Inkjet Vs. Toner

Inkjet uses color and black ink to print an image.

Inkjet printers use small amounts of ink to produce a picture or text. Toner is used with laser printers to produce ink-less images. Although inkjet printers are more widely used, laser printing is more cost-efficient, especially for those printing large quantities of material.

Toner

Toner is a powder used in laser printing to effectively produce text and images in much the same way as an inkjet printer. As opposed to inkjet, toner heats up and melts onto the paper, thus binding text and images to the page instead of printing them with ink droplets.

Inkjet

Inkjet printers are more widely used. They use tiny drops of ink inserted at various times to print an image on the page. Unlike laserjet printouts, inkjet printouts may smear the ink and distort the image if the paper is touched too soon after printing.

Cost

The cost per page output for a laser printer is significantly less than that of an inkjet printer. Since the inkjet printer uses ink cartridges which must be refilled or replaced more frequently than toner, it is more expensive to purchase and maintain than a laser printer.

References

• The Office Guide: Toner Cartridges
• Custom Part: Inkjet Printing
• American Printer: Inkjet vs Toner