printer is a peripheral machine which makes a durable representation of graphics or text,
usually on paper.[1] While most output is human-readable, bar code printers are an example
of an expanded use for printers.[2] Different types of printers include 3D printers, inkjet
printers, laser printers, and thermal printers.[3]
The first computer printer designed was a mechanically driven apparatus by Charles
Babbage for his difference engine in the 19th century; however, his mechanical
printer design was not built until 2000.[4] He also had plans for a curve plotter, which
would have been the first computer graphics printer if it was built.[5]
The first patented printing mechanism for applying a marking medium to a recording
medium or more particularly an electrostatic inking apparatus and a method for
electrostatically depositing ink on controlled areas of a receiving medium, was in
1962 by C. R. Winston, Teletype Corporation, using continuous inkjet printing.
The ink was a red stamp-pad ink manufactured by Phillips Process Company
of Rochester, NY under the name Clear Print. This patent (US3060429) led to the
Teletype Inktronic Printer product delivered to customers in late 1966.[6]
The first compact, lightweight digital printer was the EP-101, invented by Japanese
company Epson and released in 1968, according to Epson.[7][8][9]
The first commercial printers generally used mechanisms from electric
typewriters and Teletype machines. The demand for higher speed led to the
development of new systems specifically for computer use. In the 1980s there
were daisy wheel systems similar to typewriters, line printers that produced similar
output but at much higher speed, and dot-matrix systems that could mix text and
graphics but produced relatively low-quality output. The plotter was used for those
requiring high-quality line art like blueprints.
The introduction of the low-cost laser printer in 1984, with the first HP LaserJet,
[10]
and the addition of PostScript in next year's Apple LaserWriter set off a revolution
in printing known as desktop publishing.[11] Laser printers using PostScript mixed text
and graphics, like dot-matrix printers, but at quality levels formerly available only
from commercial typesetting systems. By 1990, most simple printing tasks like fliers
and brochures were now created on personal computers and then laser printed;
expensive offset printing systems were being dumped as scrap. The HP Deskjet of
1988 offered the same advantages as a laser printer in terms of flexibility, but
produced somewhat lower-quality output (depending on the paper) from much less-
expensive mechanisms. Inkjet systems rapidly displaced dot-matrix and daisy-wheel
printers from the market. By the 2000s, high-quality printers of this sort had fallen
under the $100 price point and became commonplace.
The rapid improvement of internet email through the 1990s and into the 2000s has
largely displaced the need for printing as a means of moving documents, and a wide
variety of reliable storage systems means that a "physical backup" is of little benefit
today.
Starting around 2010, 3D printing became an area of intense interest, allowing the
creation of physical objects with the same sort of effort as an early laser printer
required to produce a brochure. As of the 2020s, 3D printing has become a
widespread hobby due to the abundance of cheap 3D printer kits, with the most
common process being Fused deposition modeling.
Types
Personal printers
Personal printers are mainly designed to support individual users, and may be
connected to only a single computer. These printers are designed for low-
volume, short-turnaround print jobs, requiring minimal setup time to produce a
hard copy of a given document. They are generally slow devices ranging from
6 to around 25 pages per minute (ppm), and the cost per page is relatively
high. However, this is offset by the on-demand convenience. Some printers
can print documents stored on memory cards or from digital
cameras and scanners.
Networked printers
Networked, workgroup or shared printers are designed for high-volume, high-
speed printing. They are usually shared by many users on a network and can
print at speeds of 45 to around 100 ppm. The Xerox 9700 could achieve 120
ppm.
Card printers
A card printer or ID-card printer is used for printing plastic cards, including ID
cards. These can now be customised with important features such as
holographic overlays, HoloKotes and watermarks.[citation needed] This is either a
direct to card printer (the more feasible option) or a retransfer printer. [citation needed]
Virtual printer
A virtual printer is a piece of computer software whose user interface
and API resembles that of a printer driver, but which is not connected with a
physical computer printer. A virtual printer can be used to create a file which is
an image of the data which would be printed, for archival purposes or as input
to another program, for example to create a PDF or to transmit to another
system or user.
