xTool has long been a big player in the personalization space, focusing primarily on lasers.Eventually, xTool released some lasers with CMYK inkjet print heads on them.However, earlier this summer, xTool launched the O1 Omni, its first UV printer, and I've spent the past few months with it.
Here's why I think the xTool O1 Omni is a complete game-changer for small businesses.xTool O1 Omni UV Printer 8 Brand xTool Type UV printer Color Printing Yes, CMYKWV Print quality 1,200 DPI The xTool O1 Omni UV printer is one of the most unique UV printers around.It features a 4-in-1 design, and comes in three different models.
Sporting a single UV head, dual UV head, or a UV + DT head for fabrics, the xTool O1 Omni is sure to take your small business production capabilities to the next level. Pros & Cons Easy setup Simple yet robust software Accurate scanner-based positioning Versatile material support Rigid and flexible inks loaded at the same time Integrated printing and laser-cutting workflow Print-and-cut settings can be cumbersome Designed for hobby work with no industrial upgrade options $2499 at xTool Expand Collapse See our process How We Test and Review Products at How-To Geek We go hands-on with every product to ensure it's worth your time and money.Posts By Justin Duino Price and Availability The xTool O1 Omni is available to purchase directly from xTool with pricing starting at $2,499.You can choose from three models: a single UV print head, a dual UV print head, and a UV + DT print head.
The single UV print head is just CMYKW+V (cyan, magenta, yellow, black, rigid white, varnish).The dual UV print head is CMYKWV + RW/FW/FR/FY (cyan, magenta, yellow, black, rigid white, varnish, rigid white, flexible white, fluorescent red, fluorescent yellow).The UV + DT print head is CMYKWV + CMYKWW (UV: cyan, magenta, yellow, black, rigid white, varnish + DT: cyan, magenta, yellow, black, white, white).
Accessories, including the rotary and roller/laminator, can also be purchased separately.Specifications 8 Brand xTool Type UV printer Color Printing Yes, CMYKWV Print quality 1,200 DPI Connection USB, Wi-Fi Expand Collapse UV printing shouldn’t be this easy I was up and going in less than an hour Close I've been around UV printing for a few years now.I never owned a UV printer before, but I have known several people who have them, and I always heard how much work they were.
So, when the xTool O1 Omni arrived, I wasn't sure what to expect.What I experienced was honestly quite simple.Take the machine out of the box, insert the inks and waste cartridges, power it up, and let it run the calibration tests.
There was a little more to it than that, like the unboxing itself, which required removing packaging from the print head, which is very delicate, and pulling the ink through the tubes to purge the lines.But overall, the setup was quite simple.In about an hour (probably less), I was fully up and running and ready to print.
Honestly, it surprised me how simple it was overall, since I filmed the entire time it was running.If you've never owned a UV printer before, xTool definitely made the setup process quite simple, and I think that's exactly where the O1 Omni excels — making complicated processes simple.An advantage of having the dual UV head is that I also have fluorescent red and yellow inks loaded.
These inks fluoresce under blacklight and can add a unique aesthetic to a design.I haven't found many prints to use them in so far with the O1 Omni, but I am glad to have them if I ever want to.One gripe that I do have about the O1 Omni is in how it detects its inks.
I'm not alone in experiencing an issue where the ink stops reading and becomes "insufficient" even though there's plenty of ink left in the cartridge.However, because of how the machine works, if it thinks that one of the inks is insufficient, then the entire machine stops working to prevent damage.I understand the reasoning, but there should also be an override.
For example, right now my machine is telling me that UV-W (the white on the UV1 print head) is insufficient, even though I know it has plenty of ink in it.However, I also have the dual UV version, so I have the UV2 print head, which has plenty of ink in the UV-RW cartridge, which I should just be able to use.The scanner takes the guesswork out of placement xTool really made this UV printer easy to use Close Not only was setup easy, but printing is also easy.
Some printers use coordinates-based positioning only, meaning where you place a graphic in the software is where it will print, and you just have to line it up by eye or with a jig.xTool went a different route and uses a CIS (contact image sensor) scanner.It's essentially the same type of system a flatbed scanner uses and is mounted to the print head itself.
