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How to Print Photos From Your Phone With a Portable Printer

photo printing

Looking for a Nifty Photo Printer? We’ve Got You Covered

Picture this — You’ve taken tons of photos of your kids, your family home, and even your two cats. You’ve shared them on social media, and occasionally, get to relive those special moments as you scroll through the memories that your smartphone throws up.

Wouldn’t it be nice to hold physical prints of those precious photos in your hand? Or to frame your priceless captures to be hung on that empty wall in the hallway?

In today’s Internet, smartphone and wireless-powered age, making physical photo prints can be as easy as snapping your fingers. You can send photos directly to your home printer (no computer or wires needed), or better still, print photos on a portable printer with a few taps on your phone.

Thinking about investing in a portable photo printer? Photo printers in Singapore come in all shapes, sizes, and specifications. How do you buy the right photo printer for your home or office? What kind of inks do you need to consider? More importantly, what features should you consider?

In this article, you’ll learn all about the different types of photo-friendly portable printers, how to choose a portable printer, as well as the range of printers small and lightweight enough to be easily transported yet robust enough to handle your everyday printing needs.

Types of Portable Printers

Portable printers come in three main flavours:

  1. Inkjet Printers: These are the most common portable printers, and are commonly used for home printing of photos and other image-based documents.
  2. Dye-sublimation Printers: While dye-sublimation printers in commercial settings tend to be larger in footprint, there are a few such printers designed for portability and accurate photography reproduction.
  3. Pocket Photo Printers: These are specifically made for printing photographs, and are often carried around for events like weddings, parties and other occasions where “instant” photos are needed.

If you need to print out documents as well as photos, an inkjet printer is likely to be your best bet.

Dye-sublimation printers, on the other hand, are more specialised printers. Used to produce high-quality photo prints, they are ideal for professional photographers. The downside is that such printers are expensive and are not suitable for printing text documents.

Meanwhile, pocket photo printers are more suited for once-off uses — such printers are unable to handle a large variety of printing jobs.

Now size can be misleading — you might think that the smaller the printer, the cheaper it is. This simply isn’t the case. On the contrary, portable printers that have an extremely small footprint may cost more than larger multi-purpose printers.

Brother DCP-T520W ink tank printer

Brother DCP-T520W is one of Brother’s most popular ink tank printers, suited for printing high-quality and long-lasting photos, while also capable of handling document printing jobs.

This refillable ink tank printer features a transparent cover that allows for easy front access to the embedded ink tank, and handles a variety of print jobs speedily and efficiently. With a document print speed of up to 17/9.5 inch per min (ipm), this nifty printers will empower you to print more in less time. It also works with Brother’s Ultra High Yield Ink bottles, which roughly translates to 7,500 pages in black and 5,000 pages in colour!

Considering a pocket photo printer?

The Kodak Photo Printer Mini is a pocket-sized printer that can print wallet-sized photos from iOS or Android devices.

At just 0.9 by 3 by 6 inches, the Mini’s star quality is definitely its portability. You can easily slip it into a handbag or even a large pocket, making it a useful companion for parties or events where you want to snap photos and give out to friends.

How Does Portable Printing Work?

Most portable printers in the market today come with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth technology to enable seamless communication with your laptop, smartphone or tablet.

Some of these are also battery-powered, which allows for even more freedom in printing documents, photos and other materials when you are on-the-go.

In short, portable mobile printing no longer requires you to lug heavy printer cables to connect from your device to a printer. What a relief!

What To Look Out For in a Portable Printer

In this section, you will learn all about the key features and functionalities of portable printers, as well as what you should consider prior to buying a portable photo printer.

Size/Portability of Portable Printers

Portability is one of the biggest decision-making factors when choosing a portable printer. While they may be easier to carry, smaller printers usually result in a trade-off in print quality. Hence, you have to balance the need for easy transportation with your ideal print quality output.

While small pocket-sized printer options do exist, you will experience some limitations in your print sizes. In the long run, you may get more bang for your buck by investing in a compact desk printer that can handle document printing while printing consistently high-quality photos.

Print Resolution of Portable Printers

Most photo printers — be they inkjets, sublimation-dye, or pocket-sized — offer good resolution, providing better-quality prints relative to traditional printers. A photo printer with a resolution of 1,200 x 3,600 dpi or even higher would suffice for crisp-looking photos and images.

Inkless vs. Ink Cartridges

Another important consideration is the type of cartridges or ink used.

Today, most printers use Zero Ink (or Zink for short), which involves embedded dyes in the photo paper itself. Zink saves money in the long-run but has trade-offs in print resolution or the ability to reproduce a rich black colour.

A traditional inkjet printer, on the other hand, shoots microscopic dots of ink to produce an image or a printed page. Only the necessary ink for the image is used, and the remaining ink in the cartridge can be used for subsequent prints.

For Brother printers that work with ultra high-yield ink bottles, you can enjoy printing up to 7,500 pages in black and 5,000 pages in colour on a single round of cartridges!

A dye sublimation printer works by heating a special ribbon containing solid inks. The ink sublimates (becomes a gas without liquefying first), laying down varying amounts of the three primary colours onto the paper. The gas then solidifies on the page, resulting in full-colour images.

The dye sublimation process tends to result in lower efficiency in terms of ink: the printer transfers only a portion of the ribbon’s colour panels onto the page. The ink that remains on the panel cannot be reused.

mother and daughter looking at photo album

Paper used in Portable Printing

Inkjet printers work with copier paper, envelopes, labels and other forms of office media. They offer greater flexibility as inkjet printers can accommodate specialty paper with matte or glossy finishes for photo printing.

Dye sublimation printers, on the other hand, require specially-coated paper. Beyond postcards and photo prints, dye sublimation printers can also be used to print novelty items such as T-shirts and tote bags. All these are fine and dandy at the beginning but your printing costs can chalk up quite easily.

Print Speed of Portable Printers

If you require high-volume printing, look out for print speeds shorter than 10-15 seconds per print when you choose your portable printer.

The longer the print time, the slower your workflow will be.

Wireless or Mobile Connectivity

There are several ways to connect to a printer. Some printers offer direct connections to your computer, laptop or mobile device using a USB port, while also supporting Bluetooth or Wi-Fi.

Most printers will also support both Android and iOS devices. Remember to consider the devices you would be using with your portable printer, and double-check the compatibility before making a purchase.

Price of Portable Printers

How much do portable printers cost? Well, it varies. Most portable printers are priced between S$130-S$300. Do remember though that this price only covers the printer and the initial round of ink, and excludes the costs of consumables such as paper (or other media) and ink, as well as their power consumption.

Be sure to include the longer-term costs of these consumables in your budgetary considerations.

How to Print Photos From Your Phone

There are various ways to print photos directly from your smartphone.

Apple Airprint

For iPhone users, Apple Airprint is the easiest, most fuss-free way to print from your device to any wireless printer that is on the same wireless network. You do not even need to download and install additional software (drivers). 

