Best Printer For Cardstock: Reviews, Buying Guide, and FAQs 2023

Are you feeling confused about best cardstock printer to buy?

If yes, you're not alone. Many other people get stuck trying to choose a printer that can handle cardstock paper and produce high quality printing results.

But we're here to help you out.

In the following guide, we'll look at some of the most popular cardstock printers currently available at the market and some tips on how to pick the perfect one for your craft project or heavy cardstock printing.

Editors' Picks for Top Printers for Cardstock in 2023

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  Preview
  Product
  Rating
• Bestseller No. 1
  
  Canon Pixma iX6820 Wireless Business Printer with AirPrint and Cloud Compatible, Black,...
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• Bestseller No. 2
  
  HP OfficeJet Pro 9015 All-in-One Wireless Printer, with Smart Home Office Productivity,...
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• Bestseller No. 3
  
  Epson Expression Photo HD XP-15000 Wireless Color Wide-Format Printer, Amazon Dash...
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• Bestseller No. 4
  
  HP OfficeJet 3830 All-in-One Wireless Printer, HP Instant Ink, Works with Alexa (K7V40A)
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• Bestseller No. 5
  
  Canon Pixma Pro-100 Wireless Color Professional Inkjet Printer with Airprint and Mobile...
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• Bestseller No. 6
  
  Canon TS9521C All-In-One Wireless Crafting Photo Printer, 12X12 Printing, White, Amazon...
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• Bestseller No. 7
  
  Epson Artisan 1430 Wireless Color Wide-Format Inkjet Printer (C11CB53201)
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• Bestseller No. 8
  
  Epson WorkForce WF-7720 Wireless Wide-format Color Inkjet Printer with Copy, Scan, Fax,...
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• Bestseller No. 9
  
  Epson SureColor P600 Inkjet Printer
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• Bestseller No. 10
  
  Brother Wireless All-In-One Inkjet Printer, MFC-J895DW, Multi-Function Color Printer,...
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What's a Cardstock Printer?

A cardstock printer is a printer that is capable of printing on cardstock paper. For starters, cardstock refers to the heavyweight paper used for creating wedding invitations, greeting cards, business cards, postcards, calendars, photography, and so on. This paper is referred to as cardstock because it's thicker than the standard printing paper.

You might not know this, but different printers come with different minimum and maximum thicknesses and weights of papers they can successfully print. For a unit to quality as a cardstock printer, therefore, it must be able to handle the thickness and weight of the card stock paper you're using. This might sound overwhelming, but we've put together a list of the best printer for cardstock printing in this article.

If you feed your printer with the wrong type of paper, it might end up not printing. And when it does, it will produce unwanted results. in other words, it will mess up your printing.

The worst happens when you feed your printer with a paper that's too thick, say cardstock paper, it can cause jamming of your unit. If the paper is too think, the printer might not even detect it. This explains why it's crucial that you find a printer designed to handle cardstock for an easy, problem-free printing experience.

Top 5 Best Printer For Cardstock Reviews

1. Brother HL-L2300D Monochrome Laser Printer For Cardstock

If your cardstock projects are all about black and white, consider getting this laser printer from Brother for the job. The model is suitable for home and office use and is capable of producing crisp black and white documents at a high print speed of up to 27 papers per minute.

Brother printers are synonymous with quality, and this monochrome laser printer isn't an exception. It's capable of producing your prints at an incredibly high resolution of 2400 x 600 dpi, placing it high above most of the units in its same price range.

The unit presents you with convenient features such as automated double-sided document printing and Toner Save mode that comes in handy when handling less critical business documents.

It also boasts of an adjustable 250-sheets paper tray capacity that helps meet all your home or office cardstock printing needs. However, we encourage you to look at the thickness of the cardstock you'll be printing to help ensure you feed the printer with the right amount of sheets for smooth printing on cardstock.

Don't forget that this printer is easy to hook to your computer, thanks to the integrated USB 2.0 interface. Its compact, desk-friendly design enables it to take less space in your home office while meeting your cardstock crafting project needs.

