If you are shopping for a new color printer for your business, it is easy to get overwhelmed by the different choices. To help you narrow down your options, it may be helpful to get in touch with your local copier experts, who can evaluate your business needs and help you make the right choice. In the meantime, here is a quick guide to help you get started with choosing a color printer.

Before you shop

Prior to shopping for a new color printer, ask yourself if your business truly needs one. Color toner is more expensive than basic black, so you should be sure it is necessary before making the investment. If your company produces a lot of marketing material or creative projects, a color printer is a necessity. However, many other types of documents can be designed to be just as effective when printed in grayscale. Graphs, financial reports, and similar information can be formatted in a way that color printing isn’t necessary. The bottom line is that you need to weigh the needs of your business against the costs of color printing before you take the plunge.

Size and speed

Size and printing speed are two important factors when you choose a color printer. For the most part, the bigger the printer, the faster it prints. So, if you want something that produces 55 pages per minute, you’ll need to find space for a full-sized model like this Konica Minolta Bizhub C554. For busy offices with lots of employees, a faster printer is a must. However, if high printing speed isn’t a priority for your company, you may be fine with something that fits on a desktop, such as the Konica Minolta Bizhub C3350. This compact device still manages to print 38 pages per minute in color or black and white, so you won’t be sacrificing much.

Multifunctional devices

Opting for a multifunctional color printer is a great way to get the most mileage out of your investment. Multifunctional devices are capable of printing, copying, scanning, and faxing, which allows them to act as a hub for your business. Choosing a multifunctional device will also allow you to eliminate redundant devices, such as fax machines and scanners. Plus, you will only have to replace toner for one device rather than multiple devices, saving you even more money.

Other great features

A good color printer can do so much more than just spit out documents. For instance, if your office regularly prints multiple copies of lengthy documents, a finisher is one feature you must have. A finisher allows a color printer to staple, hole punch, fold, or create booklets out of your documents. Since you won’t have to do this by hand after printing, you’ll save lots of time and reduce human error. Other important features to look for include the ability to collate and duplex documents. Collating allows your color printer to copy and arrange multipage documents in the proper sequence, eliminating the need to assemble packets manually. A duplexing feature allows you to copy or print on both sides of the paper, which helps reduce waste. A bypass tray is another handy feature that allows you to keep expensive specialty paper separate from standard paper. These useful features may seem insignificant, but you’ll realize their full value once you see how much they improve productivity.

Once you’ve decided that a color printer is a necessity for your office, you get to the fun part of choosing the right device. By considering size, printing speed, multifunctionality, and useful features, you’ll find the perfect device for your office.  Contact us for more information.