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Finding the best large format printer requires taking a number of factors into account, including print resolution quality, media compatibility, and built-in features. We researched over 25 color inkjet printers that could accommodate a width of at least 13-inches. From there, we weighed each one’s utility in terms of what type of large format prints it could produce and what other features, like smart tech and scanning capabilities, they offered. You can also explore other types of printers by browsing our best printers guide.
Ultimately, we landed on the feature-rich Epson WorkForce WF-7210 as our top pick. Its smart features, including versatile connectivity options, make it easy to print on media up to 13 x 190-inches. Users can quickly adjust the print size and media type to seamlessly switch between tasks. Additionally, its PrecisionCore printhead achieves impressive 4800 x 2400 dpi color prints. Keep reading about this and our other top picks to learn more about the best printers on the market today.
Award: TOP PICK
WHY WE LIKE IT: Versatile paper handling with three feeds, durable pigment ink, and borderless printing up to 13 x 19-inches makes the Epson WorkForce WF-7210 the top pick of the bunch. Seamless smart tech features are the icing on the cake.
This Epson is the best wide-format, all-in-one printer when you consider all of its features and versatility. You can produce high-resolution, borderless prints on sizes up to 13 x 19-inches. With 4800 x 2400 dpi color resolution from Epson’s DURABrite Ultra pigment ink, your prints can achieve print-shop quality even in large sizes. The smudge, fade, and water-resistant ink takes well to even the glossiest of media without streaking or blurring.
This model also features two 250 sheet high-capacity paper feeding trays as well as a rear input tray for specialty media. Its PrecisionCore 2S printhead can vary its ink droplets up to three different sizes for each line of print, giving a smooth and detailed quality to your colors. Its processing speed is a respectable 18 ISO ppm for black and 10 ISO ppm for color, especially considering the quality print you receive. For quality printing, it is also important to invest in the best printer paper on the market.
Award: HONORABLE MENTION
WHY WE LIKE IT: Colors will pop when you print using UltraChrome HD inks on this Epson printer whether it’s on 13 x 19-inch borderless photos or panoramic prints up to 10 feet long.
For those printing posters, large brochures, photographs, and anything with a lot of colors this Epson is a fantastic machine. The print quality is outstanding with up to a whopping 5760 x 1440 dpi resolution. The nine ink cartridges are the most on this list and allow the printer to achieve extremely smooth gradients and color tones.
It’s not all about the color though, as it utilizes multiple black ink cartridges to produce high contrast, highly detailed monochrome prints. The Advanced Micro Piezo print head has variable droplet technology to apply up to three different droplet sizes on each print line for outstanding detail. If you’re printing from a roll, you can print continuously up to 129-inches long. It even allows you to print small, with a minimum cut sheet size of 3.5 x 5-inches. For printing larger media, consider the best large format printer that features two 250 sheet high-capacity paper feeding trays as well as a rear input tray.
Award: BEST FOR SHUTTERBUGS
WHY WE LIKE IT: Bring your photos to life with 5760 x 1440 high-definition print resolution and ink on the Epson Expression Photo HD. Red and gray ink cartridges achieve a wide color gamut that produces true-to-life color in your photo prints.
For professional photographers, the quality of ink matters. Two of this Epson’s six high-definition cartridges are red and gray which allows it to produce a unique range and depth of color, which is why it’s our pick as the best large format printer for photographers. The color output is incredible. Even though the print speed is slower because of its focus on quality, the printer’s speedy processor responds quickly to print requests, even when submitted wirelessly.
You can also automate high-volume jobs on specialty media with a dedicated 50-sheet rear tray. The tray even works for printing on thick cardstock. The maximum width is 13-inches borderless and you can print on media up to 44-inches long. This model is also surprisingly compact for a photo printer, up to 30 percent smaller than comparable A3 printers. Our best portable printer is similar, and you can buy more batteries to switch them out while you’re on the go.
Award: BEST FOR HOME OFFICE
WHY WE LIKE IT: Large format printing from home is easy with the versatile Workforce WF7710 that scans, copies, faxes, and prints up to 13 x 19-inch format. A large 250-sheet paper tray enables you to tackle high-volume jobs on any size media.
