How to Choose The Best Scanner for Your Home Office

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-1700W 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.

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.

September 14, 2021November 16, 2021

How to Reduce Printing Cost For Home Office Printers

Spending Too Much On Printing? Here’s How To Save Some Money
Are you looking for ways to save money on your home office printing needs? Need help to choose the best home office multifunction inkjet or laser printer to reduce your operating costs?

If you need some pocket-friendly solutions for years to come, consider these cost-efficient tips for your home office printing.

Use smaller margins and line spacing
Use smaller document size
Preview before printing
Print in black and white
Print with toner and ink-saving fonts
Duplex printing
Continue printing with low ink or toner
Unplug printer or use deep sleep mode
Buy printer consumables in bulk
Re-evaluate your printer

Owning a printer gives you the freedom of convenience and customized printing. However, the cost of maintaining one can quickly add up if you are not mindful. Being attentive to such details can help you reduce cost in the long run.

Let us look at each of these money-saving printing tips in detail.

1. Use smaller margins and line spacing

Most people use the default settings when printing a piece of document. However, this wastes a large amount of space, especially along the margins as well as the line spacing in between paragraphs.

By adjusting the margins closer to the edge of the page and reducing the line spacing, you can significantly increase the number of words per page—which means less paper used, saving you money in the long run.

2. Print more documents on a page

Another economical option is to print two pages of a document onto one page. This is especially useful for high resolution documents that have clear typefaces, or documents that are predominantly images.

You can adjust your print settings per page according to how you deem fit.

3. Preview before printing

When printing online web pages such as articles, do consider the sections of the page that you don’t actually need to print out and read. Printing out these sections wastes both your paper and ink.

By previewing what will be printed, you can remove advertisements, comments and unnecessary footnotes. You can also click on the “printer mode” on websites, which automatically sets the page to the ideal sizes for printing.

In Microsoft Office, there are print outs preview before final printing. Sometimes there might be alignment issues which causes an additional page consisting of a few short lines to be printed out. This can be easily avoided by adjusting the document.

Re-printing due to mistakes can also be avoided by first checking your documents in draft mode before printing. With this step, you can reduce up to 50% of waste, ensuring more cost-efficient printing in the long run.

4. Print in black and white

This next tip can potentially save you quite a bit of money in terms of ink or toner usage. Printing in colour uses more ink compared to printing in black and white. This can be easily overlooked especially with documents that have coloured logos or graph charts.

If colour is not necessary, take the extra step to switch your print setting to monochrome printing. You will be surprised by how much ink or toner you can save and how long your cartridge will last by applying this tip.

Do note that printing in grayscale might not have the same effect. When printing in grayscale, the grey is not printed with black, but is composed instead of all other colours—which is exactly what you want to avoid.

5. Print with toner and ink-saving fonts

The following option is for the penny pinchers out there! Certain fonts with wide letters, thick lines, many curls and serifs use more printer ink and toner than other fonts.

By choosing fonts that do not have these features, you can potentially reduce your printing costs by up to 30%! These toner and ink-saving fonts are “Century Gothic” and “Garamond“, which can be found in most word processing programs.

Fonts that use more toner and ink include “Arial”, “Trebuchet” and “Tahoma”— these are fonts which you should avoid if you have the flexibility to do so.

6. Duplex printing

This tip is a no-brainer—print on both sides of the paper. As simple as it may seem, it has the potential to save you big bucks, especially when combined with the previous few tips.

However, this becomes an issue if you are printing in high volumes and don’t have a printer capable of duplex printing. Manually flipping each page will soon get on your nerves and you’ll end up choosing single-sided printing for its convenience, causing you to be less cost efficient.

For better cost-savings and convenience, consider switching to a printer that has duplex printing capabilities such as Brother DCP-T820DW Ink Tank Printer. Its automatic 2-sided printing will ensure fuss-free and cost efficient printing.

7. Continue printing with low ink or toner

You have probably seen the message that pops up when the ink level is low, advising you to replace the cartridge. Instead of rushing to change your cartridge, you can actually continue printing for a couple more print runs. This allows you to squeeze more prints out of the cartridge before it truly runs dry.

