What are the Types of Printers and their Uses?

A printer is basically an output device which prints a hard copy of the electronic data that is stored in the computer or any other devices. The electronic data may include documents, text, images or even the combination of all three. Particular printers are available for printing particular data types.

Today, in Indian market, there are a number of companies selling all types of printers. Hence, searching the right printer which suits you the best for you is a pretty tedious task. To make your work easy, we have brought this article which includes different types of printers and their uses. Also, we have listed some of the best printers based on their features and reviews.

• Contents

  Laser Printer:

Laser printers make use of light or a focused beam for transferring the text and images on the paper. Inside the laser printer, a cylindrical drum is present known as Photoreceptor on which laser beams are fired. This is done as the paper passes through the printer. The laser printing machine prints images and texts on the photoreceptor. One can use a laser printer for getting instant print during emergencies.

• Photo printer:

Photo printing machines are basically an inkjet printer which is designed for printing on photo papers which are extremely white. These photo papers used in Photo printers are coated with a coating which ensures that the ink used for printing the photo is not smeared off. Photo printing machines are able to print photos of all sizes. Though some are used specifically for printing only wallet-sized photos of 3×5″ or 4×6″.

Photo printers can be used for printing both, the photos as well as other types of documents. Photo printing machines come with more options for color-cartridges which gives more range in tones and hues. Further, some Photo printing machines also come with special inks for printing clear and quality photos. Photo printing machines can be also connected with your Android and iOS devices for getting instant prints of your photos.

• Color Printer:

Color printers are those printers which are able to print more than one/single color. Many of these machines work on the CMYK color-model. In CMYK color model, 4 basic colors i.e the Cyan, Black, Yellow and Magenta. The CMYK model prints all these basic colors close to each other and then stimulates most of the other colors (except fluorescent yellow color). Further, some low-rated and low-priced color printers use only 3 basic colors – yellow, cyan and magenta. Such machines will not be able to print the true black color and also the colors will tend to look faded.

Color printers are mostly used in printing of books, paper materials and magazines. Color printers are also capable of giving instant prints of the given data.

• Inkjet Printer:

Inkjet Printing machines are the regularly used printers for the computers. Inkjet Printers use a special type of ink for printing on the paper. Hence, Inkjet Printers are particularly used to get high quality color prints. They are also capable of giving instant print outputs. These machines are preferred by those people who need prints once in a while and not on a daily basis.

Inkjet printing machines available ranging from inexpensive small consumers models to professional expensive models.

• Dot Matrix printers:

Dot Matrix printers are also known as Impact Matrix Printing. Dot Matrix printers use a printing process in which the ink will be applied on the surface of the paper/layout. The pins in the Dot Matrix printer strike a ribbon which is coated by ink and force the contact in between the ribbon and the paper. This creates a small dot on the paper and the final dot matrix image is created when these individual dots are combined.

Dot Matrix printers are also benign used in POS terminals, service companies (courier-oriented), cash registers and ATMs, etc.

• Digital Printer:

In digital printers, the electronic file or the digital-based image is directly printed on the material. The image which has to be printed is directly sent to the digital printer via a digital file format such as TIFF, PDF or any other formats. In digital printers, there is not at all any need of the printing plates which are required in offset printers. These machines can directly print on photo paper, paper, fabric, canvas, cardstock or on any given subtract.

Digital printers are used for printing which require sharp details and small quantities. Digital printers are commercially used in stationary shops, for printing business cards, letterheads, etc.

• Thermal Printers:

Thermal printers use heat for producing the image on the paper. Thermal printers have become more popular due to their speed, advanced tech and high quality print. Thermal printers don’t use ink or toners, rather they largely depend on the thermal papers for printing the images. Thermal printers are very easy to use as they have less buttons and use softwares for the printing process. Also, thermal printers are less expensive and come in different sizes and models which makes them easily affordable by most of the consumers.

Thermal printers are mostly used in banking sectors, airline, retail, healthcare industries, grocery stores, etc.

• Ink Tank Printers:

In ink tank printers, the ink tank feeds the liquid ink into the separate printhead which is inside the printer. The printhead distributes this ink in droplets form on the surface of the page which forms the images or text. Ink tank printers have a large capacity for storing ink. Due to this, you will be able to refill the ink tank which is a lot cheaper rather than changing the whole cartridge of ink.

Ink tank printers are the best choice for those customers who want to print a number of pages every month but do not want to spend on ink cartridges.

• All In One Printer:

All in one printer is a multi-functional printer as it is the combination of copier, scanner and a printer. All in one printers are capable of printing almost anything that is needed for your business or home. All-in-one printers are also known as multifunction printers (MFPs) or multifunction devices (MFDs).

All in one printers are perfect for the present work from home norm. Also, all in one printers can be used for offices and in xerox shops too.

