Category: KIP Large Format Printers

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Best Printers For Architects to Mount Renderings onto Foam Boards

Architecture firms rely on high-quality prints to showcase their designs, present proposals to clients, and create physical mockups of their projects. 

When it comes to mounting renderings onto foam boards, having the right printer can make all the difference in delivering professional results that impress clients and stakeholders.

At Steven Enterprises, we know that the difference between a good presentation and a great one often comes down to print quality and the printer behind it.

Here’s your complete guide to selecting the best printers for architects.

Why Foam Board Mounting Matters for Architecture Firms

Foam board displays command attention in ways that laptop presentations cannot.

They allow multiple stakeholders to review designs simultaneously, create focal points during meetings, and provide lasting impressions that remain in conference rooms long after initial presentations conclude.

For architecture firms, this means your printer needs to do more than just reproduce technical drawings. 

It must produce renderings worthy of mounting with crisp details, accurate colors, and professional finish quality that reflects your design expertise.

Key Features Architects Need in a Large Format Printer

When selecting a printer for mounting renderings onto foam boards, several capabilities matter more than others:

  • Print Quality and Resolution: Architectural renderings contain intricate details like material textures, lighting effects, landscape elements, and fine architectural features. Look for printers offering 2400 x 1200 dpi resolution or higher to ensure every detail of your design reproduces faithfully at large scales.
  • Color Accuracy: Your printer should offer consistent, predictable color output that matches your digital files, especially when presenting material palettes and finishes to clients. This becomes especially critical when presenting multiple boards that need to maintain color consistency across an entire project narrative.
  • Media Handling: The best printers accommodate various media types without jamming or compromising print quality, giving you flexibility to choose papers that best suit each project’s presentation requirements.
  • Speed and Efficiency: Architecture firms often face compressed timelines before major presentations or competition deadlines. Fast print speeds help you meet deadlines without sacrificing quality when producing multiple large-format boards. This matters less for occasional printing but becomes crucial for firms with regular presentation schedules.

Top Large Format Printer Brands for AEC Professionals

  • The HP PageWide Pro Series 

The HP PageWide Pro series stands out as an excellent choice for architecture firms focused on technical drawings and CAD outputs. 

These printers use stationary print bar technology that allows continuous paper movement, resulting in significantly faster print speeds while maintaining excellent quality.

But it also handles color renderings effectively, offering faster output than traditional inkjet technology without significant quality compromise. 

This makes it particularly valuable for practices that print high volumes of technical documents but need occasional stunning presentation boards.

Best For: Firms emphasizing technical drawings, CAD outputs, and construction documents, with regular requirements for high-quality presentation prints and foam board renderings.

Key Advantages:

  • Exceptional print speeds for meeting tight deadlines
  • Outstanding line quality for technical precision
  • Low cost per page compared to traditional inkjet systems
  • Reliable color output suitable for presentation applications
  • Reduced maintenance requirements and operational downtime

For detailed specifications and applications, see our comprehensive analysis of PageWide Pro series for foam boards and yard signs.

  • KIP Large Format Series: Vibrant Color with Toner Technology

KIP’s large format printer line offers a unique advantage for architecture firms through toner-based printing technology. 

Unlike inkjet systems, toner produces vibrant, durable prints that resist fading and handle various environmental conditions better. These are ideal characteristics for foam board presentations that may be displayed for extended periods.

KIP printers excel at producing rich, saturated colors that make architectural renderings pop when mounted on foam boards. 

For firms printing both construction documents and presentation materials, KIP printers handle both applications effectively. 

The dual-roll capability on many models allows quick switching between media types, streamlining workflow when you need to produce technical drawings alongside presentation boards.

Best For: Architecture firms needing both vibrant presentation-quality color renderings and high-volume technical printing, particularly practices that display mounted boards in offices or at extended exhibitions where print durability matters.

Key Advantages: 

  • Vibrant, saturated colors ideal for eye-catching presentations
  • Toner-based durability resists fading in displayed boards
  • Instant-dry output allows immediate mounting
  • Consistent color density across large format prints
  • Dual-roll flexibility for technical and presentation media
  • Fast print speeds suitable for high-volume environments

Recommended Models:

HP DesignJet Series: Proven Reliability for All-Around Use

The HP DesignJet line offers dependable large format printing for architectural firms of all sizes. 

