Types of Printers, their Functions and Usage and Pros Cons

A printer can be understood as an external hardware device responsible for generating the hard copy of the stored digital data in the system. The print on the paper can be of text or photos and the data can be conveyed or kept safely on the hard copy. The printers are the most common and required peripherals and are being used in almost every home or workplace. Therefore, through this article, we will see the Types of Printers and understand their pros and cons. 

The printing industry is also the biggest and oldest one. Traditionally it began with manual printing and the innovations have led us to automatic and digital printers. A huge range, variety, and models of printers are available to choose from and almost every one of them has its benefits. 

Types Of Printers

There are two main types of printers, impact printers, and none impact printers.

1. Impact printer
2. Non -Impact Printer

Impact printer

In the category of impact printers, those types of printers come in which there is direct contact between the printing page and the head or ribbon. this type of printer is used in Electro-mechanical mechanism technology. To print something on the page by impact printer, the head of the printer has to strike in the ribbon, which prints the text or image on the paper.

Dot-Matrix Printers

The dot-matrix printers are traditional ones and were known for their cheap printing. Although these printers are not being used or preferred by any one nowadays, the same is being preferred in major workplaces. The dot matrix printers were using LED lights and various dots were used to draw the image or text for printing pages. This keeps the cost of the dot-matrix printing quite low as compared to all other alternatives. 

Line Printers

These are also known as continuous printers and keep on printing stuff on the paper till stopped. The other printers work on individual cut sheets while the line printers are used to print the continuous form of paper. They print one line at a time and then the pointer moves back to the beginning for the second line. The Drum printers are also similar to the line printers, yet the later ones are much preferred in the market.

Drum Printer

As the name suggests, this printer is an impact line printer that consists of a drum and is divided into several tracks as well. Once the paper is inserted, the drum rolls on the same and creates the print or graph. Once the graph is created the printed hard copy will come out. These types of printers are perfect for CAD drawings, vector graphics, circuit diagrams, and banner ads. 

Non -Impact Printer

In a non-impact printer, there is no direct contact between the page and the head. Laser technology is used in this type of printer, the non-impact printer is much faster than the impact printer and its print quality is very high.

Choosing the right printer isn’t a piece of cake. One should be aware of all the technicalities involved with the printers along with the cost input. Also, there are specific advantages and drawbacks associated with the printers and that should be checked and understood thoroughly before making a choice. Here is the list of all sorts of printers available in the market: 

These are some of the common types of printers used across the globe for various printing purposes. Now, let’s dive in and explore their detailed information along with key benefits and disadvantages as well. By the end of the article, you will get the right choice printer suited for your work: 

Ink-Jet Printers

The inkjet printers are the most traditional and old printers that were developed in the year 1950. Even though, their demand hasn’t decreased since then and is even popular and available these days. The inkjet printers have quite more advantages than drawbacks and that makes them a top-notch choice for many people. The businesses, who are somewhere focusing on the quality of the print rather than the quantity (In other words, has very less printing needs) can simply go for inkjet printers as it will be the most efficient choice for them. 

Laser Printers

While the inkjet printer works on quality standards, the laser printers are best suited for volume printing or bulk printing. To handle the volume printing requirements, the laser printers show the lightning-fast speed with reliability. These use a toner powder on the paper to create a print and that opens the chances of any errors. When it is compared to the inkjet printers, the laser printer accuracy level drops in the results. But, the latest laser printers come up with higher quality and are capable enough to produce high-quality printouts than ever before. So, in both quantity and quality aspects, laser printers are the preferred choice. 

Multi-function Printers

These are also known as All In One Printers. Going by the name, they cover all the functionalities of other category printers and hence come as a complete package. The MFP (Multi-function Printers) consists of three important devices like printers, scanners, and copiers. So, technically with these printers you will be getting three or four devices for the price of one and can handle all sorts of printing-related work as well.

Thermal Printer

Thermochromic paper is being used in the thermal printer and can be used to create images by providing thermal touch to the paper. The paper is heated and in the process, a black imprint is created on the paper. These sorts of printers are much preferred in retail businesses. The thermal printers can print in black and white only and are much preferred for receipts and bills. These are portable to some level and can be set up in a small area as well.

Conclusion

We learned about the types of printers and also saw their pros and cons, hope that you would have liked this article. You can share it with your friends, relatives, and Social Media. If you have any doubt related to the printer then comment below.
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