Some other UV printers, like the eufyMake E1, use a bird's-eye view camera, which can distort the image.But a CIS scanner is a flat scan, so what you see in the image is exactly how the bed is laid out.In my testing, the scanner has been very spot-on for positioning, within less than 0.5 mm of variance.
xTool rates it at ±0.2 mm of accuracy, and I'd say that's fairly spot on.The only time I really notice a big accuracy issue is when UV printing a round graphic on a challenge coin, since that will show layout misalignment.In normal use, though, UV printing on things like slate coasters, ornaments, journals, and more (I'll talk about what I've UV printed on in the next section), the alignment has been fantastic, and I really enjoy the CIS scanner module on the Omni.
Close xTool Studio is also a joy to use.I've used a lot of laser software over the years, and I've also used another UV printer since getting the O1 Omni, as well as a DTF printer a few years ago, and xTool Studio is just so simple to use.The only workflow that I think could be improved is the print-and-cut, which I'll also talk about in a section a little further down.
But overall, the xTool Studio experience is extremely easy, and I love working within it, especially for UV printing.I do also want to point out the print bed sizes real quick.The small bed is 4.8 inches by 13 inches, while the large bed is 16.5 inches by 13 inches.
I'm very happy that the small bed is over four inches, as the eufyMake E1 is only 3.54 inches.Why is being over four inches such a big deal? Well, you can't do a 4-inch coaster on a 3.54-inch bed.So, if you wanted to do any normal size of drink coaster on the eufyMake, you'd have to pull out the large bed.
However, other companies, like Morpho, have found a way to make the small bed much less small.The Morpho UV printer's small bed is 8.7 inches by 13 inches, while the large bed is 16.5 inches by 13 inches.Morpho does this by moving the UV printer head back and forth instead of moving the bed.
I wish xTool would have done this, but at least they gave us a small bed that could hold coasters and other 4-inch objects.This printer works on basically any material Wood, slate, leather, acrylic, and more Close Now, what can a UV printer print on? Well, almost anything.I say almost, because you really shouldn't print on a mirror (the UV light could cure the printhead's nozzles), and some materials need an adhesion promoter.
Oh, and fabric.If you plan to print on fabric, you don't want UV; you want DT, but xTool has you covered there, as they have an O1 Omni version that has a DT head in addition to UV! But I'm testing the dual UV version in this review.Outside of mirrors and fabric that has to be washed, UV printing basically works on anything.
So far, I have UV printed on: slate, plywood, MDF, leatherette, cardboard, plastic, leather, 3D printed parts, acrylic, and probably more that I can't think of.The only time I've had adhesion problems was with acrylic, and I didn't use an adhesion promoter, which is recommended for acrylic, so it was my fault.One of the things I love about UV printing is that it's full-color on any surface.
Since it's CMYKW, it can print a white layer down and then lay color on top, which gives full color no matter what color surface you're printing on.Of course, it can print just white or black too, and the varnish allows for glossy or matte top coats as well.One of my favorite things about the O1 Omni dual UV version that I have is what the second head enables.
Normally, with a UV printer, you have to choose between rigid and flexible white ink.Rigid white ink cracks when it flexes, and flexible white ink doesn't have the durability that rigid white ink does.xTool includes both types of ink in its dual UV version, so there's a simple software toggle to switch between rigid and flexible white ink.
The eufyMake E1 requires a full white ink swap to get flexible white, and big-name UV printers require a lot more reconfiguration than that to change it over.Sadly, as of the time of writing this review, you're unable to put flexible white ink into the single UV or UV+DT version of the O1 Omni.So, if you want to run flexible white ink for things like leatherette, canvas, or other flexible materials, then you'll want the dual UV version.
I run a small personalization business, and had a customer reach out about a month or so ago wanting me to laser engrave a journal for her.I couldn't verify the material the journal was made from.It was leather, but the tanning process was unknown, and if it was chrome-tanned or any form of synthetic tanning with something containing PVC, then it would create chlorine gas if engraved.
However, I was able to pivot the customer from engraving a single journal to a much larger order once she found out I could do full-color printing.So, after showing her the mockup of what the journal would look like with a print, she ended up getting the journal printed as well as 12 slate coasters and 12 challenge coins.The UV printer not only saved the order, as I couldn't have done it with a laser, but it also turned a $10 purchase into a nearly $200 sale.
