Free Checklist | Buyer Checklist for UV Printers — Lon Riley, Founder and CEO at DPI Laboratory, shares a seven-part checklist that helps buyers look beyond the demo and evaluate real-world performance, support, and total cost of ownership.
ST. PETERSBURG | Florida – February 2026 – Most UV printers look similar in a demo. The samples pop. The speed claims sound impressive. Then the machine arrives and the real test begins. Can it hold production capacity and quality all day? Can your team run it without babysitting? Can you get parts fast when something breaks?
Do these seven quick checks before you commit. They look past the controlled demo environment and into the realities of daily production. When a printer fails to repeat, clogs, or slows down, your customer does not care why. They care that the order is late. These checks help you select a platform you can rely on under pressure, not one that only performs when conditions are ideal.
Check 1: Prove sellable quality and durability on your materials
Ask the vendor to print your own file on the materials you actually use. Check fine text, gradients, and solid fills. Watch for banding, grain, soft edges, or patchy coverage – and test the durability to your standards. If a print can’t nail this in a demo, it will cost you time and waste in production.
Check 2: Measure real throughput, not advertised speed
Review with the vendor how long a typical job takes from start to finish. Have them include everything: warmup, loading the item, setting up the file, and any cleaning or other steps required between prints. Then ask them to run two jobs back to back. That shows you the pace you can expect in real production, not a one time best case.
Check 3: Verify white ink maintenance, stability and performance
White ink can unlock a lot of high value work, especially on dark materials and layered prints. It can also be the first place a machine gets finicky. Ask the vendor how the printer keeps white ink moving and stable when it sits and while it runs. Then request a few multilayer samples that use white and check the edges, alignment and opacity up close.
Check 4: Confirm maintenance time and operator workload
Maintenance impacts your costs and how many hands you need to keep jobs moving. Ask for the daily, weekly, and monthly maintenance list in writing, and have them tell you how long each step takes. Understand what the machine handles automatically and what your operator has to do by hand. If a printer needs constant attention, it will slow down your whole shop.
Check 5: Stress test software and repeatability
Repeat orders keep print shops profitable, so make sure the machine can do the same job twice without variance. Ask the vendor to save a file, then reprint it right away. Check that the software makes it easy to use templates, recall jobs, and place prints accurately. If it feels clunky in a demo, it will feel even clunkier when you’re busy.
Check 6: Audit support, parts, and training
A warranty only helps if you can actually reach someone and get parts fast. Ask who provides support and where replacement parts ship from. Ask what training comes with the machine and how long onboarding typically takes. Then get the warranty terms in writing, and make sure you understand exactly what it covers.
Check 7: Calculate total cost of ownership
The purchase price is only the starting point. Ask what the ink costs per liter, how much ink a typical job like yours uses, and what common items cost to replace. Then factor in potential downtime based on the support and parts setup you confirmed. From there, you can judge ROI based on the products you actually plan to sell.
Free UV Printer Buying Checklist
Buying a UV printer can feel like a lot, because it is. You’re not just buying a printer. You’re buying a workflow, a support system, and a cost structure that will either protect your margins or chip away at them.
If you want a simple way to keep these seven checks organized and add three more that buyers often miss, download this free UV Printer Buyer Checklist. It is a one page demo scorecard you can use to compare vendors side by side and stay focused on ROI.
Download the checklist here: https://dpi-lab.com/buyer-checklist
Best Advice for Use
Bring the checklist to every demo and write the answers down in the moment. If you cannot get a clear answer, treat that as your answer and keep shopping.
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