The function of printers has changed drastically over the years. From simple machines to print black text on white sheets of paper, printers these days have a much larger role in big and small businesses.
A lot of business owners around use inkjet and laser printers in a number of activities and productions besides printing black-and-white text and colorful pictures.
Laser printers and inkjet printers – these two types of printers, in particular, can be used for more purposes than other types of printers.
These printers can usually print on different kinds of materials besides plain paper, including fabric, vinyl materials, cardstock, cardboard, adhesive paper, glossy paper, CD/DVDs, and plain wood.
Our main concern, however, at the moment, is the best printer for vinyl sticker.
Our top 3 Printer for vinyl stickers recommendations!
6 Best Printer for Printable Vinyl: Reviews
While a single household printer can take care of your regular need for printing documents, reports, presentations and even images and photos, stickers are something else!
Especially when you want to print on vinyl sticker paper, there are some special printers that are available in the market particularly for this purpose.
For any kind of vinyl sheets that are used to print your designs, logos, texts or images to other materials, you’ll need the best printer for vinyl stickers that you can find in the market.
The following six printers – both inkjet and laser printers – are some of the best printers available in the market that you can use for printing on vinyl stickers.
Here you can find all the important information needed for buying a printer, and all the key features these printers have.
1. WorkForce WF-7710 Wireless Wide-Format Inkjet Printer
Compact and efficient, the WorkForce WF-7710 is an inkjet printer that is also a multifunctional device, i.e. it prints, copies, sends faxes and scans documents.
Besides, this printer can also be used to print your designs and images on vinyl sticker sheets to be transferred to other materials via a heat press machine or sublimation machine.
This is a wireless printer that is also compatible with Alexa devices, and is only 22.3” x 19.1” x 13.4” in size. Because it is an inkjet printer specializing in printing images and photographs, one of its unique features is to print borderless 13” x 19” prints that are perfect for framing.
Also because this printer has been made for printing photos mostly, the paper tray with a 250-sheet capacity can also hold around 20 sheets of photo paper or even 10 envelopes. The printer also prints both sides of the paper automatically without having to turn the paper over, which is quite helpful.
This is also a fast printer, which can print up to 8.7 pages per minute in black-and-white, and 6 pages per minute in color. The 4.3” color touch screen makes the whole process easy to manage, but the printer is also a wireless one that can be directly connected to an iPad, tablet, smartphone, computer or laptop without needing any wire.
Key Features:
- Multifunctional device that includes printing, copying, scanning and sending faxes
- Wireless printing; can be connected directly to any device
- Dimension: 22.3” x 19.1” x 13.4”
- Compatible with Alexa devices
- Can make borderless 13” x 19” prints
- Perfect for printing photographs and designs
- Can print upto 8.7 ppm in black-and-white, and 6 ppm in color
- Comes with a 250-sheet input paper tray
- Paper tray can hold 20 sheets of photo paper or 10 heavy envelopes
- 4.3” easy-to-use color touch screen
2. Canon Pixma Pro-100 Wireless Color Professional
Compatible with AirPrint and most mobile devices for direct printing, the Canon Pixma Pro-100 is compact, lightweight and easy to store anywhere.
It is mainly a color inkjet printer that’s perfect for printing both photographs and on vinyl sticker sheets and comes with 8-dye based ink that gives an amazing gradient of color to your printouts. This is truly a printer professional can use to print their work or in their printing projects.
There’s a reason that the Canon Pixma Pro-100 is a popular printer for colorful images and photos, and that is its Optimum Image Generating System, which can reproduce the exact colors of your original image that you see on the screen.
This printer mixes the different inks to create the exact shade of color to bring your images to life, which is a helpful feature for printing on vinyl sticker sheets.
Other useful features of this printer include an automatic document feeder and an output tray that has the capacity to hold 150 sheets of paper, or 24 sheets of photo paper.
The 8-dye ink cartridge comes with all the useful colors of ink needed to create any shade possible, and the original colors of the ink in the cartridges are black, light gray, gray, cyan and photo cyan, magenta and photo magenta, and yellow.
With a 4800 x 2400 DPI (dots per inch), this is a great printer for any kind of image that can be printed on a variety of media paper up to 13” x 19” in size.
Key Features:
- Compatible with AirPrint and most mobile devices for direct printing
- Comes with 8-dye based ink cartridges
- Optimum Image Generating System can reproduce exact colors of original image
- Comes with an automatic document feeder
- Includes output tray with capacity to hold 150 sheets of paper
- Ink cartridges include black, light gray, gray, cyan and photo cyan, magenta and photo magenta, and yellow ink
- 4800 x 2400 DPI
- Can print on a variety of media paper up to 13” x 19” in size
3. HP DeskJet 4155e All-in-One Printer
Both for all kinds of basic balck-and-white printing and for decal printing, the HP DeskJet 4155e is also a great printer for printing on vinyl sheets.