Barcode printer
A barcode printer is a computer peripheral for printing barcode labels or tags
that can be attached to, or printed directly on, physical objects. Barcode
printers are commonly used to label cartons before shipment, or to label retail
items with UPCs or EANs.
3D printer
A 3D printerA 3D printer is a device for
making a three-dimensional object from a 3D model or other electronic data
source through additive processes in which successive layers of material
(including plastics, metals, food, cement, wood, and other materials) are laid
down under computer control. It is called a printer by analogy with an inkjet
printer which produces a two-dimensional document by a similar process of
depositing a layer of ink on paper.
Technology
The choice of print technology has a great effect on the cost of
the printer and cost of operation, speed, quality and
permanence of documents, and noise. Some printer
technologies do not work with certain types of physical media,
such as carbon paper or transparencies.
A second aspect of printer technology that is often forgotten is
resistance to alteration: liquid ink, such as from an inkjet head
or fabric ribbon, becomes absorbed by the paper fibers, so
documents printed with liquid ink are more difficult to alter than
documents printed with toner or solid inks, which do not
penetrate below the paper surface.
Cheques can be printed with liquid ink or on special cheque
paper with toner anchorage so that alterations may be
detected.[12] The machine-readable lower portion of a cheque
must be printed using MICR toner or ink. Banks and other
clearing houses employ automation equipment that relies on
the magnetic flux from these specially printed characters to
function properly.
Modern print technology
The following printing technologies are routinely found in
modern printers:
Laser printers and other toner-based printers
Main article: Laser printing
A Toshiba office laser printer
A laser printer rapidly produces high quality text and graphics.
As with digital photocopiers and multifunction printers (MFPs),
laser printers employ a xerographic printing process but differ
from analog photocopiers in that the image is produced by the
direct scanning of a laser beam across the
printer's photoreceptor.
Another toner-based printer is the LED printer which uses an
array of LEDs instead of a laser to cause toner adhesion to the
print drum.
Liquid inkjet printers
Liquid ink cartridge from
Hewlett-Packard HP 845C inkjet printer
HP Deskjet, an inkjet
printer
Inkjet printers operate by propelling variably sized droplets of
liquid ink onto almost any sized page. They are the most
common type of computer printer used by consumers.
Solid ink printers
Main article: Solid ink
Solid ink printers, also known as phase-change ink or hot-melt
ink printers, are a type of thermal transfer printer, graphics
sheet printer or 3D printer . They use solid sticks, crayons,
pearls or granular ink materials. Common inks are CMYK-
colored ink, similar in consistency to candle wax, which are
melted and fed into a piezo crystal operated print-head. A
Thermal transfer printhead jets the liquid ink on a rotating, oil
coated drum. The paper then passes over the print drum, at
which time the image is immediately transferred, or transfixed,
to the page. Solid ink printers are most commonly used as
color office printers and are excellent at printing on
transparencies and other non-porous media. Solid ink is also
called phase-change or hot-melt ink and was first used by Data
Products and Howtek, Inc., in 1984.[13] Solid ink printers can
produce excellent results with text and images. Some solid ink
printers have evolved to print 3D models, for example, Visual
Impact Corporation[14] of Windham, NH was started by retired
Howtek employee, Richard Helinski whose 3D patents
US4721635 and then US5136515 was licensed to Sanders
Prototype, Inc., later named Solidscape, Inc. Acquisition and
operating costs are similar to laser printers. Drawbacks of the
technology include high energy consumption and long warm-
up times from a cold state. Also, some users complain that the
resulting prints are difficult to write on, as the wax tends to
repel inks from pens, and are difficult to feed through automatic
document feeders, but these traits have been significantly
reduced in later models. This type of thermal transfer printer is
only available from one manufacturer, Xerox, manufactured as
part of their Xerox Phaser office printer line. Previously, solid
ink printers were manufactured by Tektronix, but Tektronix sold
the printing business to Xerox in 2001.