For toner cartridges that indicate “low toner” levels, consider taking them out of your printer and giving them a quick shake to distribute the toner powder inside the cartridge. This will enable you to continue printing for more pages without any errors before your toner finally runs out.

8. Unplug printer or use deep sleep mode

You won’t be saving thousands of dollars with this tip, but if you are really looking into ways to reduce costs, this will still add up. Printers—or any electronics for that matter—left plugged into outlets when not in use, will draw passive energy away from the circuit. This will cost you money over time, so unplug your printer when not in use.

You should also pay attention to a printer’s energy efficiency. Brother printers come with deep sleep mode where it reduces its energy consumption while idling.

9. Buy printer consumables in bulk

Another huge money saver tip is to buy your printer consumables in bulk—paper, ink cartridges and toners. More often than not, you can tap on bulk discounts, save on delivery costs or even lower costs with bundle deals. By pre-planning and keeping an eye out for great deals, you could save a whole lot of money compared to buying these supplies individually as they run out.

You can also choose to get ink or toner cartridges that come in standard or high yield containers that hold more ink or toner for a lower cost per page. The Brother DCP-L3551CDW Laser Printer is one of the printers that has a low cost and high print quality resolution with affordable toner options such as the high capacity toner (BK: Approx. 3,000 pages; CMY: Approx. 2,300 pages) or the drum unit (Approx. 18,000 pages).

It is also important to store your bulk purchases properly. Do note that ink cartridges can dry out if stored incorrectly. To prevent the ink from drying out prematurely, store them in their original packaging in the shade at room temperature or slightly cooler temperatures.

Laser printer toners are usually more durable as they are filled with a dry powder. However, you should still store them in a cool and dry place to ensure that they are kept in prime condition.

10. Re-evaluate your printer

If you have had your printer for a long time, and are still struggling to keep it cost-efficient, chances are that you may need to re-evaluate your printer. Yes, you may have bought it a couple of years ago at a good price—however the printer supplies (ie consumables) are often the ones that tunnel through your pockets.

A toner or ink-efficient printer is a cost-efficient printer! Switching to a modern printer that has cost-efficient cartridges is a smarter move to enjoy huge cost savings. To look for an efficient printer, you will first have to find out what cartridge the printer uses. Look for information such as the price of the cartridge and the cartridge page yield. With these factors, you can then figure out the cost per page for each printer and compare them.

Cost per page ($) = Cartridge price ($) / Cartridge page yield (No. of pages)

If you need more information as to which is the best home printer for you, do consider the different types of printers that are available.

Conclusion

Choosing a printer based on its consumables might not be something that most people think about from the get-go. To keep your home office running costs really low, combine these cost savings with the penny pinching habits mentioned above to reap the rewards of a printer with high cost savings!

September 9, 2021November 16, 2021

How to use a label printer for your E-commerce business

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.

Online seller using laptop in stock room — Young businesswoman with glasses using laptop work at home, online business at home, handling delivery packages

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-800 Label Printer is a popular label printer in Singapore that utilises thermal printing technology. It has a fast printing speed of 93 labels per minute, and also offers black and red printing at 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.

September 1, 2021November 16, 2021

A4 business inkjet all-in-one printer

Brother International Singapore introduces new A4 business inkjet all-in-one (AIO) printer range, offering super high yield ink cartridges that deliver huge savings on print cost and a 3 years on-site warranty.

The printers are designed with internal ink storage tanks to allow more pages of uninterrupted printing. After the ink cartridge is inserted into the printer, the ink from the ink cartridge will flow into the internal storage tank. After a print job has been sent to the printer, it will draw ink from the internal ink storage tank to print.

When the ink runs low in the ink cartridges, the printer will prompt you to insert new ink cartridges. However, this doesn’t mean you can’t continue to print. The ink from the internal storage tank will still allow you to print for a while, depending on the type of documents you are printing.

With the new Page Gauge monitor feature, you can now take the guesswork out of when to replace your ink cartridges. The Page Gauge monitor allows you to view actual ink usage and estimated remaining page counts.

The ink cartridges in this range have been engineered to hold more ink, which mean you can print more without compromising on the size of the printer. The internal storage tanks work together with Page Gauge monitor help to eliminate running out of ink during an important print job.

