To accommodate placement of both input and output media trays (54, 56) on the same side of the housing of an ink-jet printer (50) for operator convenience, a paper path with a direction reversal is employed. A radiant print heater (108) with a reflector cavity (110) heats the medium (90) at the print area to increase the ink carrier evaporation rate. The printer provides improved medium control at the print area through an arrangement of small diameter drive and tension shafts (160, 162) and shortened handoff distance between the rollers. The heater is disposed between the drive and tension rollers. To minimise the handoff distance, portions of the drive rollers (100A, 100B) extend into the reflector cavity.