Highlighted Features:

• Printing speed: 27 paper per minute
• Automatic 2-sided printing
• Compatible with Windows 10 OS
• High resolution printing; up to 2400 x 600dpi resolution
• Up to 100 sheets output paper capacity
• Features high-speed USB 2.0 interface
• Backed by 1-year limited warranty

2. Canon Pixma iX6820 Wireless Business Printer - Best Printer For Cardstock

Canon is one of the few BIG names in the printing industry. The company has a proven track record of producing top-of-the-line printers that meet the needs of various users.

This particular Pixma iX6820 inkjet unit is a great choice for business people looking for the best printer for business cards and flyers or any other cardstock projects. It presents you with a 5-ink color system that can also work dyed inks to help you produce more detailed prints.

The Canon not only prints in full colors but also prints with an impressively high resolution of up to 9600 x 2400 dots per inch. This ensures you achieve dazzling prints for your clients' flyers, business cards, invitation cards, greeting cards, and more.

If your business always receives multiple orders involving cardstock printing, you'll appreciate the high printing speed that comes with this unit. That is, it can handle 14. inches per minute (for black prints) and 10.4 inches per minute (for color prints). Moreover, it can print borderless media measuring 13 x 19 inches or 4 by 6-inch color photos in a matter of 36 seconds only. As it's a ink jet printer, print quality is great!

You'll be spoilt for multiple connectivity options when using this printer, thanks to its ability to connect to the internet via Wi-Fi or the Ethernet port. You can even connect it to your mobile device and print directly from your smartphone, iPad, or tablet!

Other noteworthy features of this printer include automatic document feeder (with 150 sheets paper capacity) and automatic plug that turns of the device when not in use to help save power. Although the canon pixma pro 100 has a few more features in its arsenal, I suggest you to get this canon pixma ix6820 instead of a canon pixma pro 100 printer.

Highlighted Features:

• Compatible with Mac and Windows
• Supports wireless printing
• 5-ink system for full-color printing
• Auto sheet feeder: 150 sheets
• High resolution: 9600 x 2400 dpi
• Cost effective inkjet printer

3. HP OfficeJet Pro 8035 All-in-One Wireless Printer

Our next printer also comes from a highly reputable name in the printing word, the HP. This printer comes engineered to handle the card stock print media and makes the best printers for cardstock invitations for your home office or small business.

The all-in-one HP printer can print, copy, scan, and even fax. It has a convenient napper handling capability, with the input tray holding as many as 250 sheets while the output tray holds up to 60 sheets.

Regarding the speed, this printer too doesn't disappoint. it prints your cardstock papers at a speed of 10 pages per minute (black) and 10 pages per minute (color).

The HP also offers you unique features such as smart tasks and scan-to-usb capabilities that help save time and increase productivity in your business. it also supports automatic two-sided printing and copying and automatic document feeder for even more user convenience.

The revolutionary HP printer also comes with self-healing Wi-Fi to help ensure you stay connected and minimize interruptions when working on your projects. Moreover, it features built-in security essentials to help safeguard your privacy on the internet.

And the BEST part is…when you purchase this printer, you get a code to redeem up to 8 months of ink delivered to your doorstep. A good way to save money on ink, right?

Highlighted Features:

• Android/iOS/Windows/Mac compatible
• Prints cardstock measuring 8.5 x 11 inches
• Faster printing: up to 20 pages per minute
• Fax and scan-to-USB capabilities
• Supports two-sided printing and copying
• Automatic document feeder
• Enables you to print from mobile devices
• Input/output capacity: 225 sheets, 60 sheets

4. Epson Workforce WF-7710 Wireless Wide-Format Color Inkjet Printer

The Epson Workforce line of inkjet printers is usually designed for use in business offices. This means you can rely on this Workforce-7710 as the best printer for heavy cardstock printing jobs.

Just like our previously discussed HP model, this EP is also an all-on-on printer that enables you to print, copy, scan, and fax in one single device.

When it comes to meeting your cardstock printing needs, this inkjet printer gives its all. It can handle up to 192 gm/m2 for cardstock, which is quite satisfactory for any business. It also prints at an impressive speed of 18 papers per minute (for black) and 10 ppm (for color prints).

