Come read all about my the best printer for stickers- or for just crafting in general! I’m breaking it down on what is important when purchasing a printer!
One of the questions I get asked all the time is What is the printer I like the most- so today I’m breaking it down to the best printer to buy to make all the stickers (or crafts)
I know this post is about the best printer to use for stickers- but I also use this printer for all my printables! It’s fantastic!
If you want more how to make sticker instructions- I have broken down the entire sticker process! We are going to be covering
-
- How to design stickers
- Best printer to use with stickers (this post!)
- Best Sticker Paper (I tried out 8 most popular kinds!)
- Print and Cut (how to ACTUALLY cut out the stickers!)
Inkjet versus Laser Printers
There are two main kinds of printers. Inkjet and laser. Inkjet are cheaper–but run out of ink faster. Laser are more expensive and their ink refills are a little more pricey initially- but the can print up to 5,000 sheets before needing a refill. Inkjet’s print slow. Laser prints fast (so if you are running a business and time is money keep that in mind) Inkjets are generally smaller, Laser printers generally run larger.
The majority of the sticker paper that I have found are for inkjet (There are SOME that are for laser printers if you want to go that route) So I’m going to stick with Inkjet printers for stickers since it’s all I use!
The best Inkjet Printer for Stickers
You are making standard stickers, then a lot of printers will do the job. The quality of ink and paper being used will be what makes the difference in most cases. AND there are a TON of printers out there that will all do a really good job printing! I’m going to share MY FAVORITE and I will tell you why.
My favorite is this HP Inkjet printer:
HP DeskJet 3755 Compact All-in-One Wireless Printer
Features:
- Quality prints (1200 dpi)
- Nice compact size. It’s small enough that I can tuck it up against my wall and it’s not in my way when I need the craft space for something else.
- $ There are cheaper printers out there, and there are more expensive printers out there. I feel like this lands on the somewhat cheaper side but still does everything I need really well.
- Prints in color!
- Wireless! It’s connect to my wifi and I don’t ever have to plug into my computer.
- It can copy and scan (if you need to do other stuff besides crafting!)
- No problems-I purchased a $280 printer and literally gave it away. I had so many problems with it. SO MANY. My HP has never jammed, never given me unknown errors, and it’s easy to change the ink!
- Easy to load. Just drop the paper in. I can easily see what is loaded (cardstock, sticker paper etc)
- It can handle the thick sticker paper (and cardstock) My expensive printer jammed ALL THE TIME and would ruin that sticker paper when ripping it out of the printer!
- The colors are accurate! (read down below to see how to get nice prints)
- Hp ink makes the ink so affordable!
As you can see, lots of bonus points of why I love my printer. BUT I need to go off on a tangent really quick about HP INK!
HP INK
HP INK is a service that HP offers where they ship your ink to your door. If the printer is connected to wifi, it can tell when you are running low and pops some in the mail to you. The price is SO CHEAP! I think I pay $5.00 a month for ink (it is a monthly fee) I use my printer a ton and was buying $30 ink cartridges every month- so When I found out HP INK I was thrilled. (IS this a good time to tell you I’m no way sponsored by HP!? It’s JUST THAT GOOD) The cartridges are also filled with more ink and last longer than the store bought ones-So even if you don’t buy MY HP one- I totally recommend buying an HP brand just for the ink service! You can sign up for HP ink here! You won’t regret it!
Printer Con
I will mention one con about the HP printer- It prints slow! I’m okay with it, because I’m usually doing other things so I can print things out and come back to them all finished! I actually just read the reviews on amazon and was quite surprised that there were bad ones. I easily connected mine with wifi (I’m really not tech savvy!) I’ve noticed that lots of reviews were from about 3 years ago- I bought mine in 2019- so maybe they got all the hiccups out!
Another Sticker Printer Option:
A great HP computer that I have seen people using in my craft circles is this one:
HP DeskJet Series All-in-One Wireless Color Inkjet Printer
It’s got the same features as the one I listed above but it’s bigger and more expensive. And if you think like my husband…and bigger is better –then here is your bigger option!
And I want to mention this CRAFTING printer that is literally being marketed TO crafters:
Canon TS9521C All-In-One Wireless Crafting Photo Printer
This printer can print up to 12×12 which is a really cool feature. I’ve heard that the colors are not as accurate as what you see on your computer! (Which can be the case with lots of printers! more down below on that!) But that seems to be the common complaint with this printer! It’s priced a little higher than the other two but I love that it can print that big!
Since it’s not HP, it doesn’t have HP ink but you can do a ink subscription service through amazon.
How to get the best quality prints
I’m actually really surprised that most people aren’t aware of this- but you can adjust your quality of print. You want your DPI to be as high as you can get it. The DPI is Dots per inch- the higher the DPI, the higher the quality of print. Most printers being sold are used to print just regular things, think history papers, tax stuff, etc. you don’t need a high DPI with that. But when printing stickers or prints, you want it has high as it can go. When you are decided on a printer to buy- Look for one that has a high number of DPI.
This was printed on the lowest dpi setting…You can literally see dots (plus the lines underneath) the quality isn’t great!
See side by side? That high quality print makes it so much better!
There are a couple different ways to do this depending on where you are printing from! In your computer settings- slide that bar over for print in MAX DPI
In silhouette, when you send to print and cut you can tap preferences and make sure to select BEST.
When printing a pdf from adobe – You can select the DPIS (Quality will give you a dropdown option)
and when I’m printing something straight from my computer- You pick more settings and it opens this page when you can pick best in print quality!
No matter what printer you are using- make sure to check those settings! When you increase the quality- it will take longer to print! You have been warned!
Printer troubleshooting: Colors aren’t printing like what you see on your computer
I have found out photos show brighter on the screen so when you go to print them it over saturates them and they come out more dark.
I really don’t see this too much when printing stickers. When I’m printing from my silhouette, I have noticed that my colors are my accurate. When I do printables on cardstock, they tend to come out darker! Not sure if it’s the silhouette or sticker paper that makes the colors accurate but I’ll take it either way!
You might need to head to youtube and learn about your printer and printing from a computer screen. Different papers you will get different results. You can also go into your printer settings and play around with the color settings!
For this free sticker set- and lots of other ones- sign up for my email list!
Patty says
Thank you for helping me decide on a printer
Kimbo says
good luck with it!
Anna says
Thanks for this helpful guide! I’m thinking of investing in the printer you recommended but I’m seeing many bad reviews on it as well so I’m a bit hesitant.
Kimbo says
I think you will find bad reviews on every printer! Just the nature of the beast! I personally haven’t had any problems, and I print ALOT! I would recommend a HP regardless of what one though because I love their ink subscription!
Cassidy says
thank you so much for this! Looking for the best cutest little craft printer for personal use and I am sold on the same as you. Its hard to find ones that can take sticker paper that aren’t over $200. Read reviews for days, but this is the best one out there! I’m ordering now.