Photolithography

The photomask, once created, are the patterns used in photolithography. Photolithography is the process used to transfer the images from the photomask onto the surface of semiconductor silicon wafers. Just like photography, the photomask is a similar to a negative that create multiple copies. The photomask creates duplicate patters on thousands of the silicon wafers if desired.

In photography, if the negative isn’t of good quality, then the pictures won’t be either. The same is true for the photomask. If these are inaccurate or of poor quality, the LCD panels or semiconductor chips they create are also of poor quality.

The photoplotter uses light to write the program from the computer. It transfers the information to a photosensitive medium by exposing it to the light according to the computer program. At one time, those who made photoplots did the task by hand and it was an arduous process. The data fed to the photoplotter generates the “artwork.”

Once the creators of photomasks complete data they transfer the image to a quarts substrate that’s been prepared with a Cr/CrO2 layer and a photoresistant coating on top in many cases, although there are other substrate and coatings used.  Then E-Beam or laser lithography equipment writes a pattern on the photoresist layer. The use of developers finalizes the design on the area exposed.  

Another process then etches the Cr/CrO2 layer, either with wet or dry etching, and reveals the quartz without affecting the photoresist area remaining.  A strip process removes the photoresist area and then they clean and dry the mask area. There are normally dark and clear areas that remain. The dark area is still covered in Cr/CrO2 and the clear area is the naked quarts that transmit the incoming light source. All that remains is to take measurements for accuracy, clean up loose particles and repair any minute damage done in the process.

Gerber Scientific Instrument Company

The first photoplotter came from the Gerber Scientific Instrument Company in the 1960′s. While previous photoplots came from artwork drawn and then photographed, the Gerber Scientific Instrument Company created used numerically controlled data, called Gerber data, as a language to drive the machine.

They used the photosensitive film surface or glass plate to receive the image projected by the use of a xenon lamp. The head of the machine crossed above the surface of the film and produced flashes and draws. The flashes are similar to rubber-stamping a specific area with a simple design and the draws are arcs created by the continuous light from the moving head of the machine. This form of photoplotting was a vector photoplotter and while it dominated the industry for almost 20 was eventually replaced with laser photoplotting.

Laser photoplotting works in an entirely different way. It doesn’t use the vector system of X-Y movements or Gerber data that the vector photoplotter uses. Instead of a set of commands used, as in the vector, the laser photoplotters are in a raster format.

In raster format is made from pixels or a bitmap. The bitmap switches the laser off and on to create lines or designs. If there’s a line the laser flashes, if not, it shuts off. These machines function much faster than the original vector machines. Complex designs that once took as long as 10 hours on vector machines now take as little as 10 minutes on laser photoplotters.

Photoplotters are expensive

The price for laser photoplotters isn’t an amount normally found in the average person’s expendable cash budget. Some machines cost as much as six digits. Most of the machines are purchased by large companies in the printed circuit board (PCB) industry or to shops that outsource for these industries.

The top laser photoplotters are those with fine-line capability, speed and accuracy. Since one error in the photomasks can make all the duplications from it useless, accuracy is of utmost importance. Being able to integrate with CAM systems is also important.

Sometimes transferring the information to plotter ready format causes errors and takes extra time. Most laser photoplotters have recognizable formats such as Gerber. Normally, besides being in the appropriate format the data needs to be panelized and positioned so it’s possible to feed it directly into the plotter.

Printing silk screens

Some of the applications for the laser photoplotters include not only PCB, printed circuit board manufacturing, but also screens for printing silk screens, chemically etched metal components, microwave devices, large feature masks for semiconductor processing and microfluidics.

Look for photoplotters with a wide range of resolutions, often from 3 000 dpi to 128 000 dpi. The machine often runs slower at the higher-resolution spectrum than the lower but it does give you the capability of plotting very fine lines.