An all-in-one printer that can print, copy, scan and send faxes, this is a multifunctional printer that you can also directly connect to any of your smart devices for printing.
Because of the HP+ Smart Printing System, the printer becomes smarter, more secure and more productive than most other printers in the market. This printer comes with 6 months worth of instant ink and is easy to set up at home or at the workplace, even for a complete beginner.
Also, because this printer from HP is a wireless printer that can print directly with an Wi-Fi connection, this is a great printer to have.
Key Features:
- Perfect for basic, decal printing and for printing on vinyl sheets
- Multifunctional printer can print, scan, copy and send faxes
- Compatible with HP+ Smart Printing System for more productive printing
- Comes with 6 months worth of instant ink
- Wireless printer
- Can print directly with an Wi-Fi connection
4. Epson EcoTank ET-2750 Wireless Printer
At the same time a printer, a scanner and a copier, the Epson EcoTank ET-2750 can be connected both by Ethernet and Wi-Fi.
Teamed with Genuine Epson ink, this printer will be able to give a high-quality printing experience, whether you are printing text documents, photos, images or designs on vinyl sticker sheets.
This best printer for vinyl comes with enough ink to print up to 6500 sheets of paper in black-and-white, or 5200 pages in color. This is quite helpful because you won’t need to order ink for the next few years at least. The printer comes equipped with enough ink to fill 30 cartridges.
Without using any kind of wire, the Epson EcoTank ET-2750 can be directly connected to any smartphone, iPhone, iPad, tablet or computer for printing. It also comes with automatic double-sided printing which saves paper and 50% of your paper supply. Besides, this printer from Epson has a 5760 x 1440 DPI which is quite impressive for such a compact and affordable printer.
Key Features:
- Multifunctional device that is a printer, scanner and copier
- Comes with enough ink to print 6,500 black and white or 5,200 color pages
- Comes with free ink worth 30 cartridges
- Direct Wi-Fi connectivity to smartphones, computers and tablets
- Automatic double-sided printing
- Saves 50% paper
- 5760 x 1440 dots per inch (DPI)
- Can print directly with an Wi-Fi connection
5. Brother MFC-J805DW INKvestmentTank Printer
With such an innovative model name, the Brother Brother MFC-J805DW INKvestmentTank Printer is a great investment for homes, small businesses and offices. It comes with one year worth of ink to give a great experience of uninterrupted printing and can print more than 1,500 pages with free ink.
There will be no guesswork with this printer! Because the printer comes with a very visual Page Gauge that you can use to know exactly how much of which color you have left, so that you don’t have to stop printing suddenly in the middle of a project.
The Brother MFC-J805DW INKvestmentTank Printer is compatible with AirPrint, Wi-Fi Direct, Google Cloud Print and Brother Direct Print. It comes with a 4” x 6” paper tray, with important features like automatic duplex copying and duplex scanning.
Key Features:
- Comes with 1-year’s worth of ink to print 1,500+ pages
- Visual Page Gauge makes ink usage and status visible
- Compatible with AirPrint, Wi-Fi Direct, Google Cloud Print and Direct Print
- 4” x 6” paper tray
- Automatic double-sided printing
- Automatic duplex scanning
6. HP OfficeJet Pro 6978 All-in-One Printer
This isn’t just the best printer for vinyl printing, but also a smart device that can be voice-controlled by combining it with an Alexa device. This is also a multifunctional printer that also works as a scanner, a copier, a fax machine, and of course, a printer.
Both by connecting to an Alexa device and through connecting to your smartphone, tablet, notebook, laptop or PC, you can directly use this printer to print anything on vinyl stickers. Because it is a wireless printer, you don’t need to connect it to any device with a wire. However, Ethernet is also an option if you prefer to use this printer with a direct wire connection!
Besides being a multifunctional printer that can print, scan, copy and send faxes, additional features of the HP OfficeJet Pro 6978 include an automatic document feeder and automatic two-sided duplex printing. These two features make this printer much easier and less time-consuming to work with, and also happen to be useful features in a printer.
This printer also comes with a small 2.65” color touchscreen that can be used to use the printer, as well as an input tray that can hold 225 sheets. Because it’s an inkjet printer, it can also give professional-quality photo and image printing at 50% less cost than laser printers, which makes it more affordable and efficient to use at home or in a small business.
The different types of paper that are compatible with this inkjet printer are A4 sized paper, letter, 5” x 7”, 4” x 6”, legal paper, 4R paper, panoramic or 10” x 30” paper, 10” x 15” paper, 13” x 18” paper and 4” x 8.5” paper – which are ideally most types of paper.