These traditional inkjet printers provide solid general-purpose performance, balancing technical capabilities with good color output for presentation materials.

DesignJet printers handle the diverse needs typical in architectural practices like daily technical document printing plus periodic production of presentation boards and foam-mounted renderings. 

The widespread availability of supplies, extensive dealer networks, and proven reliability make these printers a practical, low-risk choice.

Best For: Architecture firms seeking reliable, all-around printing solutions with strong technical support networks and proven track records in architectural applications.

Key Advantages:

  • Proven reliability across thousands of architectural installations
  • Extensive service and support network nationwide
  • Wide model range fitting different budgets and firm sizes
  • Good balance of technical and presentation printing capabilities
  • Readily available consumables and replacement parts

Choosing the Right Printer for Your Architecture Firm

Different architectural practices have varying priorities when selecting large format printers:

  • If you primarily produce technical drawings with occasional presentation needs, the HP PageWide Pro series offers the best combination of speed, line quality, and cost efficiency. 

You’ll appreciate the fast output for daily technical printing while still getting quality results for foam board presentations.

  • If you need vibrant, durable color for presentation boards that will be displayed long-term, KIP large format printers deliver rich, saturated colors through toner-based technology. 

The instant-dry output and fade resistance make these ideal for firms that showcase mounted boards in offices or at extended exhibitions.

  • If you value proven reliability and support infrastructure, HP DesignJet series printers offer peace of mind through extensive dealer networks and widespread adoption. 

The ability to get rapid service and readily available parts reduces operational risk.

Optimizing Your Prints for Foam Board Mounting

Once you’ve selected the right printer, follow these best practices to ensure your renderings mount beautifully onto foam boards:

  • Use the Right Paper: Select heavyweight presentation papers (typically 32-36 lb) that won’t curl or wrinkle during the mounting process.
  • Calibrate Regularly: Maintain your printer’s calibration to ensure consistent color output across multiple prints and projects.
  • Allow Proper Drying Time: Give your prints adequate time to dry completely before mounting to prevent ink transfer or smudging.
  • Store Properly: Keep your printed renderings flat and protected until mounting to prevent damage or warping.

Make the Right Printer Investment for Your Architectural Practice

Selecting the best printer for mounting architectural renderings onto foam boards requires balancing technical precision, color accuracy, and practical considerations like speed and support infrastructure.

At Steven Enterprises, we help architecture firms navigate these decisions based on actual workflow needs rather than specifications alone. 

Ready to find the perfect printer for your architectural presentations? Contact us today or call 800-491-8785 for personalized recommendations.

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Reasons to Upgrade to a KIP Large Format Printer

For architects, engineers, and construction (AEC) firms, inconsistent print speeds and high ink costs can disrupt tight deadlines and strain budgets. 

A KIP Large Format Printer offers a solution with its toner-based technology, providing consistent print speeds, reduced operating costs, and features tailored to technical workflows.​

At Steven Enterprises, we’ve observed how KIP printers enhance AEC operations — reducing errors in bids by up to 35% and lowering color printing costs to approximately $0.20 per square foot. 

Our clients often produce over 500 D-size plans per hour, maintaining schedules and budgets.

In this article, we’ll highlight exactly why KIP printers are a great HP DesignJet alternative — and how your team can test one risk-free.

Who Needs a KIP Large Format Printer?

1. DesignJet & OCE Owners

KIP Large Format Printer

Many design and construction teams use inkjet models like the HP DesignJet XL 3600 or older OCE printers. However, these machines slow down significantly with high ink coverage — especially when printing detailed color renderings or redline markups. 

This bottleneck can push deadlines back by days or force teams to break large jobs into multiple smaller batches.

KIP’s toner-based systems maintain 6–20 pages per minute at any coverage. Whether you’re printing simple floor plans or heavily shaded 3D renderings, the speed never wavers. 

Plus, you can print both monochrome and color plans at the same rapid pace without switching devices or sacrificing color altogether.. 

2. Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) Firms

KIP Large Format Printer

In many architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) environments, plans are printed in monochrome to save on costs. 

Unfortunately, crucial elements — like electrical, plumbing, and HVAC routes — can blend together without color differentiation, leading to confusion, errors in bids, and costly rework.

KIP printers excel at high-volume, color-accurate output at a fraction of the cost of traditional inkjets. 

By using different colors for each subsystem, redline markups and final plan sets become far clearer. This improves communication among trades, reduces misinterpretation, and helps contractors submit more accurate project bids.

If you’re looking to discover more about multi-roll devices and their benefits, visit our Large Format Printer Solutions page.

3. Organizations Seeking Greater Cost Reduction

KIP Large Format Printer image

Some companies primarily want to lower their ongoing print expenses — whether that’s due to rising ink costs or an uptick in color-coverage needs.

KIP’s toner approach offers a more predictable cost-per-print, especially on color-intensive jobs. 

Firms facing excessive ink usage or ballooning supply expenses often see immediate savings when switching to toner. 

This predictable pricing model helps budget-conscious teams accurately forecast their monthly print expenditures and avoid the frequent cartridge replacements common with inkjets.

KIP’s toner-based approach means more consistent expenditures. Instead of guessing how many ink cartridges you’ll burn through on color-heavy jobs, you pay roughly the same per page.

Why Choose a KIP Large Format Printer over Inkjets?

1. Toner Never Slows Down: Traditional inkjets might slow to a crawl when coverage goes beyond 50% — especially if you’re printing color-intensive renderings. 

KIP printers maintain 6–20 pages per minute no matter how much coverage you’re using. That means no more splitting large jobs into smaller batches.

2. Historically Expensive, Now More Cost-Effective: KIPs used to have a higher price tag compared to standard inkjets. But there has been a big industry shift: the cost of KIPs has come down, while their toner-based approach makes color prints far cheaper than ever before.

Many AEC firms significantly reduce color printing costs with KIP printers, achieving rates as low as $0.20 per square foot, compared to around $1.00 per square foot or more with many inkjets.

3. Perfect for High-Volume Printing: Every KIP model handles 2–4 rolls of media at once and offers built-in scanning. This setup is ideal for firms juggling multiple projects, letting you print technical drawings, color-coded markups, and even foam board or yard signs (with direct-to-board capabilities) from a single device.

How to Test a KIP Large Format Printer Risk-Free

To see how much you could save and how quickly you can print, call us at (800) 491-8785 or fill out our online form to request a personalized KIP demo.

We’ll print your actual plans or designs in real time, so you can see the color accuracy, speed, and cost savings firsthand.

You can ask questions as if you’re standing right in front of the machine. We’ll then mail you the completed prints for review.

It’s a simple, no-pressure way to find out how KIP can transform your printing process — especially if you’re comparing it to an HP DesignJet or older OCE model.

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Best Large Format Printers for Cities & Government Businesses

Best Large Format Printers for Cities & Government Businesses

As cities and government agencies continue to evolve, so does the need for effective large format printing solutions. While many entities already possess a plotter, not all are optimized for current demands. 

Whether it’s upgrading older models or integrating more advanced technology, understanding the best large format printers available is crucial for efficient operation.

In this blog post, we’ll learn from our Certified Large Format printing experts at Steven Enterprises about what the best large format printer models are for cities & other government businesses. 

What Large Format Printer Do Most Cities Have?

Well, the first time a city bought a large format plotter dates back to about the 1960s. This is when the first plotter was created, known as a “pen plotter” back then. 

Pen plotters are friendly robots from a not so distant past. As Tobias Toft puts it in this article, “they’re the missing link between pencils and laser printers.” Pen Plotters are lovely pieces of high precision technology, using regular pens that are computer-controlled to draw on regular paper with incredible speed and precision. 

They would draw blueprints for tweedy engineers and turtlenecked architects back in the 70’s and 80’s, they would draw colorful charts on transparencies for slick investment bankers to present on overhead projectors, and they probably also drew the schematics for the laser- and inkjet printers that replaced them a decade later. While expensive at the time, they were beautifully engineered, high-quality machines, which is still used by some cities around the country. 