You need positioning accuracy in your photoplotter also. A closed loop system can ensure the correct pattern positioning of the entire plot area. If you work in an environment with an unstable temperature, you’ll need a laser plotter with a built in sensor to improve the dimensional stability at your environmental high or low temperatures.

Different industries have different requirements for their laser photoplotters. People that use the plotter for standard photo-chemical milling applications require a high degree of back-to-back registration accuracy, particularly when you consider the film envelopes that image both sides of the product simultaneously.

For electroforming, or other single sided applications, you need size control, excellent edge quality and the ability to use glass plates required for specific applications. Before you purchase your photoplotter, list all the important specification required by your industry and compare each type of laser photoplotter to find the one with the features you require.

Technorati Tags: laser photoplotters, photoplotters for printed circuit boards

To begin with, let’s take a look at the Dell 5350DN mono single-function laser printer, for those of us who only need black-and-white printouts.

With the 5350DN, Dell delivers a perfect solution for a small business or home based business looking just for a monochrome printer that will work with high efficiency and low maintenance. What are you getting, traits-wise, with the Dell 5350DN mono?

You’re getting something fast, that spits out up to 50 pages per minute with up to 1200 x 1200 dpi in resolution. Something so versatile that it can expand its on capabilities via a wide array of accessories that you can add on as your needs dictate. And something that works hard: you’ll have yourself up to a 225,000 page monthly duty cycle along with the standard two-sided printing as well as expandable paper handling options. And yet, you’ll have something cost effective.

In research done pitting the Dell against its nearest rival the HP LaserJet P4015DN, there was as much as a 19% lower total cost of printing done over a three-year period. Of course, there’s one caveat here: Dell warns that “testing methodologies for toner yield claims may differ across manufacturers, which could have significant impact on toner yields and total cost of printing results.” Still, those aren’t bad results.

In fact, just how economical and efficient is this Dell printer? Well, it can give you a-penny-per-page printing. Of course, there’s a caveat here; it being that Dell clarifies “toner yields are based on testing in accordance with ISO/IEC 19752. Yields vary with usage and environmental conditions.” Still, once again, that ain’t bad. Especially when you consider that you’ll get razor-sharp, professional-quality prints at that cost and at the speed and resolution just outlined. And, the Dell 5350DN does include a standard duplexer for helping decrease your paper usage via permitting automatic printing on both sides of a page.

Other geeky-cool stuff comes with it, too. You get a Dell Printer Configuration Web Tool so that you can have direct access to printer information via the Internet. This printer’s network connectivity includes standard Ethernet 10/100 Base-T (internal) in addition to USB 2.0 in the back and the front. And you can even manage and monitor your entire printer fleet via the downloadable Dell OpenManage Printer Manager network utility.

But what if you want and need something that can print out color images? Dell’s latest and greatest solution to this is the 5130CDN. Now we’re getting into some serious printer power perfect for a small business or a single office.

If you’ve got a business, or your business has workgroups, comprising 10 or more people and you need sleek, lively, dynamic, in-color print materials, the 5130CDN is difficult to beat. You can expand the printer to be more “independent” and need less paper loading, among other expansion modules that you can use to customize the printer’s function to your office or business.

But what is really important about the Dell 5130CDN is that it’s the fastest color laser printer in its class, with 47 pages per minute for single-sided prints and 37.6 pages per minute for double -sided needs. For single-sided prints, that comes out to a wicked 1.3 seconds per page of color printing! But if you are worried that all that speed comes at a cost of lower quality, fear not.

Dell has thrown in some advanced technology here so that you are actually seeing prints with more vivid colors, greater resolution, and sharper images and graphs than most of the in-class competitors can deliver even at their “sluggish” paces. And is it efficient and economical for what you are demanding of the machine? Yes it is.

Dell has really been turning up the juices on the printer production in recent years, trying to re-establish its name as a producer of high quality computer-related electronics that don’t make your re-mortgage the farm to acquire. Dell is the business owner’s trusted friend for good reason. Check out these latest printer models from Dell if you’re serious about your business and have a lot of print needs.

