1. Types of printer

2. This article is to explain and detail the
information about types of printers. It is
nothing but the output peripheral device
which is used to produce hard copy of
text or images stored in the computer.

3. They are broadly categorised in to
two types, they are
1. Impact Type
2. Non-Impact Type

4. To create text or image by physically make the
print head to press the ink ribbon and cause
the ink deposition on the paper in desired form
is called impact type. Normally it is quite louder
in nature when compared to other types of
printers. The well known example for impact
type is Dot Matrix and Daisy wheel . Some of
the latest impact based in the market are Line
printer (high speed impact printer), IBM
electromagnetic table printing machine, and
Apple Image writer.

5. Non-Impact Type
This produce text or images on paper without
striking the paper physically are called as non-
impact type. These are not louder when
compared to other types of printers. The well
known example of this type is Thermal printer,
lasers and inkjets . Some of the latest non-
impact printers in market are HP Laser Jet and
Apple Laser Writer (The laser printer with built-
in postscript interpreter).

6. Printing Technology
In overall, different printing
technology is used for different level
of printing. It is also classified on the
basic of printing technology. The
quality of printing, printing speed,
cost of them are mainly based on
the technology used .

7. Non-Impact Printing Technology
The technologies commonly used
in modern and personal home
based are non-impact type. These
technologies can print in both
mono chrome and colour.

8. The following category can be
classified under non-impact
printing.
1. Tonner based (Laser)
2. Liquid ink(Inkjet)
3. Solid ink
4. Dye-sublimation
5. Thermal
6. Inkless
7. UV

9. Impact printing technology
Some of these devices are rarely
used. They are famous for its
unique feature, common use in
businesses where multi-part
forms are printed. These are
mostly comes under the impact
printers and they gets printed
mostly in mono chrome only.

10. These are mostly comes under
impact printers. These are
commonly used for
commercial purpose for its
special feature to print multi-
part forms.

11. following are different types of
printers in impact printing
1. Daisy wheel
2. Dot matrix
3. Pen based plotter
4. Line printer
5. Typewriter-derived
6. Teletypewriter-derived

12. Photo Printer
Today there are several types of printers
available in market. Some special types of
printers print photos, which you have taken
through your instant digital camera; computer
and some selected mobile phones. This printer
needs special photo paper to print the photos.
The quality of the output depends on the
resolution of the printer. Most of the print quality
is good because of high resolution such as
4800×1200 dots per inch that produce sharp
photos.

13. Portable Digital Photo Printer
Connecting the printer with your computer to
print the photos from digital camera is an old
fashion. Now there are many famous branded
portable or mobile instant photo printers
available in market. These printers are compact
and very lightweight device. You can connect
any digital camera or memory card or USB drive
into the printer without the help of PC and get
high-resolution photo output in 20 seconds.

14. Polaroid P-500 Portable Digital
Photo Printer
The Polaroid P-500IR portable digital photo
printer is a portable printer. It prints photos
directly from any digital camera without the help
of computer. This printer uses Polaroid Type 500
instant film to print the photos. Therefore, there
is no need for batteries or cords. This device
supports most of the standard file formats. It
produces full colour continuous tone prints. It is
lightweight, easy portable and can print in any
time anywhere without the hassle of wires. You
can print one or more copies of photos without
resetting the printer.

15. Pogo Instant Mobile Printer
 Polaroid is the corporation who invented the
concept of instant camera. Polaroid Pogo Instant
Mobile Printer is a digital photo printer designed
by Polaroid Corporation. This device produce full
color continuous tone prints using Polaroid 500
instant film. There is no computer required to
transfer picture from camera to printer. It is
compatible with almost all digital cameras with
flash cards.

16. Using this compatible printer, you can print small
photos in only 20 seconds. However, you cannot
expect high quality output in this small device. It
comes with built-in Bluetooth for wireless printing
from your mobile phone. The main specialty in
this device is, it does not use any ink, instead of
that it uses a special ZINK (zero ink) photo
paper that has dye crystals. These dye crystals
activated when the paper get warm to produce
photo prints.

17. Polaroid P310 movable 4X6
photograph printer
If you are not looking for the small photo prints
then you can choose Polaroid P310 movable
4X6 photograph printer. This printer works
without PC and it prints with the help of
PictBridge USB or Camera Interface. It is slightly
bigger than the other portable model but it
produces high quality output. Using this photo
printer, you can get brilliant 35mm quality colour
photos. These printers are cheap and best for
home use and travel people.

18. Duplex Laser Printing
Today there are many advanced technology used in
printers to perform more efficiently in low cost. Laser
print is a non-impact printing method used to produce
hard copy of the document or image. Duplex is one of
the features in printers, which allow the machine
automatically print on both sides of the paper. Using this
feature, you can minimise the paper consumption. Laser
duplex printer uses laser beam and selenium coated
drum to draw the document and the drum is rolled into
toner. Tonner is nothing but the powdered ink. Now the
tonner fused with the paper using electric heat and
pressure. Thus, the document gets print on the paper.

19. Duplex Laser Colour Printer
Mostly documentation does not need colour printing, if you want to
print photos then you needs color printer. Laser color printer
produces professional quality output. Today there are many color
print machines available in market with affordable price. Using Color
Access Control technology, you can control the colour print access.
Due to the advancement in technology, the price of this device is
reduced. It has the ability to print both sides of the paper
automatically. Most of these types are used for commercial purpose.
Today there are high-speed color laser printers available for small
office purpose. These machines have built in wireless networking
features. It allows you to share the device without the hassle of
cables. It also allows the Bluetooth enabled devices such as mobile
phone to connect with the printer directly. There is some new laser
printing devices come with automatic internal sensors for producing
color prints. It optimizes the color density according to the print.

20. Duplex Laser All in one Printer
The machine that can perform scanning, faxing and photocopying
functions is known as all in one or multifunction printer. Duplex laser
all in one printer perform double side printing, scanning,
photocopying and faxing. Today there are many brands
manufacturing this type of device for office and small business use.
Normally these powerful multifunction machines are very fast in
producing output.
They have built in wired as well as wireless and USB interface for
sharing documents through network. Even though all in one printer
perform multi functions, the print ink is needed for printing and
photocopying purpose only. There is no relation between printer ink
and scanning. Today there are many brand producing high capacity
toner cartridges to reduce operation cost.

21. Laser jet printers are mainly used for business
and small office use. They produce fast output
with professional quality. Mostly they are
compact and reliable one. Today many brand
producing this device in affordable price. If you
do not need color prints but still need to print
more documents, then it is advisable to choose
monochrome duplex laser printer for your office.
Monochrome device are always cheaper than
color one.