Listen to the column New hires, new network, or visit our Podcast Center to hear more by James Gaskin.
Stunning color prints dropped out of the Xerox Phaser 8560, quality the likes of which I haven't seen outside of photography equipment. I was invited to the first ever Xerox Partner Summit in Orlando, Florida, where I saw my first image made with solid ink.
While print quality can be debated, the environmental improvements of solid ink can't. Using little waxy blocks that look like candy or melted Crayons, Xerox printers do away with laser cartridges and their recycling hassle or impact on landfills.
Several of the resellers at the meeting told me they sold printers to photographers who used solid ink printers from Xerox in lieu of traditional photographic printing. If the sample paper had been thicker, I would have sworn I held an 8.5 x 11 photograph.
Solid ink printers also have another feature, one that may thrill your executives wearing expensive suits: Glossmark printable holograms. You know that hologram on Microsoft products and your credit cards? You can now make a similar holographic image using Xerox printers and their Glossmark technology.
Glossmarks don't copy, so you can be sure a paper with a Glossmark is original. Hold it up to the light at an angle and you see extra holographic printing inside the image. One pass through the printer gives the resulting image multiple layers that reflect light differently. Even if your executives don't make documents that must absolutely be protected, they'll love the technology and sign your printer budget request while drooling over the sample your Xerox reseller will provide.
Yes, Xerox reseller. The company will bolster their two distribution channels: agent (dedicated to selling only the full line of Xerox products) and reseller (dedicated to selling anything they can, including Xerox). Resellers can now sell higher-end Xerox products formerly restricted to agents. To balance this, agents can now sell to companies formerly reserved for Xerox direct sales.
This means you should have more Xerox people competing to provide you new Xerox products. And since Xerox also refocused on the small and medium business market, they have more affordable options than before. A great printer for a small business can also be a great printer for a department in a large company.
Yes, Xerox has new affordable color lasers, too. But the solid ink printers zoom way up the coolness charts, so check one out today.
