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Looking for the best Cricut printer on a budget? I’ve got you covered! Here I compare HP and Epson printer models to see which prints better when making stickers and more with your Cricut machine. Which one will win? Will one of these work for your homework needs? Keep reading to find out!
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Please note that these ARE NOT FOR SUBLIMATION, but inkjet printers for regular printing of Cricut projects. You can click here for more information about sublimation printing.
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I am often asked what kind of printer to use with their Cricut machine. Let’s put it to the test to see which is the best Cricut printer on a budget! I actually recorded a video showing several prints with these two printers so you can see the different ways to print on various types of paper. Just click play below to watch!
Here are the printers I used for this comparison. If you’re looking for more advanced printers and have a bigger budget, I have another post about that here. Both printers currently cost around a hundred dollars or less at the time of this writing.
The black printer shown is Epson and the white one is HP. Inkjet printers are ideal for your Cricut machine to do things like stickers, art for your home, prints for your home office, banners, party decor, paper crafts and much more. These options are less expensive and also small and compact, making them ideal for many housewives.
Both are inkjet printers. They cannot be converted to sublimation, so this is not a sublimation printer post.
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The Epson XP 4100 is quite compact. I will also note that it comes in a few different colors if you don’t like black. There is an input tray that comes out at the back, as well as an output tray at the front. The dashboard itself also opens up at the front. But even unfolded, it’s still not a big pusher.
The HP Deskjet 3755 is a printer I’ve had for a few years now. We’ve been using it in our house for a variety of things. I don’t use it for my everyday prints. I like the Envy I compared in a previous post, slightly better for print quality, but this one is pretty good too. There is an output tray and an input tray that can be folded. When unfolded, it has approximately the same footprint as the Epson. However, the advantage of this one is that it folds up very small and can fit in a small space when not in use.
But none of these printers have benefits unless they work well, right? I’m going to test a variety of materials and we’re going to take a really close and in-depth look. I’m going to test various printer setups with both and try to pick the best possible print and see how it compares. Hopefully at the end of this we will come away with the best Cricut printer on a budget for your job.
I printed the same print on copy paper on several printers here. First on the left is the Epson printer, second is the HP Deskjet, and third is my HP Envy for comparison. Looking at the three, I don’t see much difference. This is a watercolor print but all prints are very good on standard copy paper only. So let’s go a little thicker and use cardboard and see if we can see a difference.
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The one on the left is printed on my Epson XP 4100 and the one on the right is on the HP Deskjet 3755. I can definitely see the difference now that I’m using cardstock. The Epson looks a little duller and the color isn’t as bright as the HP Deskjet. I’m starting to see a difference where Epson isn’t doing as well. The main reason I feel a lot of people use their Cricut with a printer is to make stickers, so let’s try some sticker papers.
I’ll note here that I’ve done several different tests and am showing the best example I could find of the Epson XP 4100. I’ve tried a wide variety of print and paper settings. The stickers on the left are from Epson and those on the right are from HP Deskjet. The Deskjet itself is much brighter than the Epson.
It’s really hard to see in the photos, but there are small smudges all over the Epson print. I couldn’t get rid of it. It’s almost as if the image is pixelated or the ink didn’t land properly on the paper. On the other hand, in HP Deskjet printing, there are no small dots. The ink is super smooth and looks amazing – not pixelated, no lines, nothing.
I’m really starting to see a difference where the HP print quality is a little better. I went ahead and printed this same sheet of decals with my Envy and it’s on the right in the image below. I can say that the Envy is slightly better in print quality, but if you were to give me the HP Envy and HP Deskjet printed side by side, I’m not sure I could tell the difference between the two. However, I could definitely choose Epson printing. The print quality on it is not so good. All three are on printable cricut vinyl, which I use for most of my decals because it’s so thin and works great on most printers.
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Let’s talk about thicker decals because we have a problem there. Cricut Tracing Paper is one of the thickest tracing papers I have ever encountered. I can’t get this printable tracing paper on my HP Envy that I use every day. It doesn’t work, so I can’t use this paper. I was really excited to use these little printers and see if I could use the printable tracing paper instead of the printable vinyl.
These two sheets on the left are printed with the HP Deskjet. When the top is cut off and you don’t receive a full box, the printer is not feeding correctly. This is similar to what happens most of the time on my Envy, or it just doesn’t print at all. The HP Deskjet was a failure. On the other hand, the Epson XP 4100 crumpled the adhesive paper. However, I could never find a print setting that didn’t give me the pixelated look that doesn’t drive me crazy. You can only see small dots throughout the print, and the print quality is not as smooth as HP printers.
So can we find the best Cricut printer on a budget? I think yes. For me, it’s definitely the HP Deskjet 3755. I’m not overly impressed with the print quality of the Epson XP 4100, although it can do those thick papers. You’ll still struggle with thick paper on the HP Deskjet, so whether it’s the thick adhesive paper I spoke to Cricut about or a super thick white card stock you’re trying to print, you’ll likely have trouble getting it through the HP Deskjet feed.
However, if you stick with these thinner tracing papers, I think you’ll be very happy with the print quality of the HP Deskjet, while I’m afraid you’ll be disappointed with the print quality of the Epson printer. For me, I still stick with HP printers. I’ll stick with the HP Deskjet 3755 for my budget printer choice.
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I wanted to point out that Epson ink is a four-cartridge system, so you have one cartridge for each color. HP is a more standard cartridge system where you have black for one and color for the other.
The other thing I always love about HP is that you can do the Instant Ink program. As soon as your printer starts to run out of ink, the printer orders more for you and delivers it to your home. I pay for the Instant Ink program because I find it so convenient and because I print a lot at home. I think it saves me a lot of money. so i pay
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