Key Features:
- Multifunctional device: printer, copier, scanner and fax machine
- Wireless printing and Ethernet connection
- Compatible with Alexa devices
- Automatic two-sided duplex printing
- Automatic document feeder
- 2.65” color touch screen
- 50% more cost effective; saves ink and power
- Compatible with almost all paper sizes and types
- Comes with Input tray with capability to hold 225 sheets
What is Vinyl?
Vinyl isn’t a natural substance, and also not something we see or use regularly. In our regular lives, vinyl is used in terms of flooring, records, siding and gloves. It is a man-made substance made of a kind of plastic.
The components of vinyl include ethylene and choline, which are found in crude oil and regular salt. These materials are processed and combined to make Polyvinyl Chloride resin or PVC resin, and we commonly know it as Vinyl.
Vinyl is available in sheet form to be used in printers and cutting machines, but you need a special kind of printer to print on vinyl sheets.You need an inkjet printer or a laser printer to print on vinyl materials.
What is an Inkjet Printer?
An inkjet printer prints on paper by spraying ink on it. This kind of printer comes with numerous tiny nozzles on the print head. These nozzles are known as jets, hence the name “inkjet”.
Ink comes out of these jets and gets sprayed on the paper as it moves through the printer. The ink isn’t sprayed haphazardly, but in a systematic manner commanded by the computer to form words and images.
A regular inkjet printer can produce a hard copy with up to 300 dots per inch, i.e. 300 dpi. This means that the printer will produce more than 300 dots inside a single inch, making your hard copies vivid and vibrant. A better quality inkjet printer comes with 600 dpi resolutions and they are used more in printing out photographs and images.
How Does an Inkjet Printer work?
As mentioned before, an inkjet printer comes with multiple nozzles or “jets” in its printing mechanism.
It also has multiple ink cartridges inside for both black-and-white and colorful printing; the black ink cartridges are separate from the color ink cartridges.
As mentioned before, an inkjet printer comes with multiple nozzles or “jets” in its printing mechanism. It also has multiple ink cartridges inside for both black-and-white and colorful printing; the black ink cartridges are separate from the color ink cartridges.
Color ink cartridges usually contain primary pigment inks, i.e. Magenta, Cyan, Yellow and Black, and they combine together to make any color you need.
The ink sprayed from the nozzles creates the text, image, photograph or pattern you want on not just paper, but on different materials as well. The ink dries almost instantly if the printed part isn’t much, but might need a minute to dry completely if you have huge patches of dark color on the paper.
High-end inkjet printers can produce exceptional quality of images and photographs with 600 dpi resolution, and they are usually preferred by professional photographers and designers.
What is a Laser Printer?
A laser printer, on the other hand, is the kind of printer that works with a single laser instead of using ink on paper. The printing from these printers are highly sophisticated and neat, also used by professionals.
Some high-end laser printers also come with 600 dpi resolution, which means they can place up to 600 dots per inch of space, making the end result vivid and vibrant.
How Does a Laser Printer work?
A laser printer writes and prints with a beam of light, which might sound impossible, but is actually true. It is the tiny laser beams inside the printer that do all the work to make a hard copy of your texts, images and designs, on a variety of materials.
The mechanism behind a laser printer is somewhat like the working procedure of a photocopier; they both use the same technology. In our computers or other devices that are connected to the laser printer, each piece of data is stored electronically, with the help of a microscopic switching device.
This device is known as a transistor. The laser printer converts this electronic data into texts and images by turning electricity into ink. The printer controls the miniature laser beam inside the printer to use static electricity and get ink on the material you are using.
When something needs to be printed, the device sends the data to the laser printer. The electronic circuit inside the printer figures out the data and decides what they are going to look like after being printed on material. The laser beam inside the printer scans the material inside the printer, and builds up static electricity.
A special kind of powdered ink, known as toner, is attracted by this static electricity and is put on the material. The toner bonds with the material to create exactly what you wanted to print on your paper or other material.
Using an Inkjet Printer on Vinyl
Inkjet printers can most definitely print on vinyl; this is actually how stickers are made. You can use any inkjet printer you have at home to print on vinyl material, but it is important that you buy the right kind of vinyl for the job. The vinyl material to use in an inkjet printer to print should be the “print receptive” type.
A “print receptive” vinyl means that this particular kind of vinyl material should have an extra layer of film coating on top to act as a kind of carrier for ink. Without this added layer, the ink can bleed or fade over time, ruining the design.