Here is a step-by-step guide:

  1. Make sure your phone and your printer are on the same Wi-Fi network
  2. Open the Photos or Gallery app
  3. Select the photo you wish to print and tap the Share icon 
  4. Scroll down the options and select ‘Print’
  5. Tap on Select Printer
  6. Select your printer from the list
  7. Change the paper size, if necessary, specify the number of copies), and send your print job off!

Major printer makers—such as Brother, Canon, and HP—cover iOS devices and are compatible with AirPrint.

For Android users, you can utilise a range of wireless apps for direct printing from most printer vendors. There are also printing apps, such as Mopria Print, that you can download and use.

Brother iPrint&Scan

Whether you are team iOS or team Android, Brother’s iPrint&Scan app allows you to print or scan effortlessly from your smartphone, tablet, or notebook – without the hassle of wires.

The app also comes with a range of advanced features such as document editing, faxing, and machine status updates. 

iPrint&Scan is also compatible with AirPrint, Mopria, and Windows Mobile Print.

Conclusion

Now that you know how to choose a photo printer, and are acquainted with the key essentials that make a good portable photo printer, what will your choice be?

A pocket photo printer for fun and spontaneous moments or a practical desktop inkjet printer that can meet your other printing needs as well as churn out good quality photos before you can even say “Cheese”?

Let us know which you prefer!

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How To Choose the Right Printer (Flowchart)

buying printer flowchart

Looking For The Right Printer? This Flowchart Will Help

Which printer should you buy—inkjet or laser printer? How do you select the most suitable printer for your home or office?

With so many different brands, functions and types of printers out there, this seemingly easy task can suddenly seem astronomical by proportion!

Do you need your printer to have wireless connectivity? Do you only need the print function or an all-in-one multifunction printer? Which printer can handle all your printing needs?

To save you the headache, we have put together a useful flowchart to help you figure out which is the best printer for you.

Follow your desired attributes path and find your best matched printer!

How infographic looks like:

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The Biggest Printer Problems And Their Solutions

Printer problems and solution

Frustrated With The Never Ending Printer Problems? Here Are Some Solutions

Are you struggling with your home or office printers? Wonder why your wifi printer does not work properly? Frustrated with printing errors from your duplex printer?

These problems can be a huge headache to those who simply want their printing work done. 

Help is here! In this article, we have put together a list of the most common printer problems and their solutions.

  1. Slow Printing with Wifi Printers
  2. Home / Office Printer Not Printing
  3. Duplex Printer Printing Error
  4. Extra Printed Blank Sheet of Paper
  5. Paper Jams
  6. Unclear Printed Texts
  7. Poor Quality Inkjet Printed Photos
  8. Poor Black and White Print Quality
  9. Thick Ink on Inkjet Prints
  10. Unreliable Error Messages

Take a deep breath, calm yourself down, and try these solutions before you call your printer repair man!

1. Slow Printing with Wifi Printers

In today’s fast-paced world, a slow printer can be exasperating when you have a sizable number of pages to print.

The common reasons for slow printing are due to large photo sizes and large presentation files. You can either lower the quality of the output or simply send a part of the document at a time to speed things up.

If you are printing wirelessly, do check that the distance between your printer and your router isn’t too far—poor wireless connection could be a possible cause for slow printing. A simple solution would be to place your wireless printer as close to the router as possible, since wifi speed slows down with distance.

Do also check your print settings. Higher quality prints do take more time to print. If an average print quality (eg. for a text document) is good enough, consider switching your printouts to draft mode or the lowest quality setting your printer has to speed up your printing process.

2. Home / Office Printer not Printing

Are you staring at a printer that is just not printing? Well, you are not going crazy, there’s probably a reason for it. Before you start kicking your printer, consider checking if the paper tray is empty—yes, we’ve all made that silly mistake!

OK, there is paper in your tray. So what could have gone wrong?

Consider checking the connection of your printer. There may be multiple printers in the office and you may not have connected to the right printer.

There is a chance that you have accidentally sent the print job to another printer—be sure to double check just in case you are printing confidential documents!

If your printer is still not working, then your print driver may be corrupted. You need to upload the latest version for your model and reinstall it on your computer. Should that still fail, it is best to call your local printer technician.

3. Duplex Printer Printing Error

Having a duplex printer should save you the hassle of flipping each printout manually. But what’s the point of having this functionality if your printer prints the back page upside down?

Fret not, there’s an easy solution to this. All you have to do is select Print on Both Sides, and opt to Flip on Long Edge. Your print jobs should be in the correct orientation now.

But what if you encounter disorderly pages, where the last page is at the top of the document?

There is a way around this incorrect manual sorting—simply print your pages in reverse. This can be found in the Advanced Settings box. You should only select this if your documents are to be put in order once the printing is complete.

4. Extra Printed Blank Sheet of Paper

“Why is there an extra sheet of blank paper after my prints?”  

No, your printer isn’t intentionally wasting paper. Rather, this extra sheet of paper probably came about due to your print settings. This is typically used in offices with multiple users and high print volumes, to separate print jobs from different users and avoid documents from being mixed-up.

If your printer is only for your personal home use, you can change the settings using your printer preferences. You should be able to deselect the option for separator pages from there.

5. Paper Jams

Printer paper jam problems
Close-up Of Businessman Hand Removing Paper Stuck In Printer At Office

Paper jams are one of the most common issues people have with their home or office printers. This can happen due to static electricity (which causes pieces of paper to stick to each other) or when your printer tray is overloaded with too much paper.

A quick tip is to square off the stack of paper before placing it into the tray, ensuring that the pages line up and are flushed with the tray guides. Remember not to overfill the tray!

Jams may also occur when the print media used is not compatible with the printer. There are certain types of print media that are way thicker or bigger than the normal A4 Paper which is commonly used in most printers. Be sure to check that your printer is able to handle such media types and change your PC settings to match the print media.

6. Unclear Printed Texts

This problem may be caused by multiple reasons. Thus, you should go down this list to consider which option is the most likely possibility.

First, consider if you are using the draft mode or low print quality setting. Such settings may cause your printed texts to become unclear. By switching to a higher quality print, you will get clearer texts. However, be prepared to forgo your print speed—some printers are not able to simultaneously handle fast and high quality prints.

If you are using a laser printer, there is a high chance that the toner has settled, resulting in blurry texts. All you have to do is to remove the cartridge(s) and shake it gently from side to side to release any residual toner clinging onto the side of the cartridge. This works 90% of the time, but remember that the toner will eventually run out and needs to be replaced.

Finally, if you are using an inkjet printer, check if your unclear prints are due to a dirty nozzle or misaligned print head. Thankfully, you don’t have to deal with this manually (though you can if you wish).

Simply launch your printer’s maintenance menu and select “Clean Ink Cartridges”, “Clean Heads”, “Deep Cleaning” or a similar function. Cleaning the printhead will help improve the quality of the printout. As it uses a fair amount of ink you should only do it if you notice that the print quality is particularly bad.

7. Poor Quality Inkjet Printed Photos

Poor quality inkjet prints would commonly be due to a misaligned print head, dirty nozzles or empty ink cartridges. You can troubleshoot this by following the steps described in the previous point above.

