The Ultimate Guide to Holiday Printing: Multifunction Printers for the Festive Season

The holiday season is fast approaching, and with it comes a whirlwind of activities. From sending out holiday cards, printing family photos, and creating personalised gift tags, to handling last-minute work projects, staying on top of these tasks requires reliable tools. One essential device that can simplify this busy period is a multifunction printer (MFP). These devices combine printing, scanning, copying, and even faxing capabilities into one machine, making them indispensable for home offices, creative projects, and small businesses alike.

In this ultimate guide, we'll explore the many ways a multifunction printer can enhance your holiday experience and provide detailed reviews of some of the best models available. Whether you're looking for a practical gift for a loved one or considering upgrading your printer, this guide has everything you need to make an informed decision.

The Role of Multifunction Printers During the Holidays

The holiday season brings a host of demands, both personal and professional. Whether you're planning festive gatherings, managing end-of-year work deadlines, or finding ways to get creative with gifts and decorations, a multifunction printer is your trusted companion. These versatile devices offer more than just printing. With their ability to scan, copy, and even fax, they are a powerhouse of efficiency, helping you manage everything from gift wrap templates to important documents.

For those working from home, the need for a reliable printer is particularly pressing. With many companies continuing remote or hybrid working models, a multifunction printer can serve as your office workhorse, handling everything from contracts and invoices to last-minute reports.

But it’s not just about work—a multifunction printer can also bring joy to your holiday projects. Imagine being able to create personalised holiday cards, print family portraits, or even design unique decorations right from your home. Let’s dive in and explore the perfect printers for your holiday season.

Brother DCP-J1200DW – The Ultimate Home Office Powerhouse

The Brother DCP-J1200DW is a versatile inkjet printer designed to handle everything from simple document printing to high-quality colour projects. With its sleek design and robust feature set, it's ideal for home offices, families, and creative enthusiasts. Whether you’re printing out holiday cards, scanning family photos, or completing year-end work reports, this printer will not disappoint.

Key Features and Specifications

The Brother DCP-J1200DW offers a range of features designed to simplify your tasks during the holidays:

1.    High-Resolution Printing: Print resolution of 1200 x 6000 DPI ensures that your documents, photos, and creative projects look sharp and professional.
2.    Print, Copy, Scan: This model excels in multifunctionality, with easy-to-use scanning and copying capabilities in addition to its printing function.
3.    Wireless and Mobile Connectivity: The printer supports multiple connectivity options, including Wi-Fi, USB, and mobile printing services like Apple AirPrint and Brother iPrint&Scan.
4.    Automatic Duplex Printing: Automatic double-sided printing saves time and paper, perfect for holiday newsletters or greeting cards.
5.    Paper Handling: This printer supports various paper sizes and types, including envelopes and cardstock, making it a great choice for crafting holiday projects.

Holiday Relevance: During the holiday season, the Brother DCP-J1200DW can handle a variety of tasks, from creating custom holiday cards to printing festive decorations. Its ability to print high-quality colour images makes it ideal for creative projects like photo ornaments, gift tags, and holiday invitations. The scanner allows you to digitise old family photos for holiday scrapbooks, while the wireless connectivity ensures that everyone in the household can easily send print jobs from their devices.

Why It's a Great Gift: For those who love DIY projects or work from home, the Brother DCP-J1200DW makes an excellent gift. Its versatility ensures that it will be used throughout the year, not just during the holidays. With this printer, you can print photos, documents, and creative projects all from the same device, making it both practical and fun.

Canon PIXMA TS5150 – The Affordable Family Printer

The Canon PIXMA TS5150 is a perfect choice for families or casual users looking for an affordable yet feature-packed printer. With its compact design and wireless capabilities, it’s the perfect fit for homes that need a reliable printer for everyday tasks. Whether it's printing holiday photos, crafting gift tags, or helping the kids with school projects, the TS5150 delivers solid performance at an accessible price.

Key Features and Specifications

1.    Print, Copy, Scan: This inkjet multifunction printer allows you to handle a wide range of tasks, from document printing to photocopying and scanning.
2.    Wireless & Bluetooth Connectivity: The TS5150 connects easily to smartphones, tablets, and computers via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, making printing from multiple devices seamless.
3.    6.2 cm LCD Display: The clear and simple-to-use display makes it easy for all members of the family to navigate.
4.    High Print Resolution: With a maximum resolution of 4800 x 1200 DPI, this printer delivers sharp and vivid photos—ideal for holiday cards and family pictures.
5.    Cost-Effective: The PIXMA TS5150 is designed to be economical, with affordable ink and efficient printing speeds of up to 13.8 ppm (mono) and 6.8 ppm (colour).