Once the print head was invented, many cities and state agencies upgraded their large format printing equipment to this faster, more sophisticated technology. Meaning that most now own either a large-format inkjet printer or an LED toner-based printers (depending on their business needs). 

READ MORE: Toner vs. Ink Large Format Printers: Cost and Usage Comparison for Businesses

Depending on the size of your operation, you’re likely going to have multiple large-format inkjet printers on-site to be able to keep up with the demand. 

What are the common applications for large format printers in government entities?  

Back in the day, every plan to build something had to be printed and run through the city for approval. While that’s still true today, most of it has gone digital. 

That said, many city planners and state agencies still make heavy use of the large format printers to mark up the blueprints they receive. 

Another common application for toner-based printers is to make larger posters to be distributed in city hall or around the city. Since they need to be able to weather the outdoors for longer periods, this higher-quality printing technology is a must.

Reasons to Upgrade Your Plotter

If you’ve had your large format printer for over 5 years, your printer is likely due for an upgrade. The main reason being the quality of the prints you could be getting, but also just out of increased efficiency!

Here are some reasons why it might make sense to upgrade: 

  • Improved printing quality: Not all cities know how much the technology has improved since these original series of the large format inkjets and toner based printers came out. For example, the line printing for blueprints far more crisp and precise. Also, the durability and color consistency of the prints is also night and day from what is used to be! 
  • Faster printing speeds: The best improvement in the technology is the speed. New large format printers need only 1 minute to print out 30 drawings. Older models needed a minimum of 2 minutes. So if your operations ever need to print in bulk, this can be a huge time saver! 
  • Multi-functional machines: The best part about upgrading your large format printer is that the newer models come with a scanner built into it. Since so much of the city planning process is digitized, having the option to scan is great. It’s an easy way to simplify communications with the foreman on the construction job site. 
  • Save costs buying color: If you need options to print in color, the newer models are going to be far cheaper than the old ones. The reason for this is that the older models use dye-based ink. This ink is far more expensive than the pigment ink that the newer plotters use. The pigmented ink is also far more durable (lasting about 6 months outside in the elements vs. max 3 months). As a result, the costs are lower by avoiding reprints! 

Top Large Format Printers for Government Businesses in 2025

Every business is different. This is why we highly recommend you book a free consultation with a Steven Enterprises certified printing expert to purchase the right large format printer. 

Since we work with many cities and state municipalities, here are the top printers they invest in.

HP 3600/3800 Large Format Printer 

Using PageWide XL 6000

Productive, efficient, and secure. The HP DesignJet XL 3600 and HP DesignJet XL 3800 Multifunction printers are the top choice for government businesses. 

They keep construction projects moving with the fastest color printer at 6A1/D color pages per minute in its class. Not only is it a fast first page out, it also has excellent color and monochrome print quality.  

If your goal is to have a simple and optimized system, this is a great printer to invest in. It includes easy one-click copy and scan workflows, features that reduce your environmental impact. Not to mention, it’s a more compact printer than the older models, providing you additional workspace for other uses.

To learn more about the HP Large format printers, click here. 

KIP Black & White Large Format PrinterKIP 7170 Front

If you are looking for a more budget-friendly option, the KIP large format printers are also a great option.

KIP is a leading global supplier of digital printing and scanning solutions for color and monochrome wide format documents. Offering an extensive product range that meets the ever-increasing demand for fast, high-quality, cost-effective reproduction. 

KIP’s advanced product technology leads the market in performance, reliability, and value with an exceptionally low cost of operation.

Click here to learn more about KIP large format printers.

Need Help Finding the Right Large Format Printer for Your Business?

Investing in a modern large format printer can transform the way cities and government agencies handle their printing needs. From improved operational efficiency to higher quality outputs, the benefits are clear.

If you’re considering upgrading your equipment or need advice on the best model for your specific needs, don’t hesitate to contact Steven Enterprises. Our certified printing experts are here to provide tailored solutions and support. This way ensuring you choose the right printer to meet your city demands! 

Visit our website or contact us directly for a free consultation. During out call, you’ll discover how the latest in large format printing technology can benefit your operations.