The type of print media used may also affect the quality of your prints—especially if you intend to print photographs or posters in high definition colour. Make sure that you use the right photo paper. Often, third party photo papers are unable to reproduce your prints with the same resolution as the original photo papers from your brand.

Don’t forget to check that you have chosen the right paper type in your print settings and that it is set for photo printing.

It is also possible that your printer is low on one colour, causing discolourations. To achieve vibrant print reproductions of photos in the right hues, you need to ensure that inks in all the different colours are available—having one colour less can make a huge difference to your print quality.

8. Poor Black and White Print Quality

Do you turn off the colour when printing black and white documents? This is probably the cause of poor prints, especially for black and white images.

The colours give your documents smoother gradations and richer tones compared to solely using black. Thus, if you are printing a high quality black and white document, consider turning on the colour option for the best results.

9. Thick Ink on Inkjet Prints

Do your prints have a thick band of ink clustered around certain sections? This happens when your printer is unable to print at a certain resolution, usually on an uncoated paper. When it encounters this issue, it will try to adjust for the higher resolution by using more ink, causing the thick patch of ink (also known as banding) to appear.

To solve this problem, simply opt for a lower print resolution on your printer.

10. Unreliable Error Messages

Wonder why error messages like “low toner” or “ink error” appear when you’ve just replaced your toner or printer cartridge? Unless your new cartridges are faulty or broken, resetting your computer and printer usually fixes this problem. Do follow the instructions of your printer model to reset it properly.

Conclusion

Printer problems like slow printing, poor quality printouts, and paper jams can pose a huge inconvenience, especially when you need to get your work done. Hopefully, these solutions to the most common printer problems can help you to quickly get back on track. Should all of them fail—and we certainly hope that they wouldn’t—you should probably contact your local printer operator for immediate help!

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Your Step-by-Step Guide To Cloud Printing

businesswoman with smartphone and printer

Wish To Print Anything From Anywhere? Look No Further

Do you find yourself frequently printing on the go? Need new ideas on how to easily print to your home printer from anywhere?

Cloud printing might be just the solution for your home or small business.  

In this article, you will learn the fundamentals of printing any document or image from the cloud:

  1. What is cloud printing?
  2. Why do you need cloud printing?
  3. Types of cloud printing services available
  4. How to get started on printing from the cloud 

What is Cloud Printing?

Cloud printing is a technology that allows you to print from anywhere over the web.

While traditional printing is done via cables, wireless, bluetooth or WIFI connections between your devices and your printer, cloud printing enables you to print from any web-connected device by sending print jobs through an internet connection.

It is also safe and secure with the Cloud Secure Print feature that is built-in within Brother Apps. Documents can be uploaded to a web browser or sent via email, and retrieved for printing after a password is entered at the destination machine.

To do so, you need to ensure that your printer is capable of connecting directly to the Internet. This allows it to receive printing instructions that you send to the web.

The result is fast, seamless, and reliable printing, without the need to tangle with cables.

Why Do You Need Cloud Printing?

Printing from the cloud brings forth various advantages. Here are some of the most popular ones.

Always On The Go:

If your business requires you to be on the move, cloud printing could be a real time-saver! Imagine rushing for a business meeting, and having all your documents ready printed – even before you step into the office. That would be a real boon to your productivity.

Shared Office Facilities:

In shared workspaces, employees are able to use any device to print, without having to worry about compatibility issues or drivers.

Eco-friendly:

Who would say no to an efficient printing process that helps reduce waste and carbon emissions at the same time? Cloud printing gives you more control over what you print, so you only print what you need  –  when you need it.

Convenience and Simplicity:

With cloud printing, life (and getting prints) would be a breeze. You no longer have to mess around with the installation of software and drivers, or battle with cables. You can quickly discover printers that you can access and print from  – anywhere around the world.

Affordable:

Cloud printing is an affordable way to manage your print needs as you need not invest in in-house server storage and other software or maintenance costs. You would only need to pay for the services you use, and can take advantage of free or low cost cloud storage solutions.

Types of Cloud Printing Services and How to Get Started

Brother WebConnect

With Brother WebConnect, you can print documents directly from an online storage site, allowing you to share and collaborate anywhere in the world in an instant.

The services that are supported include:

  • Box
  • Dropbox
  • Evernote
  • OneDrive
  • OneNote

Depending on your printer model, you may be able to connect directly to any of the above services without a computer. You can also add a PIN to restrict user access.

Here are the steps to getting started on Brother WebConnect:

  1. Create an account with the desired service (go to step 2 if you already have an account).
  2. Apply for Web Connect access via a one-time process to obtain a temporary ID using a computer.
  3. Enter the temporary ID on the Brother device to enable access. Specify the account name as you would like it to be displayed on the machine, and a PIN code if desired.
  4. The Brother device now has access to the registered service.

AirPrint

Apple’s AirPrint feature is built into a variety of printers, such as the ones listed here. AirPrint features include easy discovery, automatic media selection, and enterprise-class finishing options.

To print with AirPrint from your iOS device, here are the steps to follow:

  1. Open the app that you want to print from.
  2. To find the print option, tap the app’s share icon or more icon.
  3. Find the print option. If you can’t find the print option, check the app’s User Guide or Help section. 
  4. Tap Select Printer and choose an AirPrint-enabled printer.
  5. Choose the number of copies or other options, like which pages you want to print.
  6. Tap Print in the top right-hand corner.

The Brother MFC-L3735CDN Colour Laser Printer lets you print and scan more with greater speed and assurance. You can wirelessly print from any device with Brother iPrint&Scan, Apple’s AirPrint, or Mopria. You can also preview your copies and faxes, and save to Cloud.

Conclusion

Mobile cloud printing is an important feature not just for personal and business productivity, but also for future-proofing your business. Used effectively, it can be a powerful tool to keep your business and staff safe by enabling remote work, while also enhancing cost efficiency in your printing jobs.

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Quilted Bed Caddy

Create a beautiful custom bed caddy using your Brother sewing machine and a few Brother accessories. Quilt your own fabrics for a lightly padded finish that will match your décor and unique style. This handy craft will help organize bedside items you reach for on a regular basis. Pick some pretty fabrics, gather up your tools, and prepare to tackle this easy sewing project. You’ll learn more about the use of several optional accessory feet featured in these instructions. Are you ready? Let’s go sew!

