There is no denying that the printer has been one of the most significant innovations in the world of technology. It enables us to print out documents and important pieces of information within a matter of seconds. This has greatly enhanced work efficiency at businesses all across the world.
However, if you are to ensure that your printer runs as effectively as possible at your company, then you are going to need to make sure that you understand exactly how printer ink works. So, continue reading to discover everything that you need to know.
Inkjet and laser printers
There are two most common printers out of all of the desktop printers that are available. This includes laser printers and inkjet printers. The latter relates to printers that use cartridges that are filled with liquid ink. However, with laser printers, powdered toner is used to fill the cartridge.
How long these cartridges are going to last will depend on a number of different factors. This includes how often you turn your printer off, how often you use it, how much you print, what cartridges you have purchased, and the model of your printer too.
Printers over the years
Despite the fact that there were industrial and commercial printers for use with expensive, big computers for decades beforehand, the golden age for the printer came when we first started to use personal computers. This is in the ‘70s and the ‘80s. Computers were starting to be used in the home and definitely in the office environment.
The vast majority of printers that were around back then were impact printers that had a lot of noise. There were daisy-wheel impact printers, as well as dot-matrix printers. The latter drove print head pins into a ribbon infused with ink in order to get the ink onto the page. With the daisy-wheel printer, a wheel of pre-formed typewriter-like characters was driven onto the ribbon.
Nevertheless, it did not take long before laser and consumer inkjet printers like Roland Printers were introduced. In fact, this happened almost simultaneously. They then ended up taking a very large share of the printer market.
Other types of printers
There have been other types of printers that have entered the market. It is not just about laser and inkjet printers. In fact, there were a number of other printers in the works while laser and inkjet printers were first taking off. A good example of this would be thermal transfer printers.
A thermal transfer printer involves the use of heating pins for the purpose of melting a solid wax-like ink, which would be housed in sticks or on a ribbon onto the paper. That’s not all. What about dye sublimation printers?
Dye sublimation printers transfer ink from a film of the printed roll to another material. It does this through heating the ink, resulting in it turning into a gas.
Nevertheless, inkjet printers seem to have surpassed all other types, being deemed the most popular. Managed print services leasing surrey is available if you need one. This is because of their ability to print vivid color, ever-improving resolution, and their low cost.
A closer look at inkjet printers
An inkjet printer will work through spraying liquid ink onto the paper in precise, tiny drops. The ink is held in refillable or replaceable cartridges. Most of these cartridges have a print head with thousands of little nozzles whereby the ink is sprayed. There are some printers that have printer heads that are built-in and are separate from the color cartridges.
The cartridges also feature tiny electronic components, like microchips, which control the spray of the ink and can include the hydrophobic foam, which holds the ink. These printers will use either piezoelectric crystals or thermal technology to propel the tiny ink droplets onto the page.
Remanufactured ink
There is also an interesting development when it comes to ink. Remanufactured ink has been offered by companies like YoYoInk amongst many others. Click here to find more out about the affordable ink options that are available thanks to remanufactured ink. This industry development came about as a way of helping people to save money on ink, which is notoriously very expensive.
So there you have it: hopefully, you now have a better understanding of how printer ink works. I hope this blog post has been useful to you. The only thing you need to make sure you do now is finding somewhere that can sell you the high-quality printer ink you’re seeking, at affordable prices.