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Color Printer

Having a color printer is something many take for granted today. But as little as eight years ago it was still a big deal for a printer to have color options. It’s actually surprising how many ways we have come up with to apply ink to paper. The most common forms today are inkjet, thermal, toner, and solid ink printers.

Each type of color printer excels in a different area. Toner printers, also known as laser printers, are cheap compared to other options. Inkjet printers use the least ink. Thermal printers forgo ink entirely and cause thermal paper to “char” where the text needs to appear. Solid ink printers are the best for high quality graphics reproduction.

Solid ink color printers start out with waxy blocks of ink that are similar in consistency to candles. The end of these inks is heated to liquefy the ink. One color at a time, the ink is applied to a drum. Once the inks have been applied, the drum is run across the printing medium (paper) to reproduce the image. This is the type of printing done at a newspaper or magazine press .

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