As you'd expect from any high-end inkjet printer for business use, if you are into heavy cardstock printing, it will do just fine. This model comes bundled with multiple connectivity options. It supports and Wi-Fi and NFC…and supports Wi-Fi direct capability, which means you can directly print from your smartphone, iPad, tablet, and other mobile devices.

If you prefer a wireless connection, you can use the Ethernet port or USB 2.0 interface integrated into this printer.

Note that this printer supports automatic two-sided printing and has a 35-sheet automatic document feeder for your own convenience.

The Workforce comes with 2 paper trays, each boasting a maximum capacity of 250 sheets. It also presents you with a rear slot where you can easily feed specialized paper into the printer. Thanks to the intuitive 4.3-inch color screen, operating your printer and monitoring its status becomes easier. That's why it's in our list of best printer for cardstock.

Highlighted Features:

• All-in-one inkjet printer
• Prints cardstock papers up to 13 x 19 inches
• Intuitive 4.3" color LCD screen
• Multiple connectivity options
• Automatic document feeder
• Supports two-sided printing on cardstock, copying, scanning
• Suitable for heavy cardstock printing
• Cost effective inkjet printer in our list

5. Canon TS9120 Wireless All-In-One Printer For Cardstock

Last, but on the least one, we have another Canon wireless printer. This is another all-in-one printer that meets all your home printing, copying, and scanning needs. It comes with an extremely compact design, so it doesn't occupy all the space in your home office.

This printer is also one of the top models that deliver stunning print quality. It comes armed with a 6-color individual ink system with Photo Blue ink to help reduce graininess on your prints-enabling you to achieve photo lab printing results!

As with the other Canon we discussed earlier, this model also supports wireless connectivity, thanks to the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth technologies it comes integrated with. This enables you to directly connect your smartphone, tablet, or any other mobile device for easy printing. The built-in SD memory card reader enables you to print directly from memory cards.

Most people who have used this printer before are in love with its larger 5-inch color screen. Such a generous screen size is sure to make the device easier to operate, no doubt! You can even add creative filters to your images on this screen to further enhance your printing results.

For all your home cardstock printing needs, this Canon TS9120 will not disappoint. Its compact design means it occupies little space in your office room while delivering excellent, high quality and fast printing results. It'll help you handle all your home invitations, greeting cards, scrapbooks, family photos and other related projects. If you are more into photo printing than canon pixma pro could be a better option.

Highlighted Features:

• All-in-one printer for cardstock and home use
• Compact, space-saving design
• Maximum printing size: 8.5 x 14 inch
• WiFi and Bluetooth-enabled printer
• High resolution printing: up to 4800 x 1200DPI
• Multiple connectivity options
• Impressive 5.0″ LCD touchscreen
• Automatic two-sided printing
• Perfect for heavy cardstock printing

Best Cardstock Printers Buying Guide For Complete Beginners

In this part, we'll take a look at the thing to look for when purchasing a heavy cardstock printer for your home or business cardstock printing needs.

Printing quality

One of the things you should look for in a cardstock printer is the quality of prints it produces.

Whether you're looking for a printer for home or business use, you want to ensure you unit produced excellent quality prints as these will dictate how your final projects look like.

The quality of print is usually expressed in dots per inch (DPI), where a high number of dots translates to higher-quality prints.

Some manufacturers also expressed how well their printers can handle detailed images in terms of inches per second (IPS), which contributes to the overall print quality.

Print media size support

You also need to look at the size of print media, in this case, cardstock papers, the printer you want to buy can handle.

We highly suggest that you go for a model that can print various sizes of cardstock sizes and shapes.

This because cardstock papers come in different sizes and you might not know what sizes you might need to work in the future.

Connectivity options

It's also important to look at the connectivity options offered by the cardstock printer you plan to buy.

The modern printers come with USB connections to help you easily hook them up with your computer.

Some models also come with wireless capabilities. They come integrated with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth technologies to enable them to wirelessly connect to other devices.

Printers with diverse connectivity options are more convenient to use than the traditional printers which required you to connect them to your computer.