Technorati Tags: dell printers, Latest Dell printers

Since 2002 copy machine manufacturers have been putting digital hard drives in their copy machines that stores digital copies of all documents copied on these machines.

To make matters worse, most of the general public has not been made aware of this and so have continued to use commercial copy machines to copy their W-2s, income tax statements and other personal and sensitive information, increasing the number of copiers that are storing this information just waiting to be retrieved by some less than honest person.

If you think that it may be difficult for criminals and others to get their hands on these copy machines and the hard drives they contain, think again. They don’t even have to steal them, they can simply buy them used for as little as $300.00 when the original owners trade them in on a new copier.

One copy machine in the hands of someone unscrupulous can result in that person obtaining tens of thousands of pieces of information from a single copy machine. This information can be easily accessed from software that can be downloaded for free off the Internet. Imagine the information that can be obtained from even one machine owned by a small business.

Not only can someone get all the pertinent information on the business itself but, they may also be able to get employees names, their addresses, their social security numbers and even in some cases their bank account numbers.

If the employer of the company has allowed their employees to use the copier for making personal copies these machines may also contain sensitive medical records and information on their spouses and children. For, those wishing to cash in big using identity theft all the information is right at their fingertips once they download the copy’s hard drive.

Measures To Prevent The Downloading Of Information

There are measures that can be taken by the original owners of these copiers to keep this information from being recovered or at least make recovery of these documents more difficult. There is security software that can be used and the owner can even pull these hard drives and erase them when they have finished with the machines. But, this is not being done.

There has been information downloaded in used copiers from police stations, medical facilities and businesses in an effort to show the owners of these copiers how easy this information is to access all to no avail. So, it is a safe bet that anyone whose information has ever been copied on a commercial copier has information out there just waiting to fall into the wrong hands.

Why Do Copiers Need This Hard Drive Storage To Begin With

One big question that needs to be asked is why would copiers need this kind of storage of documents anyway? There really seems to be no useful purpose in these hard drivers what so ever. Since most of the public do not even know that these hard drives exist there is little chance that if someone lost a document and all the copies they had made that they would go to the owner of the copier and try and retrieve that stored copy from the machine.

Even if they did want to retrieve a stored copy, the likelihood of the owner knowing how to retrieve that information is slight. Leaving that hard drive to serve no purpose for anyone but the criminal element.

When you stop to think that most victims of identity theft have no idea from where their information was obtained isn’t it possible that that photo copier may have been the culprit all along? The least that should be done is that all copy machines should carry a warning in large letters advising the public that any document that is copied on these machines may be able to be accessed by anyone. Big brother may not be watching, but the criminals may very well be.

Technorati Tags: commercial copy machine, copy machine security

Environmentally and Health Conscious Machines

The Sharp corporations dedication to designing and making printers that are more environmentally and health friendly have not gone unnoticed. Their products are now lead and chromium free and they limit their packaging to help save on natural resources. What this means is that these products will pose less health risks to users during the life of the machine and even when these machines are disposed of will create less health and environmental risks. While these printers won’t exactly decay leaving no trace of their existence they will provide less of a threat than many printers on the market today.

Added Security For Added Piece Of Mind

The Sharp corporation has also designed printers with added security features so that customer and client information can be kept more secure. The newer models of Sharp printers use their multi level security suites and offer web based device management for administrator and user level login controls. There is also an optional Sharp security kit that encrypts documents and erases temporary memory on the hard drive.

When you combine these two benefits with the latest in high output and high quality monochrome multi funtional printers that have been released over the last couple of years you are looking at a series of printers that are hard to beat. Two of the latest Sharp MFP’s are the MX M753 and the MX M623.

These machines are considered to be superior performing machines that are extremely reliable which is just what today’s businesses need. Some of the features that make these printers unique are:

    *      Easy to use touch screen that allows access to Sharps OSA applications and commonly used features to be just one touch away for ease of use

    *      Retractable standard keyboard that streamlines jobs that require repetitive data entry tasks such as email distribution.