**_{The latest ink cartridge technology}**

The common performance and features of this range include:

a. High Yield Ink Cartridges

The high-yield ink cartridges for this range yields 6,000* pages for black and 5,000* pages (composite yield) for colour which in return lower your total cost of ownership (TCO).

Businesses will now be able to print more documents without worrying about the cost per page (for black or colour) and compromising on the print quality.

_{*In accordance with ISO/IEC 24711}

b. Water resistant documents printing

The use of pigment ink technology in the inkjet printer, allows you to print water resistant and smudge proof documents. You do not need to worry about an accidental water spill over the documents.

c. Increase productivity

Enjoy fast printing speed of 20ppm (mono)/19ppm (colour) with this range of A4 Inkjet printers. This mean that you will spend less time waiting at the device collecting your printouts.

If you are working on large file size documents, these range of printers give you the opportunity to focus on your work while it processes your documents. Whether it’s printing double sided or the using the 20 sheets Automatic Document Feeder (ADF), it is sure to improve your efficiency and productivity.

The new models launched are:
MFC-J4340DW: Print, Scan, Copy, Fax with Wireless LAN connection
MFC-J4540DW : Print, Scan, Copy, Fax with Wired/Wireless LAN connection

These printers are available at our authorised resellers from 18 August 2021 onwards at the following retail prices.

MFC-J4340DW: S$288
MFC-J4540DW: S$378

Here’s a quick glance of the model specification:

MFC-J4340DW

Print/Scan/Copy/Fax
Automatic duplex printing
ISO print speed of up to 20ppm (Mono) / 19ppm (Colour)
20 sheets ADF
150 sheets + 1 sheet manual feed
Wireless LAN
Mobile printing
3 years on-site warranty

MFC-J4540DW

Print/Scan/Copy/Fax
Automatic duplex printing
ISO print speed of up to 20ppm (Mono)/ 19ppm (Colour)
20 sheets ADF
150 sheets tray + 250 sheets lower tray + 1 sheet manual feed
Wireless and wired network
Direct Front USB / Mobile printing
NFC
3 years onsite warranty

Explore the new range of Brother A4 Inkjet printer here:

https://www.brother.com.sg/en/products/all-printers

August 27, 2021July 28, 2022

The Perfect Partner to Suit Your Lifestyle or Business

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:

Families with school-going kids
Home office (work from home)
Corporate office with multiple users
Industrial/Manufacturing production work
Budget friendly
Techies
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 printer may 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-L3770CDW 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.

3. 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-L8690CDW Laser Printer:

Has automatic 2-sided print, scan, copy, and fax
Has Gigabit Ethernet and wireless connectivity
Has up to 31/33 ppm print and copy speed
Has up to 28/28 ipm scan speed
Holds up to 250 sheets Input Tray (Standard)
Holds up to 50 sheets Multi-Purpose Tray
Holds up to 250 sheets Output Tray
Ultra-high-yield toner available (BK & C/M/Y 9,000 pages each)
Drum available (30,000 pages)

Brother MFC-J3930DW Inkjet 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-L6900DW 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
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:

Brother DCP-L2550DW 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

Brother DCP-T520W 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 380 x 159 mm (W x D x H)
Weight: 7.3kg

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:

Brother MFC-L8900CDW 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)

Brother MFC-J3930DW Inkjet Printer:

Able to print, scan, copy, and fax
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!

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.

Brother HL-T4000DW Ink Tank Printer:

Able to print, scan, copy, and fax
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.

July 20, 2021July 20, 2021

Selamat Hari Raya Haji!

How are you celebrating this special occasion this year? With the imposed new set of Covid-19 restrictions in place to keep everyone safe, there are many things that you could do to spend the day with your loved ones.

There are many fun and creative projects on Brother Creative Centre to keep you and your little ones busy.

Sending them an personalize e-cards

Do you know that Brother Creative Centre has lots of creative activities, customizable templates and holiday cards?

https://www.creativecenter.brother/en-gb

Here are some examples of card designs that you could personalize and send to your loved ones. Impressed them!

Printing activities that you could do with your little one

If you have young kids around, you can print out these adorable activities to stimulate their creativity. It’s fun to turn imaginative ideas into reality!