Dye-sublimation printers
Main article: Dye-sublimation printer
A disassembled dye
sublimation cartridge
A dye-sublimation printer (or dye-sub printer) is a printer that
employs a printing process that uses heat to transfer dye to a
medium such as a plastic card, paper, or canvas. The process
is usually to lay one color at a time using a ribbon that has
color panels. Dye-sub printers are intended primarily for high-
quality color applications, including color photography; and are
less well-suited for text. While once the province of high-end
print shops, dye-sublimation printers are now increasingly used
as dedicated consumer photo printers.
Thermal printers
Receipt printer printing an X
timeline
Thermal printers work by selectively heating regions of special
heat-sensitive paper. Monochrome thermal printers are used in
cash registers, ATMs, gasoline dispensers and some older
inexpensive fax machines. Colors can be achieved with special
papers and different temperatures and heating rates for
different colors; these colored sheets are not required in black-
and-white output. One example is Zink (a portmanteau of "zero
ink").
Obsolete and special-purpose printing
technologies
Epson MX-80, a popular
model of dot-matrix printer in use for many years
The following technologies are either obsolete, or limited to
special applications though most were, at one time, in
widespread use.
Impact printers
all printers sound more or less like an earthquake in hell
— Edward Mendelson, 1985[15]
Impact printers rely on a forcible impact to transfer ink to the
media. The impact printer uses a print head that either hits the
surface of the ink ribbon, pressing the ink ribbon against the
paper (similar to the action of a typewriter), or, less commonly,
hits the back of the paper, pressing the paper against the ink
ribbon (the IBM 1403 for example). All but the dot matrix
printer rely on the use of fully formed
characters, letterforms that represent each of the characters
that the printer was capable of printing. In addition, most of
these printers were limited to monochrome, or sometimes two-
color, printing in a single typeface at one time,
although bolding and underlining of text could be done by
"overstriking", that is, printing two or more impressions either in
the same character position or slightly offset. Impact printers
varieties include typewriter-derived printers, teletypewriter-
derived printers, daisywheel printers, dot matrix printers, and
line printers. Dot-matrix printers remain in common use [16] in
businesses where multi-part forms are printed. An overview of
impact printing[17] contains a detailed description of many of the
technologies used.
Typewriter-derived printers
Main articles: Friden Flexowriter and IBM Selectric typewriter
Typeball print element from
IBM Selectric-type printer
Several different computer printers were simply computer-
controllable versions of existing electric typewriters. The Friden
Flexowriter and IBM Selectric-based printers were the most-
common examples. The Flexowriter printed with a conventional
typebar mechanism while the Selectric used IBM's well-known
"golf ball" printing mechanism. In either case, the letter form
then struck a ribbon which was pressed against the paper,
printing one character at a time. The maximum speed of the
Selectric printer (the faster of the two) was 15.5 characters per
second.
Teletypewriter-derived printers
Main article: Teleprinter
The common teleprinter could easily be interfaced with the
computer and became very popular except for those
computers manufactured by IBM. Some models used a
"typebox" that was positioned, in the X- and Y-axes, by a
mechanism, and the selected letter form was struck by a
hammer. Others used a type cylinder in a similar way as the
Selectric typewriters used their type ball. In either case, the
letter form then struck a ribbon to print the letterform. Most
teleprinters operated at ten characters per second although a
few achieved 15 CPS.
Daisy wheel printers
"Daisy wheel" print element
Main article: Daisy wheel printer
Daisy wheel printers operate in much the same fashion as
a typewriter. A hammer strikes a wheel with petals, the "daisy
wheel", each petal containing a letter form at its tip. The letter
form strikes a ribbon of ink, depositing the ink on the page and
thus printing a character. By rotating the daisy wheel, different
characters are selected for printing. These printers were also
referred to as letter-quality printers because they could
produce text which was as clear and crisp as a typewriter. The
fastest letter-quality printers printed at 30 characters per
second.
