Whether inkjet or laser, printers offer a lot of convenience beyond just printing documents and driving directions. Being able to print quickly on a whim can save you time, cut business costs, and give you flexibility to create one-off materials. If you need only a few promotional postcards, why buy a bunch of extras just because a print shop requires a big minimum order? The variety of things you can print may surprise you. Some of them will save businesses time and money, while others will thrill hobbyists and general consumers.

Postage

Stamps.com offers a service whereby you can print postage with the inkjet or laser printer you already have, without having to buy a specialized postage printer. The service costs $16 per month.

Pitney Bowes used to offer a service called ClickStamp Online that allowed you to print postage with your own printer. In its place, the company now offers a $20 monthly plan that includes the rental of a postage meter and scale--you can print postage but you can't use your own printer.

Bar Codes

If the image of bar codes tattooed onto the backs of prisoners' heads in Alien 3 horrified you, you may not rejoice to learn that printing bar codes is easy--and much less painful than getting a tattoo.

You can print bar codes by the sheet with an inkjet or laser printer, or print them individually with a smaller label printer. All you need is software and a specialized font from a company such as IDAutomation or Seagull Scientific.

Airline Tickets

Self-check-in kiosks at airports are a fine invention. But they don't save you time if the passenger in front of you is cursing at the screen in frustration. Print your boarding pass at home. Many airlines offer this service when you make a reservation online.

Business Cards

Need an elevated title for the day? Print your own business cards. Avery's Clean Edge business cards break off from the paper around them without leaving little nubs--that sure sign of a do-it-yourselfer that may undermine your credibility.

Event Tickets

Many organizations, from professional sports teams to museums to ski resorts, let you print your own tickets. Why wouldn't they? E-mailing a PDF file of a ticket costs a lot less than printing it--and some organizations will get you with a service charge for the convenience of hitting the slopes instead of the ticket line.

Companies like ClicknPrint offer this service to venues. Typically, the company helps the organization set up an online ticketing site that generates PDFs, and then on the day of the event sets up a laptop and bar-code scanners on a wireless network at the venue. As for the PDFs you print at home, you don't need to worry about using an inexpensive inkjet to print a legible bar code on your ticket--as long as you don't use really cheap paper.

Greeting Cards and Invitations

Printing cards and invitations shouldn't involve a grueling session with a layout program. When you'd rather say it yourself than rely on Hallmark to pen your sentiment, consider using specially designed software and printing the card at home. Mountaincow and other companies offer such software. Preprinted stationary is available, so for some designs all you print is the text. The designs tend to be simple, but if it's the thought that counts, at least the thought is yours.

Checks

We'd all like to make more money, but printing it will get you in a lot of hot water with the Feds. You can, however, print your own checks--even on an inkjet printer. With specialized paper, printing software, and fonts from the likes of CheckMaster, you're in business. For large volumes, it's probably best to use a laser printer as well as special MICR toner, which is magnetic so banks' machinery can read the checks.

Coffee Mugs, T-Shirts, and Novelties

Need a second income? NovaChrome USA sells kits for making sublimation transfers so you can put photos on everything from ceramic mugs to mouse pads. First you print your photo on the transfer paper, and then use a heat press to transfer the ink to a piece of metal, plastic, wood, or fabric. These items need a special coating to receive the ink, and fabric needs to have a fair amount of polyester--the ink doesn't adhere well to cotton.

Of course, for starters, you'll need a printer. These inks work with Epson printers, even some low-cost models. For example, you can use the $99 Epson C86. A set of specialty inks is pricey, at $337. The 8.5-by-11-inch transfer paper costs $15 for 100 sheets from NovaChrome USA. NovaChrome charges anywhere from $500 to $1000 for heat presses designed for various needs; go to the company's home page and click "Heat Presses" in the left column for more information.

Signs

Just because your printer only takes paper up to 8.5 by 11 inches in size doesn't mean you can't make larger signs. Avery Sign Kits come with foam board in various sizes on which you assemble multiple prints to make a large sign. The polymer media that comes with the kits is weather-resistant; there are guides to help you align the prints; and if you goof it up on the first try, no worries: The glue doesn't permanently adhere on first contact so you can reposition your prints if you need to.

Sushi, Circuit Boards--Even Human Skin

Yes, you read that right. In my March column I described how a chef in Chicago is printing edible menus; Seiko Epson has printed circuit boards and a giant OLED display; and researchers are pursuing the creation of human skin--and possibly even living tissue--with the help of inkjet printers.

Take Note

Wide-Format Laser: When I think of wide-format printing, I usually think of big, frameable photos or colorful posters. But the Lexmark W840 is another kind of animal. It's a wide-format monochrome laser printer that's rated to churn out up to 50 pages per minute. If you want to print Web pages that are bigger than life, you're in luck: A feature called "Internet bookmark printing" allows users to print documents and Web pages directly from the Internet without using a PC. Also, the USB port on the control panel lets you print PDF files directly from a flash memory device. The base model costs $2299; the networked model costs $2899.

Solid-Ink and Color Lasers: Xerox added four new ways to bring color printing to an office setting--two solid-ink printers and two color laser printers. The base model Phaser 8500, a solid-ink printer, starts at $899 and is rated to print up to 24 ppm in monochrome and color. The solid-ink Phaser 8550 starts at $1299 and is rated at 30 ppm in monochrome and color. The color laser models start at $1299. The Phaser 6300 is rated at 26 ppm in color, 36 ppm in monochrome. The Phaser 6350/DP costs $1799 and is rated at 36 ppm in both monochrome and color. All models include Ethernet ports.

Have a question or a comment? Drop a line to Eric Butterfield.