We recommend activities like:

Paper crafts and origami
Coloring pages
Sudoku game

It’s also a great time for you to have fun and bond with your little ones.

Getting ready for a virtual get together

Lastly, get your Hari Raya meal delivered. Although, we are not able to get together for the meal, you could cater food delivery and have it delivered to your loved ones. Enjoying the meal together over a virtual meeting to hangout allows us to connect and see one another and have some fun.

July 2, 2021July 2, 2021

Free Design: Baby Bear Bib

~Joanne Banko, Brother Sews Ambassador

This month we’re featuring a few projects for the precious little ones in your life, starting with a cute embroidered baby bib. The Brother Free Design for this Month is an adorable bear design. It’s sized just right for most baby bibs. Read through this tutorial and you’ll learn about font editing features found in many Brother sewing machine models. You’ll also find tips for improving your embroidery skills throughout the instructions. While your Brother embroidery machine may not look exactly like the images shown here, I suggest you compare names of the keys on the screen to those found in your own machine to learn more about these features and put them into practice. Exploring embroidery font features makes this project perfect for sewing beginners and beyond. Are you ready?

Materials and Supplies:

Brother sewing and embroidery machine. Note: Machine featured in this project is the Brother NV180
. You can use any machine with 4-inch hoop capability.
Brother Embroidery Threads and Bobbin Thread for embroidering.
SA5929 Brother Cut-Away stabilizer cut to fit hoop size.
Temporary adhesive spray specifically for machine embroidery.
Plain low nap baby bib, sized large enough for featured design.
Brother Free Design for March
. See Figure #1a for original thread color and stitch information. See Figure #1b for modified colors.

Basic steps for creating embroidered baby bib:

Prepare bib for embroidery and hoop with stabilizer.
Create design using edit mode of sewing machine for changing size and configuration of lettering.
Embroider design and remove stabilizer.

1. Transfer design to machine. Create a combination design with bear and lettering as follows: Select design, touch Set and then touch the Move key. Use arrow keys to move design to bottom of hoop and touch OK. See Figure #2a and Figure #2b.

Touch Add and select a block style font from the font menu. See Figure #3a and Figure #3b. Tip: Block style fonts work better than fonts with thin columns on this low nap fabric.

Program lettering using small font size, using arrows on machine to navigate through the lettering screens to select both upper and lower case letters. Add a space between the two words, and an exclamation point at the end. Tip: Be sure to select S for small, right after selecting the first letter. See Figure #4a, Figure #4b, Figure #4c, and Figure #4d.

Tip: I like to start with smaller, rather than larger lettering and then use the sizing feature to increase the lettering size to fit the hoop area. This is especially helpful when using the Array feature, as larger lettering will sometimes prevent you from using various array functions. Here is my formula: Start small, add the array, and then change sizing last.

Set your lettering, touch move key, and use arrow keys to move lettering above the bear head. Touch OK. See Figure #5.

Touch font edit key. Touch array key. Curve lettering over bear head. Touch OK, then OK again to return to embroider edit screen. See Figure #6a, Figure #6b, and Figure #6c.

Tip: There are many more options for editing embroidery fonts. Watch for more in future tutorials!

Touch size key and increase lettering until the machine stops at the maximum size. Touch OK. See Figure #7

2. End editing. Center combination on the screen, then touch Embroidery. See Figure #8a and Figure #8b.

3. Hoop cut-away stabilizer and lightly spray with adhesive, following manufacturer’s directions on the can. Note:It is very important to avoid over spraying. Tip: To keep adhesive from getting on the hoop, I like to cut a window in a piece of scrap paper and tape it over the hoop to protect the edges. Spray over paper, then remove and discard. See Figure #9.

4. Center bib in hoop, securing it to the tacky surface. Place water-soluble over the bib to help tame the nap and keep the design from sinking in. Tip: Lightly dampen the outer edges of the stabilizer to make it tacky and it will adhere to your fabric. Embroidery design on bib. See Figure #10

5. Remove from hoop and trim stabilizer, leaving a margin of ½ to 1-inch of stabilizer around the design. Tip:Bonding from temporary spray adhesive will usually disappear within 2 to 5 days. To dissipate earlier than that, iron the sprayed fabric with a warm dry iron. This type of adhesive does not wash out. You’ll want to make sure spray adhesive is gone before thoroughly washing out water-soluble as recommended on the package.

