm can you use on this printer?
This info seems missing from any published Epson specs I've seen. 350 worked fine from the top feed when I tested it. Some larger heavy sheets needed a bit of a nudge to get them to feed
Same content, different printer from last week
Very true - I've found that people looking for this info rarely expand their search to other similar printers, so this is for Epson users as opposed to the Canon I've covered before.
I get a lot of emails asking about cards and they've often not followed through to my related articles. I try to make it a bit different, but if you know this stuff already then it is similar
@@KeithCooper it’s great content Keith! Its so valuable that you go into the same length of detail with each printer and very much appreciated!