Efficiency has never looked so good, with large-scale color printing at up to 4800 x 2400 dpi resolution. You can automate big print jobs easily with a 250-sheet capacity feeding tray and relatively quick speeds of 18 ISO ppm for black and 10 ISO ppm for color. This model also gives you the ability to switch on auto two-sided printing even in wide formats. With high-quality scanning, it’s one of the best large format printer scanner combos available.
Not only are its four DURABrite Ultra pigment ink cartridges great quality and durable (fade resistant up to 84 years on photographs), you also have the option to purchase high-capacity and extra high-capacity cartridges to avoid replacing ink frequently. This model’s print head has drop-on-demand technology, meaning it doesn’t take a long time to warm up and start producing. It definitely stands up to small office and small business use with a balance of quality and efficiency. Compare that to the best printer for small businesses.
Award: BEST FOR ARTISTS
WHY WE LIKE IT: The Canon Pixma Pro-100 utilizes eight dye-based inks to achieve incredible, smooth gradients of detailed color ideal for fine art and graphic prints. Three grayscale ink cartridges allow for refined monochrome printing.
Reproduce your fine art with fine color detail up to 4800 x 2400 dpi resolution and on a wide 13 x 19-inch paper format. Its dedicated rear tray processes fine art paper, fine art museum etching, and other fine art paper with ease.
This Canon printer’s eight-cartridge ink system and Optimum Image Generating System (OIGS) are a big part of what makes it the best large format printer for artists. Three of its ink colors are dedicated to grayscale, which produces fantastic depth for color and monochrome prints. OIGS technology processes the digital file to find the combination of ink that will achieve colors and gradients most accurate to your source image. Its advanced print head’s 6,144 nozzles achieve fabulous image quality with detail and smooth gradients. Also, with the best printer ink, you’ll get unrivaled quality every single time. Open our best inkjet printer guide for other printer options.
Award: BEST FOR DIAGRAMS
WHY WE LIKE IT: The HP DesignJet is capable of printing crisp quality diagrams and charts up to 24-inches wide from rolls or cut sheets. Its built-in cutter makes it easy to get the exact size you want even from roll paper.
Weighing in at 56 lbs and 38.9-inches wide, this is one big machine. Of course, that gives you the capability to print up to 24-inches wide on a variety of media, including transparencies, heavy-weight coated paper, and photo paper, to name a few. Its four HP Thermal Inkjet cartridges can achieve above-average large photo prints, but likely not for professional use.
As it’s designed, the printer excels when printing charts, diagrams, blueprints, and graphics. You have the option to print from roll paper, which is easy to load into the printer, and from cut sheets. This HP has a built-in cutter that automatically cuts your pages to size when printing from rolls. The touchscreen offers easy navigation for setting up print jobs and connecting wireless. Consider comparing this with the 4.3” color touchscreen found on the best laser printer.
Award: BEST ON A BUDGET
WHY WE LIKE IT: This Canon offers fabulous versatility with smart features like voice command compatibility, great device and cloud connectivity options, and the ability to handle a wide range of media. It has the best balance of performance and value for those looking for a budget-friendly option.
If you need to work in different formats and sizes, this Canon printer offers unique versatility to produce on 11 preset sizes. It’s also great for printing on unusual media, like greeting cards, discs, and t-shirt transfers. Work on a larger scale by printing on media up to 17-inches wide.
It’s also fantastic when it comes to connectivity. Connect to the Canon printer via Wi-Fi, mobile device, high-speed USB, ethernet, built-in memory card slot, Amazon Alexa, and Google Assistant. The scanner is also a great source, as you can digitize your documents at up to 1200 x 2400 dpi resolution. Its five fade-resistant ink cartridges are applied through over 4,000 precision print nozzles for great photo detail. All of these extra features make this Canon printer a fantastic budget option and the best 11×17 printer on the list. Another budget option is the best printer for home use.
Award: BEST FOR BUSINESS USE
WHY WE LIKE IT: Get to business with a printer that can produce high-quality brochures, presentations, spreadsheets, and more in a variety of sizes up to 19-inches wide. An excellent option for higher print volume.
The Epson WorkForce 1100 gives users a great balance of speed and quality, with production up to 30 ppm at its fastest and 5760 x 1400 dpi optimized resolution at its best quality. This unit offers media size versatility too, as you can print on something as small as a notecard and on presentation-worthy large formats up to 13 x 19-inches.