    *      Ability to handle large complex jobs quickly.

    *      An 800 MHz controller that can print, copy and fax continually and also process network scanning jobs while existing jobs are running.

    *      A 150 sheet duplex single pass document feeder.

    *      The 753 can output 75ppm while the 623 can output 62ppm

    *      Easy to Use Document filing system

and much more.

These professional looking and performing machines make printing, copying and faxing simple and easy and will keep any office running smoothly and efficiently. These printers even have a special feature that can be used to diagnose problems and many times correct them without ever having to call in a printer repairman.

The high resolution OSA technology enables these printers to do several tasks including enabling customized interfaces that support rich beautiful graphics and even web based java and flash clips.

These printers are really incredible, performing every function a business needs while looking very professional in the office setting.

When you consider the how reliable these printers are, how easy they are to learn to use, and the functions they perform you will understand why they are gaining popularity with large businesses who have large document output needs. Then when you consider that the Sharp corporation has gone out of their way to develop a printer that produces these documents at high speed while still looking professional and does it with an eye to security, the environment and to the health of the users of both today and tomorrow you can’t help but be impressed with these machines.

With such great quality printers, it makes one wonder what new ideas the Sharp corporation will come up with and what features the next generation of Sharp printers will have. They may have taken years in the making but, Sharp MFP printers have definitely set the standard for printers in the 21st century.

Technorati Tags: latest sharp printers

The 6000 and 8000 series.

Each series contains 3 new printers that combines all the great things you love in the other ImageRunners series with some great new features and benefits. These new series are new advanced document management systems that are designed to increase workplace efficiency while helping to lower costs. Designed for large corporation work groups these copiers are a rapid fire way of producing papers and documents. Here is an overall look at both the 6000 and 8000 series.

ImageRunner 6000 Series

The image runner 6000 series are black and white printers that includes the 6055, 6065, and 6075 models. The last two digits in the number is the number of pages per minute you can expect each of these printers to chug out. In addition to their printing speeds they have a number of other great features as well.

    * Scans original into memory once and then prints all copies from memory. What this means is that not only does this save wear and tear on your original copy since it is not scanned over and over but, it saves wear and tear on the scanner as well. The less wear, the longer the life of the scanner without need for repair. This is just one way the new ImageRunner 6000 series saves money while increasing office productivity.

    * Scans 5 jobs into memory while the current job is processing. This means there will be less wasted time in the office because workers won’t need to run back and forth to the printer to see if it is available. They can simply scan their job into memory and continue with other work without worrying about beating the next person to the printer in order to get the copies they need.

    * First Copy Out 3.8 seconds. The faster the first copy runs through the machine the better. This means there won’t be any time wasted on waiting for documents to start printing as the first copy is almost immediate.

    * Maximum Paper size 11 by 17 inches. Just the right size for those small charts that big business need from time to time and you won’t have to worry about that larger size paper jamming in your printer either.

    * Stores up to 4000 pages of scanned or printed data. This means if you get those reports all put together and decide you want another copy or two you don’t have to start the scanning process all over, you can simply print those extra copies from memory.

ImageRunner 8000 Series

The imageRunner 8000 series includes the 8105, 8095, 8085, and prints 105, 95, 85 pages per minute respectively. These printers also

    * Can capture 200 black and white images and 100 color images per minute

    * They hold a maximum paper capacity of 7000 sheets of paper which means you won’t be spending all your time loading the paper tray.

    * They also capture both sides of a two sided document on one scan which saves on the scanner and like the 600 series they only scan the original copy once and then print the necessary copies from memory saving wear and tear on both the scanner and the original copy.

Also like the 6000 series the 8000 series is made for big corporations who want to do serious business increasing efficiency while keeping costs down. Both of these series of Cannon printers have high quality software and can combine networking and fax functions to increase productivity and make these printers truly an all in one office center.

