In the meantime, printers have become an integral part of our lives. Whether in the office to print out a form, at school to print out worksheets or at home to print out a simple photo, they are needed everywhere. But how do the machines actually work that put what we want on paper one-to-one? In this post we will explain it to you.
Inkjet printers and laser printers
When it comes to conventional printers, we differentiate between inkjet printers and laser printers. Both have the same function, but are slightly different. While inkjet printers put ink on paper, laser printers rely on toner. A toner contains a colored powder which prevents it from drying out. Ink, on the other hand, is a well-known white liquid and therefore prone to drying out quickly. Toner and ink also differ in quality. While stains often appear with ink, these do not appear with toner. Another difference is the price. Inkjet printers are significantly cheaper compared to laser printers and therefore more appealing to most people. However, one must note that the purchase of a laser printer is more expensive,
This is how an inkjet printer works
The printer works like a kind of computer. The file to be printed is sent to the printer, processed by the printer and printed out accordingly. On a normal PC, the file / photo would simply open and be displayed on the screen. The printer, on the other hand, analyzes the individual colors and places small drops of ink on the paper. The drops are placed exactly in the places that were previously analyzed. Coding also tells the printer which colors to mix and where the corresponding colors are to be found. Since the ink droplets are so minimally small, the relatively high resolution of the print result is also created. Of course, this depends on the price and quality of the printer device.
This is how a laser printer works
The laser printer works a little differently compared to the inkjet printer. The laser printer contains an image drum that is negatively charged by a charging roller. The image to be printed is displayed in small pixels on the image drum. Now a laser neutralizes the areas where the color should come. The negatively charged toner is applied to the neutrally charged areas. This adheres to the neutrally charged areas and is repelled by the negatively charged areas. This ensures that the paint is only applied to the appropriate areas. Next, the paper will be positively charged. It runs through the fuser rollers and is printed on by the imaging drum. Since the paper is positively charged and the toner powder is negatively charged, the ink sticks to the paper.