Print-and-cut made easy You just need to have a compatible laser Close Print-and-cut is a stand-out feature of UV printers.Essentially, you UV print onto an item and then laser-cut it out after the fact.This requires extreme accuracy, which relies on a laser's camera system (or you being very good at lining things up) to work properly.
As I have the xTool P3, which is an officially supported print-and-cut machine with the O1 Omni in xTool Studio, I was able to try out printing and cutting.I did it for a number of items.I used print-and-cut to make pins for The Next Level Maker Conference trade show where I was a speaker in August, as well as some gifts for my YouTube subscribers.
I've also used it to make Christmas ornaments, and I love how those came out.Printing and cutting is a really unique feature that can definitely be helpful in a lot of ways.I tried doing print-and-cut on some leatherette for hat patches, and that didn't go quite as well.
The problem came from the material puffing up a little in the middle, which threw off the height measurement, so the UV print head was a bit too far from the material in some areas, and the print didn't come out great.This wasn't a problem with the printer itself; it did what it was supposed to — measured to the highest point and printed at that point to prevent a head strike.However, I wanted to mention it because itcan be a problem.
Always have extra material on hand that you can use in case of a print error, because they definitely can happen.Also, I mentioned the print-and-cut workflow could use some work.As it stands at the time of writing, you have to start the print-and-cut workflow separately from creating a new project.
Then you have to set up all your settings up front before you get to each individual machine.I really wish xTool would let you do the overall design on one page, mark which machine each graphic is for (the print graphics for the Omni, the laser graphics for the laser of choice), and then choose everything else after that.Having to make all the decisions up front gets really cumbersome.
I had it one time where the setting I chose for the laser portion was wrong, and I had to go all the way back to the first page to change it before I could go through and do it again.My first rotary print went flawlessly I avoid rotary projects on my laser like the plague.This UV printer is a completely different beast I'm not a fan of rotaries.
I love what they can do, but I had a few bad experiences with them early on in my laser journey and have basically avoided them since.However, with the O1 Omni, I wanted to give the rotary a fair shot, and I'm glad I did.I started out by just using a junk tumbler I keep around to test with, and it worked well enough.
I noticed that the white layer wasn't properly aligned with the color, so I did a calibration print, and it came out fantastic after that.Then, I moved on to doing something much more difficult — a spice jar.A local client reached out and asked if I could UV print their spice jars, so I decided to give it a try.
Sadly, the UV printer takes too long to make it profitable for me to do the jars for them, but the result was nothing short of amazing.The automated system that levels the jar and scans it worked perfectly.The alignment was spot-on.
The print quality was fantastic.I loved everything about it, and definitely plan to do many more UV prints using the rotary in the future.Should you buy the xTool O1 Omni Dual UV Printer? The xTool O1 Omni is one of the easiest UV printers to use on the market right now, and it has really made the desktop UV printing space a much easier place for newcomers to enter.
With pricing starting at $2,499, this isn't necessarily a cheap or low-cost investment.The model that I'm reviewing costs nearly $4,500.However, compared to the $20,000 or $40,000 prices that other UV printer brands like LogoJet or Mimaki run, it's a steal for someone just starting out.
So, if you want to dip your toes into the UV printing space, I think the xTool O1 Omni is the best UV printer to buy right now.The cost of entry is low enough for a small business to trial out, and it's even in the realm where people who want to start their own business could easily get one.However, if you're a full production shop that needs to run many orders a day, the F1080 print head that is on the O1 Omni might not be ideal.
It's definitely slower than more premium print heads, and the O1 Omni is definitely geared toward hobbyists or small businesses just starting out in the UV printing space.xTool O1 Omni UV Printer 8 Brand xTool Type UV printer Color Printing Yes, CMYKWV Print quality 1,200 DPI The xTool O1 Omni UV printer is one of the most unique UV printers around.It features a 4-in-1 design, and comes in three different models.
Sporting a single UV head, dual UV head, or a UV + DT head for fabrics, the xTool O1 Omni is sure to take your small business production capabilities to the next level. $2499 at xTool Expand Collapse
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