Tackle any size print job with our top picks for the best large format printer.
Welcome to our pick of the best large format printers in 2021. If you’re on the hunt for a printer that can handle large documents, such as posters and other promotional materials, then a large format printer is essential. On this page you’ll find our list of the best large format printers that can produce big printouts without compromising on print quality. These printers are able to print out much larger documents than standard printers. This means these specialised devices can be quite expensive. However, our price comparison tool can scour the internet to make sure you get the very best price for a large format printer. Large format printers are used not just for marketing and promotional materials like posters, but also for blueprints, plans and technical data as well. They work much like normal printers – but on a much larger scale. Large format printers aren’t simply about scaling up the technology as much as preserving detail and making sure this remains crisp and clear, no matter how big the paper size you’re working with. However, once you start getting into ANSI F and A0 paper sizes to print, this takes you into a generally more expensive market than desktop. So to help you out, here we’ll list the best in large format printers, starting at the lower end of the budget range and building our way through to the more expensive models – with the caveat that we’re focusing on large format printers for paper printing, rather than wide format printers that use vinyl for signage printing. HP’s latest pair of 200 Series DesignJet plotters are the smallest yet. They’re also the most affordable and easiest to use. The HP DesignJet T230 is the entry-level model costing as little as US$899, or £756. At less than a meter wide, it can print onto A4, A3, A2 and A1 size paper, or you can attach a roll for 24-inch banner printing. It can even switch between different sizes of pre-loaded media automatically with the addition of an inexpensive accessory. You can also send multiple print jobs at once by using HP Click software, while the HP Smart app makes it easy to print from anywhere using your smartphone. It prints relatively quickly too, turning out an A1 sheet in as little as 35 seconds. T his is an inkjet printer at heart and its four cartridges are located at the front for easy access. They have a fairly high page yield with 20ml of ink giving you around 101 A1-size prints. This impressively compact device is small enough to sit on a desk, but a dedicated stand is available from HP. At the premium end of HP’s comprehensive line of large format inkjet plotters sits the HP DesignJet T650, a 36-inch plotter for printing up to A1 sized documents, or 36-inch roll paper. It claims to be the smallest wide format printer with an integrated stand and it’s ideal for use in an architect’s office, a design studio, or other shared office environment. This top-end model has a very fast print speed of just 25 seconds for an A1/D-sized document and a full gigabyte of memory for processing sizeable image files. The HP DesignJet T650 is a thermal inkjet printer using dye-based C, M and Y color cartridges and a pigment-based K to make up the image. It has an automatic feed for A4 and A3 sheets and a manual roll feed for A2 and A1 paper with an automatic horizontal cutter built in. It would suit any AEC, GIS, and MCAD professionals who need to print maps, technical drawings, posters, and renders. The HP DesignJet Z9+ leads the next stage up in large format printers, being able to handle prints of up to 44″. It also comes with a touchscreen,500GB harddrive, automatic rollfeed and cut screen feeder, and a set of 9 ink colors. While the number of ink types isn’t as high as the Canon above, HP cover this through advances in printhead technology and HP Pixel Control, which aims to ensure that print quality is rich and sharp in both color and detail. It also has its own in-built built-in spectrophotometer to reduce the need for reprints. The HP DesignJet Z9+ really does deliver on exceptional high-resolution prints. However, the main aim of the DesignJet Z9+ isn’t just to work with quality, but also work at faster speeds. It advertises a rate of 185 square feet per hour (71.4 m²/hr), which is much higher than earlier DesignJet series from HP and many competitors, though of course print speed will depend on print mode and media type.