You are finished with embroidering your baby bib! Enjoy!

Options and ideas:

Feel free to sew your own multi-layer bib. Embroider on the top piece then add a lining to hide stitches on the wrong side.This article has been republished from Brother Sews USA.

The original article can be seen here:

http://blog.brothersews.com/free-design-of-the-month/free-design-baby-bear-bib/

June 24, 2021June 24, 2021

Brother FS60X the all-round sewing machine

Brother Singapore has launched – a new computerised sewing machine, FS60x, that is designed to enhance -user experience for every sewing project.

Whether you are a beginner who has just picked up your sewing interest or a sewing enthusiastic who is set to complete a complicated project, a good sewing machine is your best friend.

This basic computerized sewing machine takes heavy duty sewing seriously. From metal frame interior to powerful computerized motor, it is designed to handle stretchy materials and denim with ease.

*_{Stitch through layers and layers of denim without straining the extra Tough’s specially geared motor}*

It is also easy to operate with features such as auto needle threading, one-step buttonhole sewing and sliding sewing speed controller, making it an ideal sewing companion for sewers of all sewing experience.

The FS60X comes with 60 built-in stiches and 7 one-step buttonholes styles which make it perfect for a variety of sewing projects.

A quick glance at the specification of FS60X:

LCD display
Quick-set drop-in top bobbin
60 built-in stitches
7 one-step buttonhole styles
Advanced easy needle threading
Slide sewing speed controller
LED sewing light
Fast bobbin winding system
1 year carry-in warranty

An optional accessory – the extendable wide table that can be attached to the machine, so that you can have a larger working space. Not only that, but it also allows easier handling of wide cloths during sewing.

This high performance computerised sewing machine is made with heavy duty meal frame for improved durability and reduced vibration.

What makes it better? Online support is also at your finger tip.

Tutorial’s video
Operation manuals
Stitch chart application
Needle and thread suggestions for different fabrics.

FS60X retails at S$428 with GST. Explore the all new Brother FS60X here.

June 17, 2021September 1, 2021

Is there an affordable way to print for your home business? Read on.

If you are reading this, chances are, you are either the owner of a home-based business, or someone who is considering starting one of your own – and you’re not alone! With the added flexibility, agility and freedom that running a business from your home affords, it is easy to see why a large portion of start-ups across the world are doing so. This, however, comes with certain challenges, one of which being that most business-grade printing solutions were made for traditional office environments, with very few options designed to be truly suitable for the home office.

With that in mind, what are some of the options you should consider when choosing a printing solution for your very own home-based business?

Laser or Inkjet? It depends.

One of the main benefits of inkjet printers is that they are an affordable option for any home business owner while being capable of delivering vibrant colour image and photo prints. However, with the high prices of printer ink, they could end up being significantly costlier once you start printing larger volumes. But that’s all about to change with Brother’s range of Refill Ink Tank Printers, a new breed of business-oriented ink printers designed for greater cost-savings while delivering outstanding print quality and print speeds.

Or, if you are looking for more document-focused printing capabilities, then look no further than Brother’s range of Laser and LED printers. With either mono or colour printing options, these capable solutions provide speedy, stable performance that’s ideal for high-volume printing of documents with crisp and easily readable text – even on smaller font sizes.

Print productivity that doesn’t cost you dearly.

Printing costs can make up a significant part of your expenses, which is why Brother’s Refill Ink Tank and Laser print solutions are designed with small businesses and home offices in mind. Our ultra-high yield refill ink bottles and toner cartridges offer affordable, high-quality prints for all your marketing, invoicing, presentation or reviewing needs that not only translates to a low cost-per-page, but also allows you to print thousands of pages before requiring a refill or cartridge change.

Form and functionality bundled in one compact package.

Forget about those large, costly copiers that are commonly found in big office departments. Aside from being affordable, Brother’s print solutions take up a significantly smaller footprint than traditional copiers and are perfectly suited for your home office. Packed with wireless networking capabilities that allow staff to easily connect to a single printer, high print speeds, flexible paper handling, high-volume duplex printing, and innovative Cloud Apps that offer seamless mobile printing and scanning on the go, they deliver amazing value and functionality for the modern home office.

