Inkjet Printer

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What Does Inkjet Printer Mean?

Inkjet printers are a category of printer in which printing is done with the help of inkjet technology. The technology works by spraying ionized ink directed by magnetic plates onto the paper, which is fed through the printer. As inkjet printers are more affordable than other types of printers, they are commonly used as home and business printers.

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Inkjet printers are also known simply as inkjets.

Techopedia Explains Inkjet Printer

An inkjet printer consists of a print head, ink cartridges, paper feed assembly, belt and stabilizer bar. Inkjet printers are capable of creating high-quality images and high-resolution photos with vivid colors. They can work with most types of papers, although they work best with high-quality papers.

Inkjet printers have many advantages. Compared to most printers, they are affordable and easy to use. Similar to laser printers, inkjet printers are inherently quiet. They are great image printers and are quick starters. They are ready to print and do not require any warm-up time. They are also compact, generally requiring less space. With these features, they are more popular as home printers.

There are certain disadvantages for inkjet printers. The print head is less durable in most cases. Inkjet printer ink is expensive and can potentially dry up, causing not only wastage of ink but also blockages within the printer. Also, compared to laser printers, they are slow to work and thus are not considered suitable for high-volume printing.

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Margaret Rouse
Technology expert
Margaret Rouse
Technology expert

Margaret is an award-winning writer and educator known for her ability to explain complex technical topics to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles in the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret’s idea of ​​a fun day is to help IT and business professionals to learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.