Holiday Relevance: Families will find the Canon PIXMA TS5150 to be a helpful tool during the holiday season. It’s perfect for printing holiday greeting cards, family photos, and festive invitations. The ability to print directly from your smartphone makes it easy to create personalised items, even at the last minute. Whether you need a quick copy of a holiday recipe or a beautifully printed photo for a frame, this printer has you covered.

Why It’s a Great Gift: For families, students, or anyone who needs a reliable home printer, the Canon PIXMA TS5150 is a fantastic holiday gift. It’s affordable, user-friendly, and packed with enough features to handle everything from homework assignments to holiday cards. Plus, its wireless functionality makes it convenient for everyone in the household to use, no matter what device they’re printing from.

Epson WorkForce WF-2930DWF – The Small Business Hero

The Epson WorkForce WF-2930DWF is designed with small businesses in mind, offering high-speed printing, robust connectivity options, and multifunctional capabilities that streamline daily operations. This inkjet printer can handle large print volumes with ease, making it ideal for business owners who need professional-quality output without breaking the bank.

Key Features and Specifications

1.    Fast Print Speeds: With speeds of up to 33 pages per minute, this printer is designed for high productivity, perfect for busy business owners or home offices.
2.    High-Resolution Printing: At 5760 x 1440 DPI, this printer delivers sharp, detailed prints that are ideal for professional documents and marketing materials.
3.    Multiple Connectivity Options: The WF-2930DWF supports Wi-Fi, USB, and Ethernet, allowing it to fit seamlessly into any office setup.
4.    All-in-One Functionality: This model combines printing, scanning, copying, and faxing, making it a versatile tool for business operations.
5.    Compact Design: Despite its powerful performance, the Epson WorkForce WF-2930DWF is compact enough to fit in smaller offices or home workspaces.

Holiday Relevance: For small business owners, the holiday season can be particularly demanding, with end-of-year reports, holiday promotions, and customer communications to manage. The Epson WorkForce WF-2930DWF is up to the task, with its fast print speeds and high-quality outputs ensuring that your business documents look professional. Whether you’re printing holiday marketing materials or year-end invoices, this printer will help you stay on top of your workload.

Why It’s a Great Gift: For the entrepreneur in your life, the Epson WorkForce WF-2930DWF makes a thoughtful and practical holiday gift. Its ability to handle large print jobs quickly and efficiently will help them stay productive throughout the year, making it an investment that will benefit their business long after the holiday season.

Additional Printer Recommendations for Every Holiday Need

If the printers we've covered so far don’t quite meet your specific needs, don’t worry—there are plenty of other excellent options available. Here are two more multifunction printers that are ideal for various holiday uses, from high-volume printing to photo-centric tasks:

HP OfficeJet Pro 9015e – A Smart Choice for Home Offices

The HP OfficeJet Pro 9015e combines smart features with a sleek design, making it a strong choice for home offices. It’s engineered to support heavy workloads with efficient printing speeds and smart task capabilities, ideal for professionals who need to manage both holiday and end-of-year work tasks.
Key Features:
1.    Smart Task Shortcuts: The HP Smart app allows users to create one-touch shortcuts for repetitive tasks, such as scanning documents to cloud storage or emailing scanned files. This feature helps streamline workflow, especially during the busy holiday season.
2.    Fast Printing Speeds: This printer achieves speeds of up to 22 ppm in black-and-white and 18 ppm in colour, making it one of the fastest inkjet models in its class.
3.    Automatic Duplex Printing and Scanning: With automatic two-sided printing and a 35-page ADF, the 9015e is efficient for large-volume tasks like double-sided holiday newsletters or work documents.
4.    Dual-Band Wi-Fi with Self-Healing: The printer automatically detects and resolves connection issues, ensuring a stable, reliable wireless connection for uninterrupted printing.
5.    Mobile and Voice-Activated Printing: Compatible with Apple AirPrint, Google Cloud Print, Amazon Alexa, and Google Assistant, it allows for easy wireless and hands-free printing options.

