If I wanted to start up a digital print company what would I need hardware wise? -

We run a web design and development company and have a lot of relatively small run print work which we farm out, however we are considering leasing whatever print equipment we would need in order to be able to do everything quot;in housequot; but we re blind as to what we would actually need - advice apprreciated.

Hi To start such a company, you will need a 40quot; deskjet plotter if you are planning to print large format poster which is very much in demand I might add. You will need a file Ripper, a good Server to manage your printers etc... so you can rip more than one file at a time especially if their are large multiple files to print simultaneously. Get Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Professional Reader, Illustrator, Corel, and Microsoft Office to begin with. Get a good Color Laser ( I suggest HP) and a cheap Deskjet for everyday use. You will also need a good black/white Laser printer for document printing. I suggest getting in touch with printing companies to get them to sell you paper cut to your needs. It s cheaper and you don t have to invest in different size of paper.

You will need a digital color press, bamp;w press, paper cutter, scoring machine, folding machine, booklet maker, adobe creative suite, quark xpress, microsoft, macintosh computers, coil binder, maybe a large format printer if you have the demand. Laminating and mounting equipment. Variable data software and mailing equipment is a plus. Lots of storage for paper. Do not buy cheap paper (especially used paper from other printers). Digital equipment will get ruined and give you too many problems on cheap paper. It s not worth it. Make sure you have climate control in your building. Digital printing is on-demand printing, so be ready for insta-gratification clients and projects.

a good laser printer is a must for a digital print company. also a good copier and photo paper. also a easy print thing where u put the camera into it and the photo s print is good