Materials and Supplies:

  • Brother sewing machine with basic built-in stitches.
  • SA190 Roller Foot for attaching gripper material to bed caddy.
  • Additional accessory feet for this project, optional but very helpful:
  • SA184 Edge Joining Foot
  • SA160 Stitch Guide Foot
  • SA132 Quilting Guide
  • Basic notions, including thread to match or blend with fabrics and a removable marker. I recommend a rotary cutter, mat, and ruler for cutting fabric pieces.
  • Materials for bed caddy, including fabric, thin fusible craft fleece, and gripper material:
    • Cut one piece of quilt weight cotton measuring 15-inches wide X 26-inches long for base of bed caddy. Fuse thin craft fleece to wrong side.
    • Cut one piece of quilt weight cotton measuring 15-inches wide X 11-inches long for large pocket. Fuse thin craft fleece to wrong side.
    • Cut one piece of quilt weight cotton measuring 15-inches wide X 14-inches long for small folded pocket. Note: Fold pocket piece in half lengthwise and press to form a fold line. Next, fuse thin craft fleece measuring 15-inches wide X 7-inches long to wrong side, matching fleece with fold line and raw edges on half the piece.
    • Cut one piece of quilt weight cotton measuring 15-inches wide X 26-inches long for bed caddy lining.
    • Cut one piece of quilt weight cotton measuring 15-inches wide X 11-inches long for large pocket lining.
    • Cut one piece of quilt weight cotton measuring 15-inches wide X 2-inches long for large pocket trim.
    • Cut one piece of non-slip “gripper” material measuring 13-inches wide X 9-inches long for top edge.

See all pieces in Figure #1a and Figure #1b.

Figure #1a
Figure #1b

Fabric tips: Choose two or more coordinating fabrics, mixing and matching as desired. You can eliminate the large pocket trim piece if you choose a third coordinating fabric. I used remnants left over from another project for this bed caddy. Since I only had two fabric prints to work with, I added the trim strip for extra contrast on the pocket.

Tips for using accessory feet listed with supplies:

  • SA190 Roller Foot – The non-stick and roller capabilities on this foot are ideal for stitching “sticky” materials such as the gripper material on the top edge of the bed caddy. In this project you’ll see that I also used the roller foot to quilt single layers of fabric with thin fleece. Note that there are other feet better suited for quilting thicker layers.
  • SA160 Stitch Guide Foot – Marked lines on this foot allow for consistent stitching of seamlines in a wide range of widths.
  • SA132 Quilting Guide – The quilting guide fits snugly into the small hole found in the back of the presser foot holder so it can be used with any foot you choose. Simply slide the guide a measured distance from the needle and line up the guide with a previous line of stitching for consistent and evenly spaced lines of stitching.

Finished bed caddy measures approximately 14-inches wide X 25-inches long. Please read through all instructions before beginning this project.

Basic steps for creating bed caddy:

  • Add fusible fleece to caddy pieces.
  • Add trim, then quilt caddy base and pocket pieces.
  • Layer pieces and add lining.
  • Attach gripper material to top edge to finish. Note: This piece helps keep the caddy from moving when placed between the mattress and box springs.

1. Prepare large pocket if you are adding the contrast trim. Add contrast strip as follows:

  • Attach stitch guide foot. Layer 15-inch wide X 2-inch long strip along top edge of large pocket, with right sides together, placing it a scant 1-inch from top raw edge. See Figure #2a.
Figure #2a
  • Sew strip to top edge using a 1/2-inch seam allowance, following a specific line on the foot. See line spaced ½-inch from needle position in Figure #2b.
Figure #2b
  • Flip strip so right side faces up and press toward top edge.

2. Prepare to quilt pieces backed with fleece as follows:

Mark starting lines along lengthwise and cross wise center on 15-inches wide X 26-inches long base piece and 15-inches wide X 11-inches long large pocket piece. Mark a lengthwise line on the center of folded pocket piece. Note: This smaller piece doesn’t require quilting in both directions. I used the fabric print to space lines on my small pocket. See example of marked lines on the large pocket piece in the enhanced photo in Figure #3.

Figure #3

Attach the roller foot if you have it and quilt all pieces, stitching evenly spaced lengthwise and crosswise lines.

Tips for Quilting Stitches: Stitch the first center line and then use the quilt guide set for evenly spaced remaining lines to the left and right of the first center line. I like to stitch all my vertical lines first and then turn the fabric to stitch horizontal lines. Fusible fleece does not require closely spaced lines. I spaced mine 1 ½-inches apart. Straight stitches are traditionally used for this type of quilting. However, I chose the triple stretch straight stitch along with alternating lines of the rick-rack stitch. Stitch settings listed below:

Triple Stretch stitch: Center needle position, stitch length, 3.5mm.

Rick-Rack stitch: Width 1.5mm, length 4.0mm.

See examples of quilting in Figure #4a, Figure #4b, and Figure #4c.

Figure #4a
Figure #4b
Figure #4c

3. Layer large pocket with matching lining piece. See Figure #5.

Figure #5

Sew top edge using a ½-inch seam allowance. Press lining to back side.

4. Layer bed caddy pieces as follows:

  • Bed caddy base piece, right side facing up.
  • Large pocket, right side facing up.
  • Folded pocket, right side facing up.
  • Bed caddy lining, wrong side facing up.

See layered pieces in Figure #6.

Figure #6

Sew layers together using a ½- seam allowance, leaving a 5-inch opening along the top edge for turning right side out. Tip: Use a small round object to mark off a slightly rounded stitching line for bottom corners. This gives a more attractive finish to the caddy and makes it easier to trim excess bulk.

Trim corners and lower rounded edges to reduce bulk. Turn caddy right side out, with lining on back side and quilted pieces positioned on the front side. Press carefully and close top by stitching close to edge.

 5. Center gripper material along edge opposite pockets. See Figure #7.

Figure #7

Sew to bed caddy using the non-stick roller foot. Tip: Make sure the entire foot is riding on the gripper fabric as you stitch. Sew slowly to keep material from shifting. See Figure #8.

Figure #8

You are finished! See completed bed caddy in Figure #9.

Figure #9

This article has been republished from Brother Sews USA.
The original article can be seen here: http://blog.brothersews.com/home-decor/quilted-bed-caddy/

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How to Choose The Best Scanner for Your Home Office

man scanning document

Looking For The Perfect Scanner? Here Are The Top Features To Consider

Looking for the best scanner for your home business or small office use? What scanner features do you need and which model should you consider?

From scanning documents, photos, business receipts, name cards, professional certificates, and testimonials, to newspaper articles, magazine ads, or school reports, the sky’s the limit when it comes to things you can scan! And there are multiple scanners available on the market equipped to handle your everyday tasks.

But the question remains… What features in a printer scanner are most important for a home-based business like yours?

In this article, we touch on the top questions to think about when buying a scanner. We’ll also cover the different kinds of scanners you can choose as well as their unique features.

What is a Scanner?

A scanner is an input device that works by using light and optics to convert an image or text on paper into a digital format for computer editing, displaying or archiving purposes.Often, these images need to be of a fairly high resolution in order to be useful.

1. What Do You Need Your Scanner for?

When it comes to choosing the right scanner, it really boils down to your home business’ needs and preferences. Photos and documents are the most common things that you’ll need to scan, along with receipts, articles, business cards, or film.

If you need to scan things very often or have multiple pages to scan at one go, you will likely be looking at document scanners (also known as sheetfed scanners)—most of these scanners are designed to be high-volume workhorses. We will cover the different scanner types in more detail below.

2. What Types of Scanners Are Out There?

The range of scanners available are fairly wide—have a look at the options below to see which suits you best.