Epson’s DURABrite Ultra Ink has fantastic durability. It dries instantly, even on glossy paper, and you can highlight anything you print without smudging. If you’re looking for efficiency, the machine is Energy Star qualified, has easy dual-sided printing, and uses up to 70 percent less power than a comparable laser printer. Its Advanced MicroPiezo print head uses up to five different variable nozzle sizes on each print line that produces sharp text even in a wide format. Compare that to the best printer for screen printing that produces high-quality transparencies.
Award: BEST FOR ROLL PAPER
WHY WE LIKE IT: While you can print on paper up to 13-inches wide, this Espon’s quick-loading roll paper system allows you to easily produce media up to 129-inches long as well.
Producing panoramic prints is a breeze on the Epson SureColor P400 due to its quick loading roll system in the rear of the printer that will produce prints onto rolls up to 129-inches long. The unit also has a main top-loading feed, rear fine art feed, and a front tray dedicated to heavier media up to 1.33 mm thick.
The eight individual Epson UltraChrome HG2 Ink cartridges are applied through 180 nozzles per cartridge to get up to 5760 x 1440 dpi resolution. Two of those cartridges are black ink, one designed for matte texture printing and the other for photo quality. There’s also a gloss optimizer when printing on gloss that adds a print shop quality to your photos. Its red and orange cartridges excel at achieving deeper colors and smoother gradients. Another quality model is the best printer for crafting that uses Claria Photo HD Ink that is vibrant and long-lasting.
Award: BEST FOR SPEED
WHY WE LIKE IT: This HP can produce vibrant, 4800 x 1200 dpi prints from photo quality ink cartridges while achieving color print speeds of up to 20 ppm and 30 ppm for black.
Quality and speed come together in this printer that has a fast processor and production speeds of up to 30 ppm for black. Color speed is also fast at 20 ppm. Speed varies depending on the quality you want to achieve. This printer gives you the option to use ink cartridges specially designed for photo printing. The only hassle is that the print head accommodates two printer cartridges, so you have to swap your cartridges if you’re planning on using those.
The printer is capable of borderless prints up to its largest size of 13 x 19-inches. It handles a wide range of media, including transparencies, glossy paper, cards, transfer paper, and more. You can depend on this unit for high volume with up to 5,000 pages per month. And if you’re a student, you will want to invest in the best printer for students that offers convenient management of printing functions and monitors ink levels.
Usage of large format printers can vary greatly. One must-have, though, is the ability to print on media larger than the standard 8.5 x 11-inch paper size. Only printers that could print on media at least 13-inches wide were considered for the list. Some people, when purchasing a wide format printer, will need to print on long paper rolls. Others will have no use for that feature and are instead looking to print on large cut sheets. We included a balance of the best of both types of large format machines.
Performance and speed were also considerations. Some large format printers have a super-fast processing time while others prioritize quality over speed. We’ve included both the fastest and the highest quality printer to give options for both. All of our options have the ability to adjust settings to print faster or to print slower at their highest quality.
Additionally, we only included color printers on our list. While some people may only need black and white, many uses for large format printers require color. We also considered the ink and its strength when applied on various media textures, like glossy media, textured paper, transparencies, and more. Their Ink took well to a variety of media types with vibrant color, detail, and no streaking or smudging was ranked higher.
The best large format printer to buy is one that can produce on media of at least 13-inches wide. This gives you the flexibility to print on a wider range of media outside of the standard 8.5 x 11-inch paper size. From there, you need to consider what type of large format printing you’re looking to do so that you can find one that will best suit those needs.
A large format printer allows you to print documents, photographs, and more on larger sizes of paper than the standard inkjet printer. Because of that, large format printers allow you to print brochures, posters, large photographs, charts, diagrams, and more. These printers give you the flexibility to print things you may otherwise have to go to a print shop for.
Many photographers will choose to use a large format printer as it allows them to display their work on a bigger scale. While standard inkjet printers can produce 4 x 6-inch and 8 x 10-inch photos, professional photographers — especially those who capture landscapes — need the ability to print large, showpiece photographs. Large format printers that can print on rolls often can produce media up to 129-inches long.
Laser printers are generally not used for large format printing, as they are mainly designed for speed and high volume printing. Printing speed is less of a factor when producing in large formats. While laser cartridges can last longer than ink cartridges, they cost more to begin with. Additionally, laser printers are best suited for black-and-white document printing, so the quality and resolution for color printing is worse than inkjet printers.