Made for the home, built to last

Another major concern about compact printers is that they aren’t designed to withstand the vigours of high-volume business printing. The thought of costly supplies and frequent breakdowns are the main reasons why many are put off by the idea of utilising them.

But Brother has got you covered.

All of Brother’s genuine supplies are optimised to work perfectly with our printers for unmatched consistency and reliability, which results in less wastage, repair and maintenance costs in the long run. And with over 100 years of award-winning reliability and customer service to its name, you can be assured that any Brother printer is built to last.

With that being said, there’s certainly no one-size-fits-all solution for your unique business model. Do you require a solution with only print functionality? Or maybe you’re looking for a Multifunction Centre that’s capable of scanning, copying and faxing as well? Whatever your needs, we’re sure that you’ll find the ideal solution right here .

May 4, 2021August 9, 2022

Brother International Singapore launches new Refill Ink Tank printer series

Brother International Singapore launches new Refill Ink Tank printer series with improved speeds, cost efficient and enhanced features for the home and office environment.

With paradigm shift in the way we operate business- towards remote working, Brother has developed a new line of compact, space-saving print solution to suit every home and business need.

The new series consist of

DCP-T220 (print, copy, scan),
DCP-T520W (print, copy, scan with Ethernet and wireless LAN)
DCP-T820DW (auto 2-sided print, copy, scan with Ethernet and wireless LAN)
MFC-T920DW (auto 2-sided print, copy, scan, fax with Ethernet and wireless LAN and USB direct printing).

The performance and enhanced features include:

Achieve incredible cost efficiency

With the improved page yield of 7,500^#pages for the black and 5,000^# pages for colour printing, the new Brother Ink Tank series enable you to print more documents and photos at lower cost-per-print making your prints affordable.

Additionally, the new series* offer automatic 2-sided printing which help to reduce paper wastage by up to 50%. This helps in environmental concerns and saving costs.

^# Quoted approx. yields are extrapolated based on Brother original methodology using Test Pattern ISO/IEC 24712. Quoted approx. yields are not based on ISO/IEC 24711

*Applies to DCP-T820DW and MFC-T920DW

2. Increase your productivity

Enjoy faster and improved print speed of up to 17 ipm/16.5 ipm* (monochome/cxolour printing) with the new Ink Tank printer. This means that you will spend less time waiting at the device collecting your printouts.

The use of the dye-based technology ensures that you get high-quality photos and text prints.

*Applicable to DCP-T820DW and MFC-T920DW only

3. Convenience print

To facilitate the convenience of printing, users can also make use of email print feature to print image or document by sending directly to the printer email address.

This allows you to print from anywhere, if your device is connected to the internet.

You can also enjoy effortless mobile printing where you can print directly from your devices such as iPhone or Android™ through Brother’s application iPrint&Scan and Apple Airprint. However, you will have to make sure that you are in the same network as the printer in order to print wirelessly.

Built-in wireless and Ethernet connectivity also allows the printer to be easily shared amongst the workgroup.

4. Ease of printing

The new series feature
a. The plug and play functionality
This eliminates the need for driver installation on Windows 10 PCs and notebooks making it a good option for users who are not familiar with software and driver installation.

b. Embedded, front-access Refill Tank System
The font-access transparent ink cassette makes refilling inks convenient where it allows users to monitor the ink level and have it timely refilled.

What makes it better? The Refill Tank System also offers a quick, fuss-free refills without the mess.

c. Automatic Document Feeder (ADF)

The 20-sheets ADF^*allows user to perform multi-page copying and scanning without having insert the pages individually making it time efficient.

*Applicable to DCP-T820DW and MFC-T920DW only

d. Customizable one-touch copy shortcut

Users can customize the shortcut button on the printer for quick access to commonly used copy features such as “Fit to page” and “Reduce page size from A4 to A5”

The printers are available from 22 Feb 2021 in Singapore. The retail price of DCP-T220 is at S$198, DCP-T520W is at S$268, DCP-T820DW is at S$368 and MFC-T920DW is at S$408, all with GST. What’s more, you get 3 years carry-in or 30,000 pages warranty (whichever is earlier).

Explore Brother’s new range of ink tank printers here.