Dot-matrix printers
Main article: Dot matrix printer
Sample output from 9-pin dot
matrix printer (one character expanded to show detail)
The term dot matrix printer is used for impact printers that use
a matrix of small pins to transfer ink to the page.[18] The
advantage of dot matrix over other impact printers is that they
can produce graphical images in addition to text; however the
text is generally of poorer quality than impact printers that use
letterforms (type). The common teleprinter could easily be
interfaced with the computer and became very popular except
for those computers manufactured by IBM. Some models used
a "typebox" that was positioned, in the X- and Y-axes, by a
mechanism, and the selected letter form was struck by a
hammer. Others used a type cylinder in a similar way as the
Selectric typewriters used their type ball. In either case, the
letter form then struck a ribbon to print the letterform. Most
teleprinters operated at ten characters per second although a
few achieved 15 CPS.
The common teleprinter could easily be interfaced with the
computer and became very popular except for those
computers manufactured by IBM. Some models used a
"typebox" that was positioned, in the X- and Y-axes, by a
mechanism, and the selected letter form was struck by a
hammer. Others used a type cylinder in a similar way as the
Selectric typewriters used their type ball. In either case, the
letter form then struck a ribbon to print the letterform. Most
teleprinters operated at ten characters per second although a
few achieved 15 CPS.
The common teleprinter could easily be interfaced with the
computer and became very popular except for those
computers manufactured by IBM. Some models used a
"typebox" that was positioned, in the X- and Y-axes, by a
mechanism, and the selected letter form was struck by a
hammer. Others used a type cylinder in a similar way as the
Selectric typewriters used their type ball. In either case, the
letter form then struck a ribbon to print the letterform. Most
teleprinters operated at ten characters per second although a
few achieved 15 CPS.
The common teleprinter could easily be interfaced with the
computer and became very popular except for those
computers manufactured by IBM. Some models used a
"typebox" that was positioned, in the X- and Y-axes, by a
mechanism, and the selected letter form was struck by a
hammer. Others used a type cylinder in a similar way as the
Selectric typewriters used their type ball. In either case, the
letter form then struck a ribbon to print the letterform. Most
teleprinters operated at ten characters per second although a
few achieved 15 CPS.
The common teleprinter could easily be interfaced with the
computer and became very popular except for those
computers manufactured by IBM. Some models used a
"typebox" that was positioned, in the X- and Y-axes, by a
mechanism, and the selected letter form was struck by a
hammer. Others used a type cylinder in a similar way as the
Selectric typewriters used their type ball. In either case, the
letter form then struck a ribbon to print the letterform. Most
teleprinters operated at ten characters per second although a
few achieved 15 CPS.
The common teleprinter could easily be interfaced with the
computer and became very popular except for those
computers manufactured by IBM. Some models used a
"typebox" that was positioned, in the X- and Y-axes, by a
mechanism, and the selected letter form was struck by a
hammer. Others used a type cylinder in a similar way as the
Selectric typewriters used their type ball. In either case, the
letter form then struck a ribbon to print the letterform. Most
teleprinters operated at ten characters per second although a
few achieved 15 CPS.
The common teleprinter could easily be interfaced with the
computer and became very popular except for those
computers manufactured by IBM. Some models used a
"typebox" that was positioned, in the X- and Y-axes, by a
mechanism, and the selected letter form was struck by a
hammer. Others used a type cylinder in a similar way as the
Selectric typewriters used their type ball. In either case, the
letter form then struck a ribbon to print the letterform. Most
teleprinters operated at ten characters per second although a
few achieved 15 CPS.
The common teleprinter could easily be interfaced with the
computer and became very popular except for those
computers manufactured by IBM. Some models used a
"typebox" that was positioned, in the X- and Y-axes, by a
mechanism, and the selected letter form was struck by a
hammer. Others used a type cylinder in a similar way as the
Selectric typewriters used their type ball. In either case, the
letter form then struck a ribbon to print the letterform. Most
teleprinters operated at ten characters per second although a
few achieved 15 CPS.