Flatbed scanner

For photos or bound material (e.g. a periodical or report), a flatbed scanner works best. These scanners come with a large glass surface on which you can place the item to be scanned. They also tend to be more flexible, allowing you to scan pages from books, magazines or easily damaged items like old photos.

Sheet-fed scanner/Document scanner

Unlike a flatbed scanner, a sheet-fed scanner scans only document pages and cannot be used to scan thicker items such as books. Most sheet-fed scanners have two-sided scanning capabilities and an Automatic Document Feeder (ADF), which give these lean mean scanning machines high processing speeds and efficiency.

Image scanner

If you are in the business of archiving and are specifically looking to scan images and photographs, your most obvious choice is to opt for a specialised photo scanner. Such scanners tend to provide photo-friendly features, boasting of a high resolution and the ability to scan transparencies or negatives in addition to photographs. Some even come with their own editing software to help retouch image-based scans and remove dust and scratches.

3. What Scanning Software Will You Use?

Most scanners come with basic scanning software, for example, Brother scanners which can be easily operated via the iPrint&Scan app which is free to download.

Depending on your scanning needs, the features which you may need in your home business scanner may include:

  • Photo editing: to allow scanned images to be manipulated
  • Optical Character Recognition (OCR): to translate scanned text into editable text
  • Text indexing: to process scanned text to be searched and sorted
  • Searchable PDF documents: to create PDFs that can be searched

For a reliable and compact home scanner, check out Brother ADS-2200 Scanner. This smart wireless document scanner simplifies your everyday scanning tasks. Scanning up to 25 sheets per minute, documents will automatically be scanned as soon as you insert it into the ADS-1700W. Frequently used scan-to destinations can also be set up as one-touch shortcuts on the touchscreen.

hand of businessman scanning a document
The young businessman hand is scanner

4. How Will You Connect To The Scanner?

Need to access a scanned document or image in a jiffy? Do consider the different connectivity options for your scanner. 

While some scanners may only work with computers, others can be accessed through mobile devices like smartphones or tablets. These connectivity options may affect how quickly the scanner can scan to your device.

A standard USB cable will usually suffice if you’re connecting the scanner to a single computer. However, if you’re looking for a scanner that multiple people can access and use, do ensure that it has Wi-Fi capabilities so it can be connected to your wireless computer network.

5. What Resolution and Colour Depth Do You Need?

Unless you are a graphic designer, you probably don’t need a scanner with the highest dots per square inch (dpi)—but let’s be honest, a good scan resolution is always nice-to-have! That said, a dpi of 600-1200 is usually enough for most home-based businesses.

What about bit depth? Also known as colour depth, the bit depth is the number of bits used to determine the colour of a single pixel—the more bits available, the better the colour reproduction of your scanner. For standard colour scanning, a significant depth ranging from 24-36 should be sufficient.

Conclusion

Deciding on the best scanner for your home or office use will depend on your business’ specific scanning needs. Keep an eye out for the features that matter most to you and you should be on the right track.

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The Perfect Printer To Suit Your Lifestyle or Business

Which Printer Should You Buy? Fit Them To Your Lifestyle Or Business Needs

Are you still searching for the perfect printer? Which printer should you buy for your family at home, a home office, a corporate office with multiple users, or factory?

Having too many choices can be confusing. This is why we’ve done the legwork for you and curated a list of Brother printers that perfectly suit these 7 different personal and professional uses:

  1. Families with school-going kids
  2. Home office (work from home)
  3. Corporate office with multiple users
  4. Industrial/Manufacturing production work
  5. Budget friendly
  6. Techies
  7. Photography fanatics

1.Families with school-going kids

Growing up in a household equipped with a printer makes family and school life so much easier. You can print out handwriting/colouring worksheets, mazes, and puzzles for your younger kids, while your older children can print articles and school assignments at the click of a button.

If you have school-going children under your wing, your ideal printer should be able to handle a wide variety of needs, such as:

  • Printing in colour
  • Photocopying worksheets and assignments
  • Scanning artworks and articles
  • Printing multiple pages of reports, double-sided
  • Printing from a mobile device

Considering the diversity of needs, an all-in-one printermay be your best bet.

Brother MFC-T920DW Ink Tank Printer

  • Able to print, scan, copy, and fax
  • Has up to 6 sec (Mono) / 6.5 sec (Colour) first print-out time
  • Has automatic 2-sided printing
  • Holds up to 150 sheets in the standard paper tray
  • Holds up to 80 sheets in the Multi-Purpose Tray
  • Holds up to 20 sheets Automatic Document Feeder
  • Has wireless connectivity
  • Supports mobile printing with Brother iPrint&Scan, Apple AirPrint, Mopria, Wi-Fi Direct
  • Has up to 1,200 x 6,000 dpi print quality

Say goodbye to expensive printing costs from print shops! With this versatile printer, your family can enjoy effortless printing at home.

2. Home office (work from home)

The best printers for home offices are ones that are able to keep up with your business workload. You may need to scan invoices, print reports, photocopy documents or fax secure information to a coworker, a client or a supplier. Having a printer that can support your workflow will maximise your work efficiency and save you unnecessary headaches.

In choosing the best printer for your home office, you should keep an eye out for the following qualities: 

  • Fast printing speed for work efficiency
  • Automatic duplex printing and scanning for productivity
  • Large paper capacity to reduce frequency of reloads
  • Printing from different devices—mobile, laptop & tablet

To achieve optimal work efficiency and productivity, you should choose a multifunction printer.

Brother MFC-L3735CDN Laser Printer:

  • Able to print, scan, copy and, fax
  • Has automatic 2-sided printing and scanning
  • Has fast colour print speed: up to 24ppm
  • Has fast scan speed: up to 27ipm
  • Has multi-tasking capabilities
  • Holds up to 250-sheet default paper tray
  • Holds up to 50-sheet Dual CIS Auto Document Feeder
  • Holds up to 30-sheet manual feed slot
  • Has integrated NFC and USB reader
  • Has wireless and mobile connectivity
  • 3.7” LCD touchscreen to support easy-to-program shortcuts

With this printer in your home office, you can look forward to enjoying a fuss-free and more productive workflow.

Corporate office with multiple users

In a workplace with multiple staff, you’ll need to be able to set up a large printer network for different users. Each user may have different needs, ranging from printing and photocopying, to scanning and faxing.

Your printer will also need to be easily accessible by users across the office, either through wired or wireless network connections. The perfect printer for medium to large enterprises also needs to cater to many users and be able to keep up with multiple print jobs.

Essential things to look out for include:

  • Network connectivity for multiple users
  • Printer sharing across multiple users
  • Fast printing speed for work efficiency
  • Automatic duplex printing and scanning for productivity
  • Large paper capacity to reduce frequency of reloads
  • High-volume & low-cost printing
  • Reliability to prevent downtime

To ensure maximum efficiency and minimal fuss, the best printer for your corporate office is a multi-function centre or a business printer.