• Label Printer:

Label printers are not the same as ordinary printers as they have a special feed mechanism for handling the rolled stock. Label printers use self-adhesive label material or/and tags (card-stock) for printing purposes. Label printers make use of various types of label materials which include paper and other synthetic polymer/plastic materials.

The application of laser printers is very vast, they are used in retail price marking, laboratory and blood specimen marking, labels packaging and management in the fixed assets. Label printers are also used in supply chain management.

• Laserjet Printer:

Laserjet printers use its laser beams for printing your print on a metal-cylinder known as a drum. This drum in the laserjet printer, attracts the powdered toner which is present in the cartridge using the static electricity. Then, the toner is rolled onto the paper by the drum which is in the form of your print. Further, as the toner passes underneath, it is melted on the paper using the heat from a fuser. And finally, the print comes out from the Laserjet printer.

Laserjet printers are mostly used in all the businesses to defend their reputation of being reliable in creating quality print products. Other than this, laserjet printers are also used in making labels, printing stationery products of the company and in making company brochures and fliers.

• Barcode Printer:

Barcode Printers are those printers which are designed for producing the tags or the barcode labels which can be either attached to or even directly printed on the objects. Barcode Printers make use of the thermal transfer printers or direct thermal printers for creating labels. Of these 2 methods, the direct thermal method costs less but the labels produced using this method may become illegible when they are exposed to direct sunlight, chemical vapors or heat.

Barcode Printers are fast, can store large amounts of papers and are more durable. Barcode printers are most commonly used for labeling the cartons before shipment or for labeling the retail items with EANs and UPCs. Also, the barcode printers built for industries are mostly used in manufacturing facilities and large godowns whereas the barcode printers for desktops are most commonly used for office and retail works.

• PVC Card Printer:

PVC Cards/ Plastic Cards have a very smooth surface due to which the traditional inkjet or laser printers cannot be used for printing on them. Due to this reason, the PVC Card Printers are used to print on such smooth surfaces. In PVC Card Printers, the heater printhead is run over the ribbon. This process helps in transferring the colors onto the card which makes your design print on it.

PVC Card Printers use either reverse transfer printing tech or dye sublimation tech for card printing. But in both technologies, a blank, a printhead card and a ribbon are used. Using different ribbons and print technologies, PVC Card Printers can be used for making almost any type of design.

• Color Laser Printer:

Color Laser Printer works on the same old basic technology as that of the standard laser printers (black-only) but comes with some additional features for producing high-quality colored documents. The Color laser printing machine uses 4 toner cartridges of black, yellow, magenta and cyan for printing the colored print. These colors are first applied to the drum one at a time. After this process the colors are applied to the paper. As Color laser printing machines are fast, they are also used for instant printing and for bulk printing.

Color laser printing machines are commonly used in home, xerox shops, stationary stores, offices and in many more places.

• Mobile Printer:

Mobile printers are those printers which take command from your mobile phones for printing the required documents and images. Mobile printers basically use the same ink-based printing technology as it is faster (80mm/second) compared to other technology such as thermal printing. Mobile printers can also work efficiently with many smartphone devices and tablets.

• Sublimation Printers:

Sublimation Printers make use of heat for printing the ink on the object or on the fabric. The first step in sublimation printers is to print the required design onto the special paper. Further, when this special paper is brought under heating conditions, the inks on the paper turn into gas and are permanently combined/printed onto the required object/fabric.

Sublimation printers are used for printing the required designs on t-shirts, socks, hoodies or any fabrics which have a high content of poly material. Sublimation printers are not useful for most of the natural fabrics, silk and cotton.

• Portable Printers:

Portable printers, just as the name suggests Portable, these printers are small, compact and light in weight. Unlike other traditional printers which are fixed, portable printers are easy to carry anywhere and everywhere. Portable printers let you print high-quality documents anywhere you want.

Portable printers are mostly used for printing documents such as bill receipts in petrol bunks, shops, hotels and restaurants. Portable printers are also used in credit card terminals for printing receipts whenever we succeed in paying using our credit cards.

• Sticker Printer:

Sticker printers or also called as the label printer, come with a special feeding mechanism in order to handle the rolled stock which makes them different from the normal printers. The sticker printing machine uses self-adhesive sticker material for printing purposes.

Apart from self-adhesive stickers, the sticker printing machine uses different types of materials including plastic materials and paper. Sticker printers are used for many purposes such as making custom designs on the stickers, used in making custom designs, etc.

• Canvas printer:

These devices are used for turning your favourite images into a masterpiece of art. Canvas printers use the same technology as that of inkjet printers. The device prints the image onto a canvas sheet. After printing, the sheet is stretched and is framed, making it look like a great piece of artwork.

Canvas printers are mainly used to reproduce different types of 2D art such as paintings, drawings, photographs, etc.

[“source=moglix”]