Paper weight

Different printers come engineered to handle varying amounts of paper at a go. Some models can handle up to 50 pounds' worth of sheets in their input tray at a time.

if you usually handle a lot of cardstock printing work, you'll need to look for a printer that can handle a high volume of papers to help you quicken the printing process.

While still at it, it's also important to check the weight of cardstock the printer supports to ensure it's ideal for the paper you intend to use.

You don't want to use the wrong printer for heavy cardstock and get disappointed when it jams midway your work.

What Is Cardstock Paper and What Are Its Uses

Cardstock paper is often used as a material for making decorative items or items that require sturdy construction. Projects made out of cardstock paper include 3D models, greeting cards, place-mats, bookmarks, postcards, photo albums, business cards, calendars and envelopes. Crafts and confections made using cardstock paper include quilling, decoupage and confetti. Cardstock paper is made out of cotton linters or wood pulp. It is available in different colors, textures, weights and sizes.

There are many types and brands of cardstock paper, including:

• 65 lb. to 70 lb. offset cardstock paper
• 100 lb. cover cardstock paper
• 80 lb. text stock or bond cardstock paper
• 60 lb. text weight cardstock paper
• 50 lb. newsprint stock or bond cardstock paper
• 36 lb. book cover or illustration board cardstock paper
• 100% cotton cardstock paper such as Crane's Crest and Ettinger Chiselboard
• 25 lb. recycled ledger stock or bond blueprint paper
• 24 lb. recycled cardstock paper
• 20 lb. cover cardstock paper
• 18 lb. punchboard cardstock paper
• 16 lb. chipboard cardstock paper
• 16 pt. to 24 pt. manilla solid color or lined colored punchboard board stock cardboard sheets

Cardstock Paper Uses: Cardstock paper is often used for making confections, stationery, decoupage, crafts and 3D models. It can also be used in schools, offices or at home. Some types of office items such as brochures, pamphlets, catalogs, newsletters and even bookmarks are printed on cardstock paper.

Pros and Cons of Using a Cardstock Printer

Cardstock printers are capable of producing high-quality color prints via an inkjet printing process. There are many types of cardstock, though it is generally thicker than typical paper and the same width as any other type of media being printed onto.

Advantages:

• High quality colors for printouts
• Uses an inkjet printing process, which can decrease costs
• Able to print high-quality images
• Can handle a variety of types of cardstock, including glossy and matte

Disadvantages:

• Does not use normal paper size methods (cards are the same width as normal media but of varying height)
• High ink consumption (cards are thicker than normal paper and thus use more ink)

Common misunderstandings about using a cardstock printer:

• It is not capable of printing on both sides of the media, though it does have this option. The user must manually turn the media over to print on the other side
• It cannot handle normal paper sizes, only cards that are equal in width to regular media but of varying height

Tips for Getting the Most Out of Your Cardstock Printer

A cardstock printer is not the same as a normal inkjet or laser printer. Cardstock printers are typically more expensive and use thicker paper. In order to print with cardstock, you need to have access to Adobe InDesign or QuarkXPress. You can then export your file as a PDF document and send it to your cardstock printer.

Keep in mind that everything you print with a cardstock printer will be twice the thickness and weight of standard paper. If you were to print an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper and an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of cardstock, the paper would weigh approximately 6 ounces while the cardstock would weight 12 ounces.

Since cardstock is thicker, it doesn't lay flat against the print bed of your printer. Be sure to use blue painter's tape or another kind of masking tape (e.g., low tack) to secure the corners of the paper during printing. You may even want to make a temporary "jig" so that you can ensure each page is secured on both the top and bottom.

I've provided some useful tips below to help give you an idea of what goes into printing with cardstock.

First, Create Your Artwork

this will determine how many pages you need to print. To determine the finished size of your art, multiply its height by the page scale (e.g., if your final piece is 5 inches tall and you're printing at 200%, your final document will be 10 inches in height).

For example: If I created an 8 1/2 x 11 inch graphic and wanted to print it at 200%, my finished size would be 16 1/2 x 22 inches.