Epson EcoTank ET-4760 – Low-Cost, High-Volume Printing

The Epson EcoTank ET-4760 is a smart choice for users with frequent, high-volume printing needs, especially during the holiday season. Known for its economical ink system, the EcoTank line allows users to print large quantities without worrying about constant ink replacements, thanks to refillable ink tanks.
Key Features:
1.    Cartridge-Free Printing with Refillable Ink Tanks: This EcoTank model eliminates the need for traditional ink cartridges, using high-capacity, easy-to-refill ink tanks instead. A single ink refill can yield thousands of pages, significantly reducing per-page print costs.
2.    Print, Copy, Scan, and Fax Capabilities: With multifunction features, the ET-4760 covers all essential tasks, from printing holiday cards to scanning festive documents. Its built-in fax function is a bonus for those working remotely.
3.    Fast Print Speeds: The ET-4760 offers print speeds of up to 15 pages per minute (ppm) for black-and-white and 8 ppm for colour, making it efficient for high-volume holiday document printing.
4.    250-sheet Paper Tray and Automatic Document Feeder: The large paper capacity and 30-sheet automatic document feeder (ADF) make it suitable for handling bulk printing needs without frequent reloading.
5.    Mobile Printing Support: Compatible with the Epson Smart Panel app, Wi-Fi Direct, Apple AirPrint, and Google Cloud Print, this printer makes it easy to print wirelessly from multiple devices.

Canon PIXMA TS8320 – Premium Photo Quality for Creative Projects

The Canon PIXMA TS8320 is designed for those who need outstanding photo quality with flexibility for a variety of holiday printing tasks. Known for its vibrant colour reproduction, this model is especially suited for users interested in producing photo-rich projects like family holiday cards, customised calendars, or memory photo books.
Key Features:
1.    Six Individual Ink Tanks: With individual colour tanks (black, pigment black, cyan, magenta, yellow, and photo blue), the TS8320 produces vibrant, accurate colours and detailed images. This setup is particularly beneficial for high-quality photo prints, as it minimises the risk of grainy or washed-out colours.
2.    High-Resolution Printing: This model offers a print resolution of up to 4800 x 1200 dpi, resulting in crisp details for photos and documents.
3.    Wireless Connectivity Options: The printer supports Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, enabling seamless printing from smartphones, tablets, or computers. It also works with the Canon PRINT app, Apple AirPrint, and Google Cloud Print, providing versatile options for easy, remote printing.
4.    3.0-inch Touch Screen: The intuitive colour touch screen allows for easy operation, letting users adjust settings or preview images before printing.
5.    Voice-Activated Printing: Compatible with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, making it easy to print hands-free.

HP Envy Inspire 7920e – Versatility Meets Value

The HP Envy Inspire 7920e is a versatile all-in-one inkjet printer that balances affordability with robust functionality, making it ideal for households or small offices that need a reliable device for everyday tasks. This model is well-suited for a variety of holiday needs, whether it’s creating personalised holiday cards, printing gift tags, or producing vibrant photo albums.
Key Features:
1.    All-in-One Functionality: The Envy Inspire 7920e is designed to handle printing, scanning, and copying, making it a flexible solution for a range of household needs. It prints at a resolution of up to 1200 x 1200 dpi for black and 4800 x 1200 dpi for colour, ensuring clear text and vibrant images.
2.    Wireless and Mobile Printing: With built-in Wi-Fi, this printer can easily connect to devices across the home. It's compatible with the HP Smart app, Apple AirPrint, and Google Cloud Print, allowing users to print wirelessly from smartphones, tablets, and laptops. 
3.    Automatic Two-Sided Printing: For users looking to save on paper, the automatic duplex feature allows easy double-sided printing, ideal for creating multi-page holiday newsletters or invitations with minimal waste.
4.    Cloud Printing and Smart Features: With cloud printing capabilities, you can access documents from platforms like Google Drive or Dropbox, making it easy to print holiday plans, checklists, or festive templates.
5.    Touch-Screen Control Panel: The intuitive touch screen provides easy access to all functions, making it user-friendly for quick settings adjustments or direct printing from a USB drive.

