Products at a Glance
How We Picked the Best Printers for Greeting Cards
While looking for the best printers on the market for greeting cards, we prioritized some key features for the process. Greeting cards come in all shapes and sizes, so it’s essential to have a jack-of-all-trades printer that can print on cardstock, glossy paper, envelopes, or other card materials.
On top of that, to help you find your new printer, we looked for vivid color quality, suitable printing speeds, reasonable prices, and ease of use. Whether you’re printing greeting cards on a personal or professional scale, you’ll find the right match for you here. We’ve also looked at the best printer for envelopes, so be sure to check that out, and our best printers for home article too.
Product Reviews
- Great print quality
- Versatile media range
- Small footprint so takes less space
- Does not offer auto duplex function
- More expensive than other options
The Canon PIXMA PRO-200 is a game changer in the world of card printing. Featuring an eight-color InkJet system that breathes life into all designs, it prints vivid designs onto a wide array of media types.
With a print size of up to 13″ in width on a variety of media, the PRO-200 is easily the best printer for greeting cards and envelopes for our money. The printer was designed with ease of use in mind, with a 3-inch color display and button panel from which you can control it. There’s an array of means by which to connect your device of choice, with anything from your PC to your Smart Speaker. It’s almost overkill how many features Canon has packed into this phenomenal printer.
What is less phenomenal about the PRO-200 is the price: you will want to get a lot of use out of this printer to offset the cost. It is also quite a heavy printer despite the size of the unit, and can chug a little when printing large-format prints – so if you want to print a lot of tabloid-sized media, you’d be better off with one of our picks for the best wide-format printers. Additionally, this printer doesn’t offer a duplex printing feature. So if that’s a non-negotiable, our second selection on this list, the HP Envy 6055e Wireless, may be better.
That said, for greeting cards and envelopes, the PRO-200 is still the best printer choice. With a small footprint and a great variety of print options, this is easily the best printer for greeting cards for amateurs and professionals alike.
- Affordable InkJet Printer
- Versatile media support and borderless printing
- Exclusively compatible with HP ink
- Very bright status light
If you’re on a tight budget and in dire need of a card printer, then the HP ENVY 6055e comes to your rescue! With its affordable purchasing and running costs, this budget printer has superb multimedia support at a great price!
Despite an ultra-compact and lightweight design, the 6055e is still capable of a print size up to 8.5″ x 11″, and is rated for common greeting card materials such as cardstock and envelopes. It comes with built-in WiFi support and an automated troubleshooting feature that prevents annoying connection issues. When the WiFi is the issue rather than the printer, the 6055e also supports USB and Bluetooth printing, meaning that you’re never unable to print your cards.
A major drawback of the 6055e is that HP has limited this budget printer exclusively to their range of ink, which is prohibitively expensive and can be quite difficult to acquire without signing up for the company’s ink subscription service. Additionally, the design has an obnoxiously bright status light that cannot be switched off – a major design oversight.
However, if you can get hold of the ink (and tape over the terrible light), this is still the best budget printer for greeting cards available. And it even offers an auto-duplex feature. If you need a low-cost print solution for greeting cards, then the 6055e is the best choice.
- High-yield EcoTank system
- Compact and lightweight
- Borderless printing supported
- Fairly pricey considering budget options
If you dislike the messiness and high price of cartridge replacement, you’ll love what the Epson EcoTank ET-8500 has to offer. Utilizing high-yield ink bottles for printing colors instead of cartridges, this printer prints for much longer without needing replacement; saving you money, time, and energy.
The ET-8500 is capable of borderless printing up to 8.5″ x 11″ in size and can print onto cardstock up to 1.3 mm in thickness. On top of that, it can print customized DVDs and CDs, making it an ideal fit for small printing businesses wanting to expand their selection of products. For the best color quality possible, the ET-8500 utilizes a Claria Premium 6-color ink system that provides a wide gamut of shades and hues. It also uses a unique printhead that guarantees high-accuracy dot and line placement.
That said, the ET-8500 doesn’t come without cons. Considering that printing greeting cards can be difficult to profit from, the printer’s price can pose an issue for many. Whilst the overall cost-per-print is low, the initial setback can be costly. But if the frustration of ink cartridges is still too much to bear, then the ET-8500 is certainly our favorite as the best printer for greeting cards!
