Types of Inkjet Printers

Inkjet printers, developed in the 1980s and sold to consumers beginning in the 1990s, bring screen to paper that we can hold, highlight, staple and give to others.

Function

Inkjets are inexpensive to buy, especially home and home office models. They use liquid inks in cartridges and a specialized print head to distribute tiny droplets of ink on the paper to create the text and images on the printout.

Thermal Inkjet

Thermal inkjets use heat to create tiny explosions of ink on the paper.

Piezoelectric Inkjet

Piezoelectric inkjets use pressure and vibration to force out ink in response to small voltage charges.

Ink

Ink used in inkjet printers is water-based (aqueous) and mixed with dyes to create the colors. Ink cartridges are black or colored (magenta, cyan, yellow).

Manufacturers

The largest inkjet manufacturers are Hewlett Packard, Canon, Epson and Lexmark.