Choosing an Inkjet Printer
Whether at the office or at home, having an inkjet printer can make your life run easier. From printing family pictures to printing a research paper for school, doing it from the convenience of your own home is always nice.
What is Inkjet Technology?
Inkjet printing uses small, tightly controlled streams of ink droplets from the ink cartridges to print onto paper. Because of the process, inkjet printers do not print as quickly as laser printers, but for most that isn't an issue. There are two types of inks that dominate the ink types for inkjet printers.
- Pigment - At one time, pigment ink was for those that needed copies that were less prone to water damage or fading.
- Dye - Although modern dye-based inks have improved, they were traditionally for those that wanted bold and bright colors.
What Ink Colors Are Available?
Inkjet printers come in both black and white and color models. Printing in color consists of using three different colors mixing together to make up the entire spectrum of colors available. Colored ink cartridges come in two different ways. You can either get one cartridge that consists of all three colors or you can a separate ink cartridge for each of the three colors. The type of cartridge you use depends on the model of inkjet printer you own. The four different color cartridges include the following colors.
- Black
- Cyan
- Magenta
- Yellow
What Features Should You Consider?
- Print speed - The speed at which an inkjet printer will print measures in ppm (pages per minute) and starts when the printer starts to print, not when you hit print on the computer.
- Print quality - A printer's resolution measures in dots per inch (dpi). Just like a computer image, the higher the resolution, the sharper and more vivid the printing will look. Resolutions may vary depending on whether you print in black and white or using color ink. Often, color printing will have a higher resolution than that of black text or graphic images.
- Wireless technology - Mobile printing is being able to print from anywhere in your home. Set up the inkjet printer in your home office and print from your laptop, iPad, or smartphone from any room in the house with wireless technology.
- All-in-one - More is always better, which is what you get when you use an all-in-one printer. Not only can print from your computer, but you can scan images, make copies, and fax from one unit.
- USB port - Scan documents directly to a memory card by inserting a USB stick into the port and clicking scan to USB drive.
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