- Budget-friendly price
- Offers high-yield MegaTank bottles
- No color display
The Canon PIXMA G6020 is one of the best printers for card printing businesses, considering it has the highest yield among all products on our list. If you want to print a large volume of cards in a short time, it’s your best companion!
This Canon printer supports different media: greeting cards, envelopes, and stickers included – all common materials in greeting card printing. It also supports borderless printing, leaving little to be desired in terms of media support, but the high-yield MegaTank ink system is where this printer truly shines. The G6020 uses bottles that include more than 30 times the amount of ink found in garden-variety ink bottles: each one can print up to 7,700 color images (or 6,000 black-and-white).
While the printer lacks a color screen, it has a button control panel and a two-line matrix display to help you navigate your options. As a bonus, it supports printing from AirPrint, Mopria, and the Canon Print app – but you’ll need to connect it to a WiFi network first. For a printer that squeezes every drop of value from your purchase, the PIXMA G6020 is easily the best printer for high-yield card printing!
- Solid multi-function printere
- Relatively compact for ease of placement
- High CMYK ink cartridge depletion
We’ve looked before at some of the best Brother printers that are available, but in terms of Brother printers for greeting cards, the MFC-J497 is your best bet. A color-process wireless printer, this compact and lightweight model is a surprisingly versatile option for wireless card manufacturing.
The MFC0J497DW features a small display with many labeled buttons for easy control. In addition to printing, it can scan, copy, and fax, making it ideal for houses with various printer needs. It has a media tray that is suitable for cardstock and envelopes, and plenty of connection options. Speedy, compact, and affordable, this is a great midweight option for someone looking to get started in card printing.
Regarding media support, the Brother MFC-J497DW doesn’t offer as many options as other printers on our list, with no borderless printing support, but it’s still suitable for printing greeting cards on a small scale. The CMYK cartridges aren’t very efficient, however, and need frequent replacement. But for small-scale card-printing needs, the MFC-J497DW is a versatile multimedia printer that is great for greeting cards.
What to consider in your best printer for greeting cards
When looking to buy the best greeting card printer, there are a few factors that are worth considering before purchasing:
Media compatibility
Considering the printer that is right for you means ensuring compatibility with the media you want it to be able to handle. Media compatibility means for example, ensuring the printer can accept cardstock. This varies too, with heavy cardstock ranging up to and over 300 gsm (110.8 lb).
Printer Size
If space is a concern in your house or office, you should check the dimensions of the printer you’re buying. While most card printers can fit on desks, some are bulkier and heavier than others, especially those with versatile media support. Make sure you have the space!
Cost-per-Print
To make sure you won’t bleed money along the way, you should check the price of the ink cartridges or bottles the printer uses. Also, you should check its power usage and the average prices of the paper types you’ll use the most. This point is crucial as some printers are initially affordable but come with high running costs – making them less economic in the long-term.
Print Quality
The best printers for greeting cards need to be able to produce accurate and vivid images to ensure that the design is well-represented. To ensure the printer you’re buying brings out both aspects, you should check its resolution and printing technology. The more dots per inch (DPI) that a printer can create, the greater the quality.
Can all printers print greeting cards?
No, not all of them. Only printers with versatile media support can print on greeting cards. Some printers only work with plain paper, so they aren’t suitable for crafting projects. Make sure the printer you purchase is capable of printing onto cardstock.
Is DPI important for printing greeting cards?
Yes: Dots per inch (DPI) is the main measurement of printer resolution. For the best quality images, the best printers for greeting cards have high resolutions for maximum detail in the printed image.
Our Verdict
Many printers on the market can print greeting cards, but only a few managed to impress us with their vivid color quality, superb media support, and convenient ink systems. Overall, however, the Canon PIXMA PRO-200 is our top choice for the best printer for greeting cards: combining efficiency, convenience, and excellent features, it’s suitable for creating stunning cards or envelopes at home or professionally!
Are you a designer looking to print more than just cards? Check out our breakdown of some of the best printers for graphic design!