Brother MFC-T4500DW Ink Tank Printer:

  • Has automatic 2-sided print, scan, copy, and fax
  • Connectivity includes: Wireless Network, Wi-Fi Direct, Mobile Print, WebConnect, Brother Cloud Apps & NFC
  • Print speed of up to 22ipm (mono) and 20ipm (colour)
  • Copy speed of up to 12ipm (mono) and 9ipm (colour)
  • Scan speed from 2.7 seconds (A4 size, 100×100 dpi)
  • Fax speed 33.6 kbps
  • Holds up to 250 sheets Input Tray (Standard)
  • Holds up to 250 sheets Lower Paper Tray
  • Holds up to 100 sheets Multi-Purpose Tray
  • Holds up to 100 sheets (A4) and 50 sheets (A3) Output Tray
  • Super high-yield ink cartridges available (BK up to 3,000 pages & C/M/Y up to 1,500 pages)

Investing in a reliable printer will help to create a seamless experience for your staff and boost the productivity of the company.

4. Industrial / Manufacturing production work

When your business heavily relies on printing work, the quality of these prints is of the utmost importance. The costs can easily add up when printing large volumes of fliers, brochures, posters and pamphlets. Hence, you need to carefully balance between the cost-efficiency and the quality of these prints.

The ideal printer should be able to keep your print quality high and running costs low.

  • High print quality to ensure business standards
  • Fast printing speed for production efficiency
  • Versatile print trays for different-sized prints
  • Multiple types of print media
  • High-yield cartridges to keep high-volume printing affordable

The perfect printer to keep your production work running smoothly is a high capacity multi-function centre.

Brother MFC-L5900DW Laser Printer:

  • Able to print, scan, copy, and fax
  • Automatic 2-sided monochrome printing
  • Has up to 50/52 ppm print speed
  • Has up to 1200 x 1200 dpi print quality
  • Has N-in-1 Printing
  • Media types include: Poster Printing, Watermark Printing & Header-Footer Printing (Windows® only)
  • Holds paper sizes of 76.2 to up to 215.9 mm (W) X 127 to 355.6 mm (L)
  • Media sizes include: A4, Letter, A5, A5(Long Edge), A6, Executive, Legal, Folio, Mexico Legal, India Legal
  • Ultra high-yield toner available (up to 20,000 pages)
  • Drum available (up to 30,000 pages)

Alternatively, if colour is required, you can consider the following:

Brother MFC-T4500DW Ink Tank Printer:

  • Able to print, scan, copy, and fax up to A3
  • Automatic 2-sided monochrome / coloured printing
  • Has up to 22 ipm (mono) & 20 ipm (colour) print speed
  • Has up to 1200 x 4800 dpi print quality
  • Holds up to 250 sheets Input Tray (Standard)
  • Holds up to 100 sheets Multi-Purpose Tray
  • Holds up to 100 sheets (up to A4/letter) & 50 sheets (over A4/letter) Output Tray
  • Media types include: Plain, Inkjet, Glossy (cast/resin), Recycled
  • Media sizes include: A3, A4, LGR, LTR, EXE, LGL, Folio, A5, A6, Photo(102x152mm/4×6″), Indexcard(127x203mm/5×8″), Photo-2L(127x178mm/5×7″), C5 Envelope, Com-10, DL Envelope, Monarch
  • Ultra high-yield ink available (BK up to 6,500 pages & C/M/Y up to 5,000 Pages)

Owning such a printer might mean a bigger upfront investment but lower running costs and improved productivity.

5. Budget friendly

Looking for a pocket-friendly printer? Do not just rush to buy the cheapest printer on the market. Here’s why: The costs of consumables can add up to a hefty amount over time!

Instead, you should carefully consider both the printer cost as well as the cost of its consumables to find out which printer is the most economical over a specific timeframe.

Your usage of the printer may not be heavy duty, but you still need one that is cost efficient. Hence, the printer you choose should have these characteristics:

  • Low average cost of printer and consumables 
  • Low-maintenance printer 
  • Small in size

A low cost and reliable printer may be just what you need:

cost efficient laser monochrome printer

Brother DCP-L2531DW Laser Printer:

  • Able to print, scan, and copy
  • Automatic 2-sided monochrome printing
  • Has energy saving mode
  • Has toner saving mode
  • High-yield toner available (up to 3,000 pages)
  • Drum available (up to 12,000 pages)
  • Dimensions: 410 x 398.5 x 318.5 mm (W x D x H)
  • Weight: 11.8kg
cost efficient refill ink tank printer

Brother DCP-T420W Refill Tank Printer:

  • Able to print, scan, and copy
  • Ultra high-yield ink available (BK up to 7,500 pages & C/M/Y up to 5,000 Pages)
  • Dimensions: 435 x 439 x 195 mm (W x D x H)
  • Weight: 9.7kg

The good news is you won’t be burning a hole in your pocket with these printers!

6. Techies

Do you want a technologically advanced printer that makes your life easier, more productive and fuss-free? In this digital age, connectivity is one of the defining successes of our era.

Maybe you want a printer that can print anything from anywhere or one that can easily manage your print jobs according to your everyday tasks.

With various technologies combined, this printer should have advanced features to meet all your modern needs:

  • Network connectivity in multiple forms like wifi or the ethernet.
  • Control remotely, possibly through your mobile device
  • Intuitive (so you can avoid reading the manual!)
  • Modern technology such as touch screen
  • Memory function for repeated tasks
  • Automated tasks to replace usual manual ones
  • Fast printing speed

Meet the most advanced printers in our collection:

smart laser printer

Brother MFC-L3735CDN Laser Printer:

  • Automatic 2-sided print, scan, copy, and fax
  • Connectivity includes:
    • Hi Speed 2.0 USB
    • Gigabit Ethernet (10Base-T/100Base-TX/1000Base-T)
    • Wireless (IEEE 802.11b/g/n)
    • WiFi Direct (IEEE 802.11g/n)
    • WebConnect (Brother Cloud Apps)
    • NFC (Card Reader / Print&Scan / Link to Solutions Center / NFC Shortcut)
  • Up to 31/33 ppm print and copy speed
  • Up to 28/28 ipm scan speed
  • 2.5 sec fax transmission speed
  • 600 x 600 dpi, 2,400 dpi class (2,400 x 600) print quality
  • Has secure print function
  • Display: 5.0″ TFT Colour LCD Touchscreen
  • 1GB memory space
  • Supported Operating Systems include:
    • Windows: Server 2008 (Network only), Server 2008 R2 (Network only), 7, 8, 8.1,
    • Server 2012 (Network only), Server 2012 R2 (Network only),10, Server 2016 (Network only)
    • Mac: OS v10.10.5, 10.11.x, 10.12 (Download only)
    • Linux: CUPS, LPD/LPRng (x86/x64 environment)
smart inkjet printer

Brother MFC-T4500DW Ink Tank Printer:

  • Able to print, scan, copy, and fax up to A3
  • Automatic 2-sided printing and copying
  • Connectivity includes:
    • Wireless Network (IEEE 802.11b/g/n)
    • Wi-Fi Direct (IEEE 802.11g/n)
    • Mobile Print (Brother iPrint&Scan, Airprint, Mopria, Google Cloud Print)
    • WebConnect (Brother Cloud Apps)
    • NFC (Card Reader / Print&Scan / Link to Solutions Center)
  • Up to 22ipm (mono) and 20ipm (colour) print speed
  • Up to 12ipm (mono) and 9ipm (colour) copy speed
  • From 2.7 seconds (A4 size, 100×100 dpi) scan speed
  • 33.6 kbps fax transmission speed
  • Up to 1200×4800 dpi print quality
  • Display: 3.7” LCD Touchscreen
  • 256MB memory space
  • Supported Operating Systems include:
    • Windows: Vista / 7 / 8 / 8.1 / 10 / Server 2008 / Server 2008 R2 / Server 2012 / Server 2012 R2
    • Mac: OS X v10.9.5 / 10.10.x / 10.11.x

With these printers, you will be breezing through your print jobs in the least amount of time and effort!