Brother MFC-L3750CDW – A High-Volume Colour Laser Printer

The Brother MFC-L3750CDW is a powerhouse colour laser printer designed to meet the needs of homes and small offices that require high-speed, high-volume printing. Known for its durable design and reliable output, this printer is ideal for users who anticipate heavy printing needs during the holiday season, such as preparing large batches of holiday cards or professional-quality materials.
Key Features:
1.    Fast Printing Speeds: With print speeds of up to 25 pages per minute (ppm) for both black-and-white and colour, the MFC-L3750CDW is efficient for handling high-volume print jobs. It’s designed to minimise downtime, making it ideal for busy holiday periods.
2.    High-Quality Color Accuracy: The MFC-L3750CDW produces professional-quality prints with rich colour accuracy, thanks to its laser printing technology. This is particularly useful for printing holiday newsletters, cards, or promotional materials with vibrant, sharp text and graphics.
3.    4-in-1 Multifunctionality (Print, Copy, Scan, Fax): With comprehensive multifunction capabilities, this model supports not only printing but also copying, scanning, and faxing. Its scanning resolution reaches up to 2400 dpi, perfect for capturing detailed holiday designs or family photographs.
4.    Automatic Document Feeder (ADF): The 50-sheet ADF enables fast and efficient batch scanning or copying, allowing users to handle multi-page documents with ease.
5.    Large Paper Capacity and Durable Build: The MFC-L3750CDW’s paper tray holds up to 250 sheets, which helps reduce the need for frequent reloading during large print jobs. Additionally, it can handle various paper types, including cardstock, which is ideal for printing holiday greeting cards or festive flyers.
6.    Wireless and Mobile Printing: This printer supports wireless printing via Wi-Fi Direct, Apple AirPrint, and Google Cloud Print, allowing users to print from any device. It’s also compatible with Brother’s iPrint&Scan app, which provides a seamless experience for remote printing and scanning.

What to Look for in a Holiday Multifunction Printer

Before we delve into specific printer models, it’s essential to understand what features make a multifunction printer stand out, particularly during the busy holiday season. Here are a few key aspects to consider:

 1. Print Quality and Resolution

The quality of your prints is crucial, especially if you're planning to create holiday cards, photo prints, or custom decorations. Look for printers with high DPI (dots per inch) to ensure sharp and vibrant results. A minimum of 1200 DPI is recommended for basic photo printing, while professional-grade projects may require even higher resolution.

2.    Printing Speed

During the holidays, time is of the essence. Whether you’re printing a stack of greeting cards or last-minute work documents, having a printer with a fast page-per-minute (PPM) rate is important. Home users might find a PPM of 10-15 sufficient, while small businesses may require faster speeds of 20-30 PPM to meet higher demands.

3.    Connectivity Options

The ability to print wirelessly is a game-changer for homes and offices alike. Modern multifunction printers come equipped with various connectivity options, including Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and mobile printing services like Apple AirPrint, Google Cloud Print, and Mopria Print Service. These features allow you to print from smartphones, tablets, or cloud storage without needing a direct connection to the printer.

4.    Duplex (Double-Sided) Printing

Save on paper and give your documents a professional touch with automatic duplex printing. This feature is particularly useful during the holiday season when you may be printing multiple pages for newsletters, holiday letters, or work reports.

5.    Multifunction Capabilities

A good multifunction printer should be able to print, scan, and copy with ease. Some models even include faxing capabilities, which can be helpful for small businesses or those who occasionally deal with paperwork that requires this function. Scanning and copying are essential features for digitising old photos or making copies of important documents, like travel itineraries or gift lists.

6.    Size and Space Considerations

Before purchasing a printer, consider the amount of space you have available. If you're working with a small home office or limited space, compact multifunction printers are available that offer the same level of functionality without taking up too much room.

Conclusion

The holiday season is packed with opportunities to get creative, stay organised, and manage important work. A multifunction printer can be your secret weapon in tackling these tasks with ease. Whether you’re printing custom holiday cards, scanning cherished family photos, or handling end-of-year business reports, having a reliable printer simplifies your workflow and adds a touch of professionalism to everything you create. As the holiday sales approach, now is the perfect time to invest in a multifunction printer for yourself or as a thoughtful gift for someone special. Whether it’s for holiday projects or everyday use, these printers are sure to bring convenience and creativity into your home or office.

Ready to upgrade your printing game or find the perfect holiday gift? Explore holiday deals on multifunction printers at Box.co.uk. Take advantage of seasonal discounts and promotions to get the best value for your money.

Don’t miss out—make this holiday season more efficient and creative with the perfect multifunction printer!