Commercial print shops aren't the only ones that need to acquire printing equipment for use in daily business. With speciality printers opening up all across the United States, the need for dependable commercial printing equipment is greater now more than ever.

Whether you are a professional photographer in need of a wide-format photo printer or a print shop specializing in label printing, there are new and used pieces of printing equipment available to make your life easier and business more profitable! 

Screen Printing Equipment-

Screen printing is a printing technique that forces ink through a fine mesh and onto the printing service. Screen printing is said to be one of the MOST versitle printing methods and can be used on t-shirts, cardboard, plastic, glass, metal, nylon and more. With the introduction of automated screen printing machines and advanced drying systems, it is possible for even the novice printer to turn out high-volume jobs.

Screen printing options include semi automated options like the F1 Semi-Automatic Screen Printer from Systematic Automation, as well as larger commercial options like the Synchroprint E-Type machine from MHM Screen Printing Equipment. In order to really turn out high-volume runs, you'll probably want to consider a screen printing conveyor dryer.

Used Printing Equipment

Obtaining used printing equipment can be a great way to expand your printing services, while not breaking the bank. Used printing equipment is often bought and sold through equipment brokers that understand asset value and remaining useful life. A used printing press can save you over 50% of the cost of a new press, and still offer many years of service. Before committing to purchasing any used printing equipment, please view the equipment in person whenever possible. Get a full equipment condition report and do your research online as to the market value of the machine you are looking at.

Visit Printdirectory.org for a complete list of used printing equipment brokers.

Digital Printing Equipment

While digital printing was traditionally used for short print runs and custom media, recent advancements made by Canon and Xerox now have digital printing systems producing image quality only 5% less than that of high quality offset lithography setups.

Next generation commercial digital printing systems, also known as digital presses, include the Oce VarioPrint 6250 and NEXPRESS S3000 by Kodak.

Digital printing differs from traditional lithography printing due to the fact that printing plates are not required. Every print can be different and there is FAR less initial setup required when using digital presses.

Flexographic Printing Equipment

Flexographic printing, or flexography as it is commonly referred to as, is a printing method which uses a flexible relief plate to print on a variety of surfaces including cellophane, plastics, and metallic film. Flexographic printing equipment is often used in the private label water bottling industry as well as for all sorts of food packaging. Advancements in flexographic printing technology, including the introduction of photopolymer printing plates, now allow high quality full-color label runs to be processed. Until recently, this was a process that was reserved for more traditional offset presses.

Printing Equipment Leasing

With the cost of professional printing equipment starting at about $5k and topping out in the million dollar range for new 6-color inline presses, the need for financing in the commercial printing industry is growing. In order to gain and retain accounts, many print houses have been forced to upgrade their machinery or be phased out of the market. Equipment leasing is a financial tool, similar to a loan, that provides great flexibility to the equipment end-user. Often, only the first and last month's payments are required to initiate an equipment lease. This can help greatly reduce the initial out-of-pocket costs for an equipment upgrade, especially when compared to the traditional 15-20% downpayment typically required to initiate bank loans and lines-of-credit.