Looking to purchase a new envelope printer(s) for printing A2's to 9x12's. Quantity up to 500,000 per month. Quality needs to be excellent - low to heavy coverage. Speed is important too. Any ideas on where I should start to look? We are evaluating Quadient Mach7 now but would like to look at other options. We currently have 2 Quadient Mach6 and 2 AS-850s in our mailshop.
Envelope Printer Recommendations
- Thread starter tfabian
- Start date
SoggyWinter
Well-known member
I'd guess ijetcolor.com- I got a good impression from them at Printing United, but I don't actually own any their equipment.
I’m currently running an iJetColor NXT, which is essentially the Quadient Mach 6. I wouldn’t recommend it for anyone doing more than light coverage on envelopes.
That said, the iJetColor 1175 uses HP print heads, and I’ve heard nothing but positive feedback about it. With its speed—especially at volumes around 500,000 per month—it would be a significant upgrade
One thing i have learned with the NXT is the Memjet ink never drys, i had a complaint from a customer about a month ago so i went back and did some testing on some samples that were 1 and 2 years old and as soon as they got wet it started to smear.
whoever you guys end up buying from just make sure you have someone in your area that can service it on site, it is a pain when you have to ship it off if something breaks.
That said, the iJetColor 1175 uses HP print heads, and I’ve heard nothing but positive feedback about it. With its speed—especially at volumes around 500,000 per month—it would be a significant upgrade
One thing i have learned with the NXT is the Memjet ink never drys, i had a complaint from a customer about a month ago so i went back and did some testing on some samples that were 1 and 2 years old and as soon as they got wet it started to smear.
whoever you guys end up buying from just make sure you have someone in your area that can service it on site, it is a pain when you have to ship it off if something breaks.
jwheeler
Well-known member
We run a PostMark 1170 RapidColor Pro. When we were shopping around, this and the ones mentioned above all seem to be the same re-labeled machine as they all use the same HP Print head. There were slight differences in the feeder, and the the software. However, the big difference came down to the cost of the inks and what the service provider's policy was for the printhead. The ink costs with the PostMark dealer in our area were almost half the other vendors. We do probably a 1/10th of your volume, but I have no doubt this machine would handle higher volumes. We are able to run it at nearly full speed with very few misprints or jams.
See my updated user feedback here as of 6-25-2026
See my updated user feedback here as of 6-25-2026
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Do you mind giving more info on this as a user? Do you know the Cost of the machine including accessories like feeder etc. do you have ink costs? Also, is the postmark 1170 you have come with software that is superior to its competitors or are they similar to its competitors?
jotterpinky
Well-known member
IMO you should be looking at the Kirk Rudy Firejet - $120k ish I believe
www.kirkrudy.com
Or if budget allows the Halm jetpress
www.halm.com
We have the i-jet color with the HP head but I would struggle with 500,000/mo on it, especially if you have heavy coverage and the friction feeder is not great for larger flat size envelopes. That being said its definitely an upgrade from what you have.
FireJet 4C | Kirk-Rudy
Since 1967, we've been engineering and manufacturing the world's best Print & Mail, Packaging and RFID equipment. Nothing is build like a Kirk-Rudy.
Or if budget allows the Halm jetpress
W+D Halm i-Jet - W+D – Halm Industries
www.halm.com
We have the i-jet color with the HP head but I would struggle with 500,000/mo on it, especially if you have heavy coverage and the friction feeder is not great for larger flat size envelopes. That being said its definitely an upgrade from what you have.
At 500k/month I would be looking at the bigger units like the Elan 170 along with others previously mentioned. I have heard good things about it so far from others that have upgraded from the ijet 1175's. I have seen it run and it can move some envelopes and also has the coater option.
delphaxinkjet.com
ELAN 170 ENVELOPE PRINTER - Delphax Inkjet
delphaxinkjet.com
I would look at the Printware ijet color 1175 Pro or even the new model that they just came out with, iJET Color Q. 15-20,000 / hr. All depends on your volume but I've sold the 1175 HP, C, & Pro Model and all are solid units. The new feeder they just released will accommodate an additional 1,500 envelopes with reliable feeding. For a single operator, this will be a great addition to their portfolio. The new feeder is only available on the PRO unit. I'm a sales rep for Digital Print Solutions in Michigan if you have further questions. https://www.ijetcolor.com/ijetcolorq
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dipressforum
Member
How was the Mach7 Evaluation? We are also looking into that. We currently have the KR Firejet 4C. It is a great machine overall, but the colors are washed out. I wont recommend if you need vibrant colors. That is why we are looking into other envelope printing system.
ReproElectroProspero
Well-known member
Avoid the Colormax/Formax or any of the Astromachines S1 rebrands (which the quadient looks to be, but with more improvements). We have a standard colormax8 and all of my operators hate it. It has no tolerance for imperfect media, so half the envelopes i get from my supplier cause problems. the driver was wonky as hell for us and even our maintenance techs couldn't figure out how to get it to print LEF until a firmware update. and finally the capping station has had crazy problems, wiper motor errors, color mixing, all kinds of stuff. i hate the machine but am so glad i had the foresight to buy a maintenance contract on it. i'd have ended up paying double sticker price if i had to fix all its issues on my own dime.
The systems are complete. Ink costs are $241.00 per cartridge. www.postmark-usa.com You will see various versions of the machine: Envelope Printer complete systems is $41,169.00 Standard Pro System is: $47,248.00 complete system. We have HP Printhead and Xitron Software. Our support system is top rated and offer excellent customer service. Call me anytime. 724-705-4019
jwheeler
Well-known member
Seeing @Debshort respond to the old comment about my post, I thought I'd provide an update as a user:
We've now had the Postmark 1170 RapidColor Pro for about a year, and unfortunately we've had a lot of problems. We have ended up going back to our Konica Minolta's numerous times while waiting for our machine to be repaired. Not sure if we got a lemon or if they're all like this.
Pros:
- The software is easy to use
- The feeder is very reliable, consistent, and fast
- When it works, it's fast!
- The software/PC is always disconnecting from the engine. We have to restart both systems a couple of times each week.
- The stitching of the print heads is very problematic for image quality. You can see the lines where the sections of the print head overlap - sometimes it's a dark line, sometimes its a void. You can also see variations in color from section to section
- Straight lines (perpendicular to the print head) are never straight! There is always a stepped/jagged look to the lines due to the sections in the print head
- Colored straight lines aren't even lines: most of the time, they look like a blurry mess (and it's not a matter of the colors not aligning, it's more that they just can fire down a 1pt line quick enough, so it ends up looking like a thin cloud of ink splatter instead of a straight line)
- The prints often look 'dirty' - we've had to stop operation to call in a service tech a few times due to random tiny spots of ink splatter showing up on prints.
- The tension roller for the main engine feeder belt slipped off the bearing on the non-operator side. The machine would still operate, but every envelope printed crooked. It took some trouble-shooting before we finally noticed the roller was angled.
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