Pigment ink over dye ink

The ET-8550 runs pigment-based inks rather than dye-based ones, and that choice matters more for cards than it does for a typical photo print. Pigment ink sits on top of the paper rather than soaking into it, which makes it more resistant to fading, water, and handling over time — all things a card that gets shuffled, sleeved, and handled repeatedly is going to run into eventually.

Built for exactly this kind of small-batch, media-flexible printing

Cards aren't standard photo paper, and a custom order might mean switching between matte cardstock, holographic vinyl, and photo stock for backs, sometimes within the same batch. That kind of media flexibility, plus the print quality needed to keep fine text and detailed art actually sharp at card size, is what a supertank photo printer like the ET-8550 is built to handle — as opposed to a general-purpose office printer, which usually isn't.

Why this belongs on a page you can find, not just the Process page

If you're comparing printers for your own custom card or proxy project, the short version is: look for pigment ink over dye ink for longevity, and make sure whatever you're using can actually handle the specific stocks you plan to print on — standard cardstock and holographic vinyl behave differently, and not every printer handles both well.

See the full setup, materials, and everything downstream of the printer itself on the Process page, or the rest of what I use on Gear.

Have a project in mind? Get in touch — or see finished builds in the Gallery.