The fast speed and the multifunctional features of these printers will make them a good choice for many businesses that have a high output of documents such as corporations and law offices.

Technorati Tags: canon imagerunner, canon printer

The Right Size For The Right Job

The Epson Pro GS6000 printer is a 64 inch printer that is considered one of the fastest 64 roll to roll printer in its class. Prints about 91 square foot per hour. This over 5 foot size, makes it the perfect printer for producing high color fidelity and accuracy for decorative fine art and outdoor posters and banners.

Wide Range Of Colors

This printer offers a wide range of eco friendly colors eight in all, including orange and green. The GS6000 color ink is made eco solvent using ultra chrome technology that reduces the negative impact on both the environment and the worker while the larger color spectrum helps to reproduce more realistic and high quality color. This helps signmakers maximize their profits while remaining competitive due to the Epson Pro 6000s advanced performance and reliability.

The eco-solvent ink also has been designed to eliminate need for dryers or air purification systems while using this printer and none of their ink colors contain nickel.

Large outdoor printers have been manufactured by many companies starting around 2001-2002, and there are now about 200 different brands of commercial outdoor printers on the market. So far, it is still early days and this Epson printer is measuring up to even the stiffest competition, which is quite a feat for a first time manufacturer of these giant printers.

Small Commercial Printers For Small Business

Epson also makes great small commercial printers for the small business. The Workforce 40 is one such inkjet printer that has many of the benefits of a laser printer. Here are just a few things this little printer can do.

    * Churn out pages at 38ppm for black and white and 27ppm for color

    * Laser quality print at 2X speed of most ink jet printers

    * Comes with software that allows your company to create flyers, calendars and brochures

    * Individual ink cartridges that are easy to change

    * Uses 3times less power than most laser printers.

While professional reviews give the workforce 40 high marks for speed and affordability they found that the print was substandard and ink cartridges too expensive. However, actual users liked this printer both for affordability and performance scoring it as high as 9.1 out of 10 on some sites.

The workforce 40 and the Epsom pro GS 6000 are just two of the many Epson printers that are available to meet the different needs of different sizes and types of businesses. Chances are good that if you can’t find an Epson printer that suits your company’s individual needs you will soon be able to as this company is always coming out with new, innovative ideas.

Technorati Tags: epson banner printer

Much of this focus has gone into providing the best imprinting systems that are compatible with other company’s printers helping to turn those commercial printers used for word documents, into printers that were capable of providing quality photos as well. However, in the last few years Kodak has decided to branch out and begin making commercial color printers of its own.

Many of these printers are designed strictly for niche markets and therefore would have little interest for the average business however, there is one series small business ink jet printer that Kodak has done extensive marketing of and that printer is suitable for small businesses and home use. That is the ESP 9 series.

The ESP printers are all in one printers designed for small businesses. These printers print, scan, copy, and fax. In these four areas this printer is about par on the course with other printers of its size developed for the same use.

iPhone and iPod printing

However, this printer has a lot of other features as well. Its improved control panel makes for simplified wireless configuration. Wi-Fi printing is easy from your iPhone or iPod. It prints at 32 ppm for black and white and 30ppm for color. What is really impressive is that this printer can produce a high quality 4 by 6 photo in just 28 seconds. However, when printing photos with this printer keep in mind that the highest quality photos will be those printed on Kodak paper.

The ink cartridges for the ESP 9 series Kodak printer are extremely low, sometimes running as much as US$50.00 lower than the inks for other printers.

Live and learn

While the ESP 9 series printers are great functioning, the print speed is often a little slow and some tests have shown occasional paper jams. However, keep in mind that Kodak is new to the world of business printing and this line of Kodak printers was an opportunity to get their feet wet.

With Kodak’s reputation for quality products and services, there is little doubt that this company will quickly learn from their mistakes and will soon be producing inkjet digital printers that will rival all the big names in the industry.