So there are actually two options for using an inkjet printer to print on vinyl: buy vinyl material that has a lamination layer for protection, or to laminate the vinyl material ourselves before or after printing on it.
The types of vinyl material that you can use for this purpose include:
- Expressions Inkjet Printable Vinyl Sheets that already come with a clear laminate cover on top and sticky adhesive at the back;
- Cricut Printable Vinyl that you can also use in a cutting machine as well as an inkjet printer; and
- Inkjet White Printable Vinyl Paper which is waterproof and can be also used outdoors.
Using a Laser Printer on Vinyl
Laser printers, too, can be used to print on vinyl material, both adhesive and non-adhesive. Although inkjet printers are the most common type of printers for working on vinyl, if you already have a laser printer at home, you can use it to print on vinyl.
Just like with an inkjet printer, you need a special kind of printable vinyl material to use in a laser printer. These kinds of special vinyl is available in the market, and there are a few options to choose from:
- Waterproof Vinyl Sticker Paper that comes with an adhesive back, and
- Weatherproof Vinyl Laser Sticker Paper that can be used outside
- Matte Sticker Paper that has a glossy surface and
- White Laser Full Sheet that comes in various sizes
Do You Need a Special Printer to Print Vinyl Stickers?
Vinyl stickers, or vinyl sticker sheets, aren’t mediums that we see every day, not if we are part of a very particular trade.
Vinyl stickers are actually a kind of wall decals, and they are cut into shape with the help of a cutting plotter or a plotter machine. However, before they are cut into shapes, designs are printed on these sheets of vinyl sticker sheets. This process is completed with the help of a printer, but not just any printer.
A very special kind of printer is needed to print any kinds of designs, images, texts or quotes onto a vinyl sticker sheet.
What are Vinyl Sheets?
Vinyl is made from a combination of ethylene and choline, and mostly available in forms of sheets. Vinyl sheets, in other forms, are also known as Polyvinyl Chloride Resin or PVC Resin, and they have a lot of different uses.
What are Vinyl Stickers?
Vinyl stickers are also known as tattoos, wall stickers or simply as vinyl. When designs are printed on vinyl sheets and cut into shapes in a plotter machine, they become vinyl stickers. These stickers are mainly used to decorate walls, or they can be also used in a more commercial setup as signs to promote a business, a service or a brand. Car stickers, shop window stickers, clear and transparent stickers on personal belongings – these are all made with printed and cut vinyl sticker sheets.
Why are Vinyl Stickers so Popular?
Vinyl stickers are affordable and easily available. They can also easily adhere to most types of clean and smooth surface, like a painted wall, glass, metal, plastic, car body, wood, etx. Besides, these stickers are easy to remove, as well, without damaging the surface.
What kind of Printers are Needed for Printing on Vinyl Sheets?
Vinyl sticker sheets are compatible with most inkjet and laser printers, but for the best kind of service, only some special printers can do the job the best.
Of course, either inkjet or laser printers are required for printing on vinyl stickers. Between them, however, inkjet printers are the best options for printing on vinyl sticker sheets. This is because inkjet printers come with actual ink cartridges, and their printheads spray minuscule dots of ink on paper, creating the image. Because ink is used, the images come out more long-lasting, better in quality and brighter.
This is the reason that inkjet printers are more preferred when vinyl sticker sheets are used to print on.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What kind of printers are used for printing on vinyl stickers?
A: Technically, the best kind of printers for using on vinyl sticker sheets are undoubtedly inkjet printers, because these printers use real drops of ink to create images or texts on paper.
Q: What other tools are needed, beside an the right printer, for making stickers from vinyl?
A: Besides inkjet printers, making wall stickers or decal stickers will also require the use of any design software and a vinyl cutter.
Q: Can the same kind of printer for vinyl stickers be used for regular printing?
A: Yes, the kind of inkjet printers used in printing on vinyl sticker paper can also be used to print documents and images. In fact, since inkjet printers are used for this purpose, they are also great for printing high-quality photos and designs.
Q: What kind of printers are used for printing on vinyl stickers?
A: Technically, the best kind of printers for using on vinyl sticker sheets are undoubtedly inkjet printers, because these printers use real drops of ink to create images or texts on paper.
Conclusion
Even though vinyl sticker sheets are completely different from regular paper, the same kind of high-quality inkjet printers can be used for both purposes.
In fact, inkjet printers from the best and well-known brands of the world are the perfect choice if you want to print wall stickers, car stickers or decal stickers on vinyl sticker sheets.
If you have a business and regularly plan to use vinyl materials, the best option would be to invest in an inkjet printer, as they are the best ones for printing on vinyl.
However, if you already have an existing inkjet or laser printer at home, you can use it to print on any material, especially particular types of vinyl material.