7. Photography fanatics

As a photographer, colours, shadows and light are key elements in your photographic art pieces. In order to do justice to these details, the quality and resolution of your printer is of the essence. As such, your needs are specific to its output quality.

  • Vibrant and high quality colour prints
  • Photo quality inks that are long-lasting and smudge-proof
  • Allow printing across a range of sizes
  • Allow printing from camera, laptop, phone, tablet

The following printer will help to bring your photographs to life.

photo ink tank printer

Brother HL-T4000DW Ink Tank Printer:

  • Able to print up to A3
  • Automatic 2-sided printing
  • Up to 1200×4800 dpi print quality & 1200×6000 dpi PhotoCapture Centre print quality
  • Allow for borderless printing
  • Allow for colour enhancement (Brother image enhancement)
  • Connectivity includes:
    • Hi Speed 2.0 USB
    • Wireless Network (IEEE 802.11b/g/n)
    • Wi-Fi Direct (IEEE 802.11g/n)
    • Mobile Print (Brother iPrint&Scan, Airprint, Mopria, Google Cloud Print)
  • Media types: Plain, Inkjet, Glossy(Cast/Resin), Recycled
  • Media sizes: A3, A4,LGR, LTR, EXE, LGL, Folio, A5, A6, Photo(102x152mm/4×6″), Indexcard(127x203mm/5×8″), Photo-2L(127x178mm/5×7″), C5 Envelope, Com-10, DL Envelope, Monarch

Using this printer will guarantee that the quality of your artworks will never be compromised.

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How To Use A Label Printer For Your E-commerce Business

Spending Too Much Time Writing Labels? These Label Printers Will Help

Need to print labels for your online business? Keen to learn how you should print labels that portray your e-commerce brand in a professional manner?

You will probably need a good label printer to keep things running efficiently if you run an e-commerce store and ship more than two to three orders a day.

Whether your store is on Amazon, Lazada, Shopee, or Etsy, you will need a way to easily keep track of inventory and be able to ship the right items out on time. A label printer can help you do just that.

In this article, we cover some of the benefits of having a label printer and the types of label printers best suited to your small business needs.

Why You Need a Label Printer for Your E-commerce Business

Here are some of the main benefits of having a label printer for your online store.

1. They help you to manage your store inventory and shipping

Label printers help small businesses to easily keep track of stock and access key product information. With a scan of a barcode, you will be able to access the relevant product information such as stock quantity, price, dimension, colour, and other variables. Poor quality labels could result in negative customer experiences and even impact your bottom line. If the addresses on your shipping labels are not printed correctly, or if the barcodes are not legible, your carrier may face a problem in processing your order. The end result is that your customer’s goods may not get shipped and delivered, resulting in delays and customer complaints.

2. They are more professional compared to manual labels

Like many small home-based businesses, you may have started out your business by manually writing your labels. While this may be possible for a small start-up, it can get time consuming when your business starts to scale-up.

That’s not all. While charming, your handwritten labels may get smudged during transit. This prevents you from getting your product to your customer on time—or worse, gives your customer a poor impression of your brand!

Compared to handwritten labels, professionally printed shipping labels look more credible and are less likely to tear during transit.

3. They keep your small office or stockroom organised

Do you enjoy having an organised stockroom or spending hours on end looking for items? A properly organised and clearly labelled stockroom could translate to greater efficiency and time savings, especially if you are thinking of hiring help in the near future!

Keeping things organised can also be a major time-saver, especially when your small business starts to expand and your number of Stock Keeping Units (SKUs) start multiplying.

How To Print Shipping Labels?

There are two main options when it comes to printing your shipping labels: printing them with a standard laser or inkjet printer, or a thermal label printer.

Let us look at the pros and cons of both printing options.

Printing labels using a laser or inkjet printer

Laser and inkjet printers can produce high quality labels if you buy the right label sheets. They also allow you to print labels of many different sizes and dimensions.

However, this may be costly if you need to mass produce labels on a regular basis due to the higher cost of label sheets and cartridges relative to other options.

Printing labels using specialised label printers

Professional label printers, on the other hand, are specially designed for label printing. The beauty of using such label printers is that you don’t need to worry about extra supplies like ink or toner.

Some of these labellers also come in nifty, portable versions which can help greatly when you need to move about and print shipping labels on-the-go. These come in really useful when your SKUs increase, and you need to process your goods and ship them Just-In-Time. Some of these label printers also allow you to print directly from your phone or other mobile devices.

Types of Label Printer

When it comes to specialised label printers for small businesses, Brother offers both thermal label printers and laminated label printers. What are the main differences between these printing technologies and which would suit your business better?

1. Direct Thermal Label Maker

If your online business requires labels for barcodes, address labels, shipping labels, and food packaging, the direct thermal label maker may be your best bet.

Thermal printing uses heat-sensitive label stock and directly burns text and shapes onto the label itself.

The main advantage of using thermal printed labels is that they are easy to use and are more accurate. However, do note that they should not be exposed for long periods of time to heat or direct sunlight as the material will darken over time.

The Brother QL-1110NWB Label Printer is a popular label printer in the Philippines that utilises thermal printing technology. It has a fast printing speed of 4.3”/second or 110mm/second, and also offers a high print resolution of 300 x 600dpi.

2. Laminated Label Printer

If you carry a significant amount of stock and need to pay attention to your backend assets such as labelling your shelves, office equipment and files, the laminated label printer may be more suitable.

Laminated labels are water and fade-resistant and can withstand a harsher environment such as abrasion, heat or cold.

The Brother PT-D600 Label Printer is ideal for clear and durable workplace labelling up to 24 mm wide. Its compact and sleek design ensures that it fits at any office workstation. It is perfect for the organisation of workspaces, clear identification of equipment, assets and filing, as well as creation of basic instructional or warning notices.

Conclusion

Getting the best label printer for your e-commerce business could be the best solution to achieving a smooth-running logistics and delivery process. Creating a reliable end-to-end system would make a world of difference — for your customers and yourself.