Home office

In the meantime the ESP 9 series printers are great little printers for the home office and other situations where you want a combination of fine photo printing and acceptable text printing and you don’t need the documents yesterday.

While by no means a perfect printer it is a good start for the Kodak company and I suspect that shortly we will all be seeing new and improved printers from this company.

In the meantime, Kodak continues to offer a variety of photo printers for both the home and commercial use and for those who want professional quality photographic copies there is simply no bigger name in photo printing. It will be interesting to see what the Kodak company brings to the table in the next generation of commercial printers.

Technorati Tags: kodak printers, printers for business

Some small businesses require a lot of paper work which means more printing while others do very little printing. Further, some businesses are more inclined towards graphics printing while others are more focused on text prints and this will also play a part in the type of home printer that is ideal for the business. Therefore, before deciding whether to stick your existing home printer or buying a new one for the sake of your business, you must take all the key factors into consideration.

Image printing

Even though laser printers are in many respects considered superior to ink jet printers, if you intend to use the printer for printing color images, then ink jet printers are the way to go. Ink jet printers produce detailed and good quality photos that only a high quality laser printer would be able to achieve. Even then such laser printers can be very expensive.

If your small business will entail printing colored documents such as business brochures with quality, an ink jet printer will get the job done right and at a reasonable price. Some of the small home based businesses that would do well with a color ink jet printer include an architectural business, graphic designer, interior designer and photographer. Also note that the printer is only one side of the equation. In order to get quality image prints, you will also require good quality printing paper.

Text printing

If on the other hand your business is more inclined towards text printing, then you have a lot more options to choose from. For text printing, a laser printer is probably the best alternative for most home based businesses.

The technology used by laser printers means that they are optimized for good text printing and can achieve better quality text prints than an ink jet printer. There is a much lower probability for text smudging, a problem that is inherent many ink printers. The laser printer would thus be ideal for such home based small businesses and professionals such as book authors, attorneys and motivational speakers.

If you hardly or do not require to print any images or graphics, you can go for a simple low priced monochrome laser printer. However, if your work will require a moderate level of graphics such as pie charts and diagrams, you may need to pay a little more for a higher quality graphic printer to obtain better print quality.

Speed and volumes of printing

Another key determinant of the type of printer to get for your small business is the quantity of print work that your business deals with. The volume of printing work has an effect on the speed of printing something that is denoted as pages per minute (ppm) in the printer’s specifications. Though ink jet manufacturers have done a lot to improve the speed of their printers, the speeds remain much slower than those of laser printers. Therefore, if you have a lot of printing work and need it done fast, then a laser printer is the best alternative for your business.

Overall cost

Cost will be a key factor in your choice of the home and small business printer you go for. There are many costs that you need to consider when buying a printer. But you must not only focus on the shelf price of a printer but on the maintenance costs as well.

Ink jet printers are usually much cheaper than laser printers of similar specification. However, the maintenance cost of an inkjet printer can be much higher than that of a laser printer. The inkjet printer exhausts the toner much faster than the laser printer does. This of course will be factor of what you print. For instance, printing high quality color photos and images will consume your printer toner even much faster.

Technorati Tags: home printer, home printer in small business

Ink and Paper

One of the last things people tend to think about is the cost and quality of the ink and paper that usually comes with or goes with the printer. You want to make sure that your price per picture is going to be reasonable and that you are getting quality stuff. Otherwise, you might want to go ahead and take a look at some other options. If you are spending too much per picture, you either have to push that expense on to your customers or eat the costs yourself. Either way, you will find yourself losing money and that would not be a fun experience.

Inkjet or Thermal-Dye

You really can produce great photographs with either of these, but if there is a chance that you will be going for long periods in between printing pictures, then you might want to go for the thermal-dye printer. This is because it uses an ink that will not dry up on you. Of course, since the printer paper has to go through the thermal-dye printers four times total, the actual speed of the thermal-dye printer is going to be slower than the inkjet printer.

