Bring your next scrapbook, greeting card or DIY creation to life with one of these great crafting printers.
Crafters and DIY hobbyists should seek out a printer that can handle all kinds of projects. Although most printers can print photos and simple crafting hobbies just fine, if you are serious about your crafts, you will need a machine that can match your passion.
In this guide, we will cover a handful of top-rated printers that are perfect for craft lovers. From greeting cards and scrapbooking, to paper crafts and professional photos, these printers can instantly bring your next project to life.
With dozens of machines competing for your printing dollars, it can be difficult to determine what printer makes the most sense for crafting. If you are deciding between an inkjet or laser printer, inkjets are definitely the better option. Why? Inkjet printers are designed to manage a variety of print jobs and are far more comprehensive when it comes to paper handling and color depth. Many are compatible with a variety of paper types and sizes and ink cartridges can produce beautiful photos and high-end graphics thanks to a versatile ink formula. Laser printers on the other hand are best suited for text-based documents and are commonly used in home offices or businesses. Here, we review four reputable inkjet printers and each machine was selected for its ability to handle a specific type of crafting project.
Best Crafting Printers at a Glance
- Best Overall Crafting Printer: Canon PIXMA TS9521C
- Best Professional Photo Printer: Canon PIXMA Pro-200
- Best Printer for Social Media: HP Sprocket
- Best Home Photo Printer: Epson Expression Photo XP-6100
Best Overall Crafting Printer
Canon® PIXMA® TS9521C Crafting Printer – Buy on Amazon*
Great for scrapbooking, sticker printing and greeting cards
The Canon PIXMA TS9521C was made for crafting. With this printer, you get an array of print options, including 12” x 12” borderless printing and front and rear paper support that is perfect for handling a range of paper types. A 20-sheet automatic document feeder scans/copies multi-page documents and wireless connectivity prints seamlessly from all of your favorite devices. Additionally, 45 built-in printable paper patterns are easily accessible from the printer’s 4.3” color touch screen, providing colorful backgrounds for your next scrapbooking project. Hands free printing is a convenient feature you didn’t know you needed, just pair the printer with your Amazon Alexa to instantly check cartridge levels or print a document. It also can create great looking 7”x10” greeting cards, just in time for your next family holiday card or birthday party!
This printer works with five individual ink cartridges, which are available in three sizes: standard yield, high yield and extra high yield. The extra high yield cartridge offers the most amount of ink, and is a great value if you print often. The PGI-280 pigment black cartridge handles all of the text-based printing and CLI-281 dye-based black, cyan, magenta and yellow works together to create vibrant photo prints. Get the same quality prints as the original for a fraction of the cost with LD brand compatible Canon ink cartridges! LD Products sells compatible extra high yield ink cartridges at a great value, with the PGI-280XXL black ink cartridge available for $9.99 and the CLI-281XXL ink cartridges for $9.99 each.
Best for Professional Photos
Canon PIXMA Pro-200 –Buy on Amazon
Get professional wide-format photographs in both B&W and color
Professional photographers need a machine with exceptional printing power. Featuring eight dye-based ink cartridges, Canon’s PIXMA Pro-200 delivers the goods, producing beautiful black and white prints and stunning color pictures that are suitable for any studio. A two way paper feed supports a variety of paper types, and a manual rear feed makes it easy to print standalone shots and thicker page sizes. Rated over four stars on Amazon, this PIXMA prints on a variety of media up to 13”x 19” in size and a 4800 x 2400 dpi ensures images are sharp and detailed. Ink cartridges for this printer can get pricey, with an original eight pack from Canon selling for $109.99. Since this is a newer printer, LD Products compatible cartridges are not available just yet, but we plan to get them in soon! In the meantime, we do offer Canon original ink cartridges for this series here. We will keep this guide updated with the latest information…
Best for Social Media
HP® Sprocket – Buy on Amazon
Designed for instant Instagram gratification and portable photo printing
Print all your favorite social media moments with HP’s compact Sprocket printer! Perfect for Instagram or your own personal photo booth at your next party, you can print directly from your smartphone with the HP Sprocket app. A rechargeable battery is even included for printing on the go! Instead of ink cartridges, the printer relies on HP ZINK® sticky-backed photo paper, a special thermal paper with the ink embedded into the page. Get twenty 2” x 3” sheets for $10.99 or fifty sheets for $26.49.
Best for Home Photos
Epson® Expression Photo XP-6100 Printer – Buy on Amazon
Create high quality crafting projects on semi-gloss, glossy, luster, matte and other fine art papers
Epson’s Expression Photo XP-6100 printer is less expensive than the comparable PIXMA Pro-100 and best suited for home photo printing. An easy to use wireless setup makes printing from your smartphone easy and a dedicated 20-sheet photo tray is optimized for a variety of premium photo papers. It also supports automatic 2-sided printing and can print 4″x6″ photos in under 15 seconds. The printer uses the Epson 302 ink cartridge series, which are available in a standard yield and XL, or high yield size. Original high yield replacement cartridges range in price from $13.09-$25.99, depending on the cartridge. LD Products offers competitively priced compatible cartridges for this printer – get the compatible high yield black cartridge for $14.99 and the color cartridges for $11.99 each. The XP-6100 works best with Epson brand semi-gloss, glossy, luster, matte and velvet fine art papers but low cost alternatives from LD Products are another solid option.
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*Savings based on price comparison between remanufactured/compatible cartridge prices on www.LDProducts.com and OEM cartridge and printer prices from the listed retailers: Amazon and Staples. All products are reviewed independently. As an Amazon associate, LD Products earns from qualifying purchases through links on this page. All prices effective as of April 17, 2023. OEM names are registered trademarks of their respective owners and are not affiliated with, and do not endorse LD Products.
I have a Canon Pixma printer. /first, it was impossible to connect it to my computer remotely.
Then, for many months it would not print black. there was a weird work around available from online info: tell the printer that it was printing photo paper. No help was provided by Canon for a long time. Finally they fixed the bug.
Also, Canon keeps adding little programs to my computer. I delete them off, but they re-appear every time the printer upgrades.
The printer may print fine at first, but my experience is that it is a bad buy in the long run.
I purchased the Canon TS9521C Wireless Crafting Printer. It will not print on 12X12 photo paper, it makes you pick cardstock so the colors are off when printing. If you print it on 10 x 12 photo paper the colors and textures are fine. I can’t find where to make the changes to the papersize change, it always reverts me back to cardstock. When you can purchse 12 x 12 photo paper its disappointing to not be able to print on that.