Convert Your Document to Black and White and Adjust the Page Scale

Next, you'll need to convert your document to black and white and adjust the page scale using the Bounding Box (with crop marks enabled). You can find this by going to Object -> Fill and Stroke -> Show Bounding Box.

You'll notice that the Bounding Box outlines your entire piece. If you want to print a border around your page, make sure you include this outline in your crop marks (you can make this dashed to easily see where your printed page will be).

You May Need to Do Some Experimenting With This Step

This is because calibrating for cardstock printing is not like calibrating for regular printing. With regular printing, it's best to slightly under-scale. You'll also notice that its best NOT to scale proportionally across all objects/paths; scaling each object individually will ensure that text and images are sized properly once they're printed.

Use these tips as guidelines only- Keep in mind that what I suggest may not always work for every printer and it may take some trial and error before you find what works best for you.

When this is done, export the file as a PDF and open it in your cardstock printer's software (if there is any). The software will let you know if something isn't set up properly- such as if one of your objects has too much bleed.

FAQs about Cardstock Printers

1. Can I use any printer for cardstock printing?

No. As we have mentioned severally before, not all printers are suitable for printing on cardstock. this is because most printers out there are designed for printing on the normal print paper, which is quite different from cardstock paper.

The cardstock paper appears thicker and more durable and feeding to the wrong printer can resulting in jamming and undesired print results.

For the best print results for your projects such as invitation cards, greeting cards, business cards, family photos, etc., be sure to use a printer designed to handle cardstock.

2. Can laser printers print on cardstock?

Absolutely! Just like inkjet printers, laser printers can also support printing in thick paper, i.e. the cardstock.

A good example is the Brother HL-L2300D Monochrome Laser Printer we reviewed earlier on. This is a laser printer that helps produce crisp clear prints on cardstock paper.

3. Can HP printers print on cardstock?

We all know that HP is one of the most respectable names in the printing world. it'd, therefore, be a surprise if none of their wide selection of printers can handle the heavy cardstock paper. Thus we've selected one hp model at the third position of our list. It is the best printer for 110 lb cardstock.

In our reviews section above, we have recommended one HP printers that can print on cardstock.

If you're not sure whether the HP printer you own can print on cardstock, we recommend you to go throng the documentation it comes or your user manual to see what kinds of paper it can support.

Alternatively, you can reach out to the manufacturer and ask if your HP printer model can work with cardstock.

Buy now at Etsy, eBay, Walmart (subject to availability)

Canon Pixma iX6820 Wireless Business Printer with AirPrint and Cloud Compatible, Black, - Walmart, Etsy, Ebay

HP OfficeJet Pro 9015 All-in-One Wireless Printer, with Smart Home Office Productivity, - Walmart, Etsy, eBay

Epson Expression Photo HD XP-15000 Wireless Color Wide-Format Printer, Amazon Dash - Walmart, Etsy, eBay

HP OfficeJet 3830 All-in-One Wireless Printer, HP Instant Ink, Works with Alexa (K7V40A) - Walmart, Etsy, Ebay

Canon Pixma Pro-100 Wireless Color Professional Inkjet Printer with Airprint and Mobile - Walmart, Etsy, eBay

Canon TS9521C All-In-One Wireless Crafting Photo Printer, 12X12 Printing, White, Amazon - Walmart, Etsy, Ebay

Epson Artisan 1430 Wireless Color Wide-Format Inkjet Printer (C11CB53201) - Walmart, Etsy, Ebay

Epson WorkForce WF-7720 Wireless Wide-format Color Inkjet Printer with Copy, Scan, Fax, - Walmart, Etsy, Ebay

Epson SureColor P600 Inkjet Printer - Walmart, Etsy, eBay

Brother Wireless All-In-One Inkjet Printer, MFC-J895DW, Multi-Function Color Printer, - Walmart, Etsy, eBay

Conclusion on Cardstock Printer Buyers

Cardstock is a heavier and thicker paper than the standard printing paper, and trying to print it with the wrong printer can end up messing your printing project.

The secret to printing cardstock involved getting the best printers for cardstock, designed to work with cardstock paper.

Some of the printers we have outlined in this guide have been used by home and business people to print on cardstock and produces stunning quality results.