Another thing to consider is the durability of the ink that is used from the printers. You might want a clear overcoat on your photos. The thermal-dye printers will do this for you which means your photos will be protected from UV and sunlight fading. If smudge and water resistance is something you find more important, then the inkjet printer is the printer for you.

Size of Prints

When shopping for a printer for your business, or even for the house, you want to make sure that you are getting a printer that will print the appropriate size photos for what you need. If you are going to need large photos printed, you will have to specifically look for a printer that will do that. All printers will print the smaller 4×6 inch and smaller photos.

Preference of Paper

Some photo printers will only use certain types of printer paper. If your business requires you to print matte instead of glossy, you need to make sure that the printer will allow for that. Most people assume that a photo printer can use any type of paper that they want, but that is not always the case.

Price

After you have figured out all of the printer features that you need to have for your photo printer, it is important that you are doing a little comparison shopping. The more you compare prices, the better deal you will find. There is no reason to pay more for your photo printer than you have to.

It is also important to make sure that you are getting a quality warranty with your photo printer. The success of your business depends on it. Just make sure that you are taking your time to discover which is the best quality photo printer for you needs. Check out some reviews and do as much research as possible. The more research you do, the better printer you will end up with in the end.

Technorati Tags: commercial color printers for photography, photo printing

Unfortunately, flyers are probably the most underused advertising resource available to the home or small business. The reason for this is that most home and small business owners simply don’t know when to use flyers to promote their business or how to use them effectively.

What Types of Business Should Use Flyers

While any business can benefit from the use of flyers they can be especially beneficial to home and small businesses simply because they are an affordable way to advertise. Using a flyer at the right time and in the right way can increase your sales dramatically.

Take a small home business that sells scented candles or natural soap. Chances are if your business is based at home and you are just starting out and that you are attending craft shows and other events where you can display your products and get them seen by the public. People stop and look at your wares and may buy now or may decide to buy later. Handing out flyers to everyone who stops by your booth will not only give them your contact information but can also contain a picture or two of your product which will serve as a reminder to just how wonderful your product looked. While some of these flyers may end up in the garbage, others will travel some good distance and will result in future sales either from the person who saw your product or by someone they know.

The same hold true of many a small business. Perhaps you are a small caterer or dog groomer trying to increase you clientele, or someone who has a special service to offer. Distributing flyers may be just what your business needs to bring in some new clients or customers. Even if your flyers only result in a handful of people trying your service once they are satisfied they will spread the news by word of mouth.

Does My Business Need A Special Printer To Produce Flyers?

Whether or not you need a special printer to produce your flyers depends on the type of flyers you intend on sending out. Flyers that are merely text with no color pictures can often be done on the printer your business uses now.

However, if you really want your flyer to come alive, then having a color picture or two that is of professional quality is extremely important. If you want those scented candles to look real, or that fruit platter to make a potential clients mouth water, then you are going to want to invest in a high quality commercial printer designed for small and moderate sized businesses.

Companies such as HP and Epson make some great quality printers for reasonable cost and there are other companies who make printers as well.

What Should I Look For When Shopping For a Printer?

Before shopping for a printer, assess your needs both today and for in the future. First, you need to decide if you want an ink jet or laser printer. Doing some research will help you decide which printer will suit your needs the best. Second, keep in mind that any printer you purchase needs to be compatible with your current computer system and any system you plan on getting in the near future. Third, take the time to shop around and actually see the quality of color photos the printer produces and then take the time to compare.

In addition, you will want to know about the warranty on the printers you buy and the service contracts should your printer need to be repaired and figure this contract into the cost of the printer. You are also going to want to choose a printer that will not become obsolete in a year or so and will be able to handle the extra work of your expanding business.

Professional flyers can help your business to grow and having a quality printer can help you produce flyers that are a true work of art.

Technorati Tags: small business flyers, small shop flyers