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Accessory Spotlight: N Foot

This embroidery tutorial highlights the Brother monogramming foot, labeled with an “N.” The N foot is commonly found in the included accessories for many Brother machines. If you’re looking for a replacement, this foot would be listed as a part available from your Brother dealer.

The monogramming foot is designed for decorative stitching and for sewing out lettering and characters, (commonly known as monogramming) patterns in your machine. While there are some utility stitches mixed into the decorative menu, foot N is primarily for decorative patterns and stitches that do not lay totally flat on the fabric. See examples of various stitches from different Brother machine models in Figure #1a, Figure #1b, and Figure #1c.

Figure #1a
Figure #1b
Figure #1c

Important Tips: Unless you are stitching stiff or firm fabric, you’ll likely have the best results when using foot J for utility stitches. If you select foot N in place of foot J, be sure to test your stitching on fabric scraps. Fabric should be well stabilized when stitching decorative and character stitches. Essentially, you are creating mini embroidery without a hoop. Be sure to test stitches on fabric scraps and add stabilizer as needed.

Below are features that make foot N ideal for stitching decorative patterns and characters.

  • The N foot is a genuine Brother Accessory, made from quality materials and designed to use with patterns included in the Decorative and Character/Monogram menus of your Brother embroidery machine.
  • This wide, snap on foot has a 7mm opening in the center.
  • The clear view in the center provides excellent visibility.
  • Designed with a deep groove on the bottom side, the monogramming foot slides easily over bulky decorative stitches.
  • Use the monogram foot for satin stitching with a dense zigzag, and your stitches will flow smoothly under the deep groove on the foot.
  • Dash lines on the foot show where stitching starts and can also be used as an alignment guide when pivoting a corner.

Notice the clear view in the center of the foot along with dash lines that show where the stitching starts. See Figure #2.

Figure #2

The deep groove extends from the front all the way to the back of the foot. See Figure #3.

Figure #3

Decorative sewing stitches on some Brother models fit within the 7mm opening on the foot. On other Brother models, you’ll find multi-directional stitches where the feed dogs move from side to side as well as front to back, forming large decorative patterns. The oversized base of sewing foot N helps keep the fabric flat and secure while these large stitches form on the fabric. See examples of 7mm stitches in pink and large, and larger multi-directional decorative patterns in purple in Figure #4.

Figure #4

Now that you know more about your Brother N monogramming foot, experiment with the wide variety of decorative patterns and character stitches built-in to your machine. Have fun sewing with presser foot N! See Figure #5.

Figure #5

This article has been republished from Brother Sews USA.
The original article can be seen here: http://blog.brothersews.com/accessory/accessory-spotlight-n-foot/

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How to Choose The Best Printer for Your Home Office

Not Sure Which Printer to Get for Your Home Office? These 7 Tips Will Help

Are you searching for the best printer for your home office or small office?

Selecting the perfect home printer – whether it is a home office multifunction laser printer or a 3-in-1 ink tank printer – can be tough given the sheer number of options on the market.

Here are some of the most important factors to consider when buying a printer for your small office or home office (SOHO) set-up.

  1. Types of print jobs for your home office
  2. Different types of printers
  3. Size/space constraints
  4. Print speed
  5. Print resolution
  6. Price
  7. Wireless connectivity

1. Types of printing jobs for your home office printer

Choosing the right multifunction printer for your home office depends on the type of documents you’ll be printing most of the time. Some businesses require only black-and-white printing while others need to print photographs, colourful pie charts and detailed business reports in colour.

Answering this question will help you decide between a laser printer or an inkjet printer. A laser printer is better for high-volume monochrome printing—these would include documents, letters, proposals and reports that do not require colour. An inkjet or colour laser printer, on the other hand, is more suited to printing out colourful charts, posters, brochures, reports, or illustrations.

To understand the key differences betweena laser printer or an inkjet printer, read this article.

2. Different types of printers

When you look at the market for home office printers, you can find both single-function printers and multifunction printers.

If you are looking for a versatile printer which has the capability to handle printing, scanning, copying and faxing, an all-in-one printer may be just right for you.

A highly-popular multifunction laser printer is the Brother MFC-B7715DW Laser Printer. A mid-sized printer well-suited for your home or small office use, it has convenient features such as wireless printing, mobile and cloud printing capabilities, and other time-saving functions.

If your print volume is expected to be high, automatic duplexing is a big plus. Duplexing refers to the printing of both sides of the page without requiring manual flipping. Not only does printing on both sides help your business to be more eco-friendly, it is also convenient and helps you save time and costs in the long run.

3. Size/space constraints

If you run a small office or home office, the efficient use of space would be at the forefront of your mind. You may also need to consider the number of users who would be sharing the printer, and where the printer should be placed.

For a small-sized printer that packs a punch, check out the Brother DCP-T420W Ink Tank Printer. This refillable ink tank printer handles a variety of print jobs speedily and efficiently, perfect for home or small office use.

4. Print speed

Another important consideration is print speed. If you regularly print a high volume of documents, or you’re constantly printing invoices, labels, or large documents, a faster print speed will be what you need.

Laser printers tend to stand out in this aspect as they generally have a faster print speed (of up to 30-40 pages per minute) and are better equipped to handle large printing needs.

5. Print resolution

If print quality is high on your priority list, you will need a printer that offers a higher dpi (dots-per-inch), which refers to the number of dots of ink the printer can apply to a square inch of paper. This basically indicates how much detail and clarity you can expect your prints to have.

If printing colour photos and charts is going to be a daily affair, your ideal printer could be a Brother MFC-T4500DW Ink Tank Printer. Ideal for home/small offices, this multifunction colour printer comes with photo-quality printing capabilities with high-yield ink cartridges. It is a printer that packs a punch, offering versatility and cost-efficiency for small business owners that require colour prints.

6. Price

In determining the price that you are willing to pay for your printer, do also consider the printer’s running costs. Here, information such as cartridge page yield comes into play. Ink cartridges with higher page yields are considered more cost-efficient, as you get more pages printed on a single cartridge.

You may also want to check out the long-term running costs as these can add up over time. In particular, you should take note of the cost of key printer consumables such as ink cartridges, toner, paper, etc over a period of time.

Printing can be expensive but there are different ways to save on costs. For more tips on cost-savings, read this article!

7. Wireless connectivity

Most modern printers today allow seamless Wi-Fi printing without even the need to install a printer driver. As long as your phone and printer is connected to your office or home’s wireless network, you can print to it directly from a nearby location.

If you use an iOS device, Apple Airprint lets you print from your device to any wireless printer that shares the same wireless network. To ensure your printer is compatible with AirPrint, please get in touch with the Brother’s customer support team.

Android users can also rely on a range of wireless apps for direct printing from most printer vendors, such as Brother’s iPrint&Scan app. There are also printing apps, such as Mopria Print, that you can download and use.

For more details on how to print from anywhere, read this article.

Conclusion

Your choice of printer for your home/small office largely depends on your business’ specific printing needs, the type of features that matter to you, as well as the cost of the printer and its running costs.

Investing in a good quality printer could end up saving you money in the long run, so do consider the factors laid out above before taking the plunge!