How does a printer work? Easily explained
It can be found in almost every household: the printer. But few know how a printer actually works. We explain to you what constitutes the technology of a printer and what happens between your devices before you hold a printout in your hand.
Printer as output device - that's how printers work
In principle, a printer is nothing more than an output device: Like your screen, it also displays data visually - pictures, texts, photos. Unlike the screen, a printer fixes it on paper, which is why it is applied to the paper with toner powder or ink depending on the process. The best known types of printers are inkjet printers and laser printers:
- Inkjet printers are cheaper to buy. But you print slower than laser printers and deliver poorer image quality in low price ranges. However, inkjet printers are recommended for home use, since even the cheapest models can print in color. In our price comparison you will find the best inkjet printers.
- Laser printers cost a lot more than inkjet printers. Print a lot, but save on the cartridges in the long run: Laser printers work with toners. Even a small toner is enough for around 2, 000 printed pages. With us you will find the best inkjet printers in comparison.
Inkjet printer: printing process and properties
As the name suggests, inkjet printers spray fine drops of ink onto the paper and thus produce entire printouts. A droplet is approximately 0.3 to 0.4 millimeters in size. The resolution of an inkjet printer depends on the number of nozzles on the print head.
- Older inkjet printers often had low resolutions of 300 to 360 dpi. Even cheap inkjet printers like the Canon Pixma MG3550 with a resolution of 1200 dpi now deliver good results.
- The print speed of inkjet printers is still comparatively slow. The Canon Pixma MG3550 prints 10 pages per minute in black and white. In color printing, it only manages 6 pages per minute.
- Another disadvantage of inkjet printers is the nature of the ink itself: this is often not waterproof and smeared when the printed paper gets wet. In addition, the ink itself is damp, which is why some types of paper already curl when printing.
Laser printer: printing process and properties
Contrary to what the name suggests, the printout of a laser printer is not produced by radiation. An image drum that is statically charged is installed in the laser printer. The drum is bombarded by a laser beam at the points where a pixel is to be created. The image drum is discharged, which creates a kind of negative of the image to be printed. The image drum is then coated with the toner powder, which has the same charge. The powder only sticks to the uncharged areas of the drum - the image drum is then heated and the powder is thereby fixed on the paper.
- Inkjet printers have a resolution of at least 600, but mostly 1200 dpi. The resolution of high-priced models can be even larger. This means that affordable laser printers such as the Brother HL-2135w can produce sharp images.
- The Brother HL-2135w only prints in black and white. It can do 20 prints per minute - twice as many as the aforementioned inkjet printer.
- The laser printer does not generate moisture when printing - on the contrary: the paper is heated. Therefore the paper does not curl. To do this, you have to dig deep into your pocket to get a color laser printer. A good color laser printer is the Brother HL-4150cdn. But it costs around 270 euros - those who only rarely print are financially better off with an inkjet printer.
If you are also interested in 3D printers, you will find a comparison of the best 3D printers with us.