In today’s home or office, printers typically fall into one of two categories: inkjet or laser. Although both transfer text and images to paper, they work in distinctly two different ways. Both types of printers have their pluses and drawbacks. Understanding how each type of printer works can help in choosing the right machine for your application.

Inkjet Printers - spray tiny drops of ink through nozzles onto the paper. The smaller the dots of ink per inch (dpi), the sharper the resolution. Most of the major printer companies, such as Epson, Canon, and Hewlett Packard have developed printing technology geared specifically toward creating photo quality images. Some inkjet printers are called “bubble jets” because they use technology that uses heat to vaporize the ink and create a bubble that helps distribute the ink on the paper and also draw additional ink into the print nozzle.

Inkjet printers have been around for over 20 years, which has helped the technology improve and also become more affordable. For under $100, you can buy a general purpose color inkjet printer that can be used for a wide variety of documents as well as basic photo printing.

Laser Printers - use static electricity, or an electrical charge, to pull dry toner onto the paper. A tiny laser beam is used to apply the electrical charge in the pattern of letters and images, and the dry ink, or toner, which has an opposite charge, sticks to those areas charged by the laser. The toner is bonded and sealed to the paper as it passes through a pair of heated rollers called the fuser.

Unlike inkjet printers, which usually can only process one print job at a time, laser printers are able to serve numerous users simultaneously. In addition, a laser beam can move much faster than an inkjet head, and the process is also more precise. Therefore, laser printers are typically much quicker and the print quality is better.

For many years, laser printers were quite expensive and often only cost effective for offices with several employees and/or large print volume. In recent years, the price for a general purpose, black and white laser printer has dropped, becoming more affordable for those individuals whose printing needs fit best with a laser printer. However, most laser printers still cost significantly more than an inkjet printer.

Color laser printers are even more expensive, and require special paper for quality photo images. The replacement cost of color laser cartridges is still much more costly then inkjet printers.