Wide Format Photo Printers: Why Everyone Wants to Print Big?

Umm..maybe because the photo will look much better? Any amateur would answer in this manner but if that was the only reason why, this post wouldn’t have existed. However, professional photographers who pay so much attention to small details like angle, shadows, colours, position of objects and similar stuff, would have a totally different answer. They want to see everything in large scale, to be mesmerized by their work and the ultimate complement: to be asked by a company, a store or anyone for that matter to produce a large commercial piece to be hanged on the walls.

So, Why Do Photographers Want to Print Big Anyway?

As one photographer explains: “there’s undoubtedly an attraction in seeing giant prints of your work hanged and exhibited on walls” , or simply put, it’s flattering towards the profession and towards the level of achievement of the photographer as an individual pro. However, the features and special characteristics of wide format photo printers don’t allow for every photographer to own one in his/her studio. That’s why large scale photos are considered a luxury in the world of photography and consequently are most drooled over by pros.

Printing Wide Format Photos is Not Simple

Plus, it costs a lot. The first thing you need to understand here is that wide format photo printers are huge. They’re large pieces of photography equipment and as such, aren’t convenient to be placed just about anywhere. That being said, to be able to print big, you need to have a room entirely devoted to placing the printer and the accompanying parts. Next, the printer itself is quite the investment and it needs to be used frequently and with a purpose if you’re going to see some ROI coming in. Meaning: if you don’t really need it, that is, if you don’t have to print big for sales, for commercial orders or similar, it simply isn’t worth having it. And finally, maintenance costs are huge for these printers:

• the paper it uses is special and very big, which makes it expensive to keep in stock;
• the ink cartridges hold a much higher capacity and are also very expensive, making it impossible to keep them in-stock;
• they need to be kept in special environmental conditions, and especially avoid low humidity environments.

Best Use Would Be in Commercial Printing Businesses

These are extremely large and heavy machines, and as much as you want to own one, it will hardly be financially beneficial for you if you don’t use it for printing a large number of pieces. That’s why commercial printing businesses often buy this type of printers – they print daily and a lot, which is financially advantageous for them. Aside of this, if you don’t use the machine daily, it will only cause you problems that will cost you more. Think batteries gone wrong, ink cartridges gone dry and similar problems caused by irregular use. Could you afford solving these problems on your own? I hardly doubt it.