Printer (computing): Difference between revisions

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[[File:Epson Wide Carriage 9-pin printer - with legal paper 8.5x14.jpg|thumb|This is an example of a wide-carriage [[dot matrix printer]], designed for {{convert|14|in|adj=on}} wide paper, shown with {{convert|8.5|x|14|in|adj=on}} legal paper. Wide carriage printers were often used in the field of businesses, to print accounting records on {{convert|11|x|14|in|adj=on}} [[tractor-feed paper]]. They were also called "132-column printers".]]

[[File:Printer.ogv|thumb|A video showing an [[Inkjet printing|inkjet printer]] while printing a page]]

In [[computing]], aA '''printer''' is a [[peripheral]] machine which makes a durable representation of graphics or text, usually on [[paper]].<ref name=":0">{{cite web|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/printer|title=Printer - Definition of printer by Merriam-Webster|work=merriam-webster.com|access-date=6 August 2017|archive-date=18 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170818221053/https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/printer|url-status=live}}</ref> While most output is human-readable, bar code printers are an example of an expanded use for printers.<ref name=BarCo>{{cite web

|title=0271-2834-MTDC; Assembling a Bar-Code Tracking System

|url=https://www.fs.fed.us/t-d/pubs/htmlpubs/htm02712834/page03.htm

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==History==

The first computer printer designed was a mechanically driven apparatus by [[Charles Babbage]] for his [[difference engine]] in the 19th century; however, his mechanical printer design was not built until 2000.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/710950.stm |title=Babbage printer finally runs |publisher=[[BBC News]] |date=13 April 2000 |access-date=6 December 2010 |archive-date=11 January 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090111224712/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/710950.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> He also had plans for a curve plotter, which would have been the first computer graphics printer if it was built.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Eccles |first=Simon |date=2019-12-13 |title=How Charles Babbage invented computer printing |url=https://www.printweek.com/content/features/how-charles-babbage-invented-computer-printing/ |access-date=2025-04-26 |website=[[Printweek]] |language=en}}</ref>

The first patented printing mechanism for applying a marking medium to a recording medium or more particularly an electrostatic inking apparatus and a method for electrostatically depositing ink on controlled areas of a receiving medium, was in 1962 by C. R. Winston, Teletype Corporation, using continuous inkjet printing. The ink was a red stamp-pad ink manufactured by Phillips Process Company of Rochester, NY under the name Clear Print. This patent (US3060429) led to the Teletype Inktronic Printer product delivered to customers in late 1966.<ref>{{cite web |last=Jim |first=Haynes |publisher=Southwest Museum of Engineering Communications and Computation |title=Archivist |url=http://www.smecc.org/teletype_inktronic.htm |access-date=29 May 2021 |archive-date=21 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211021152339/http://www.smecc.org/teletype_inktronic.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

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''Networked'' or ''shared'' printers are "designed for high-volume, high-speed printing". They are usually shared by many users on a [[Computer network|network]] and can print at speeds of 45 to around 100 ppm. The [[Xerox 9700]] could achieve 120 ppm.

An ''ID Card printer'' is used for printing plastic ID cards. These can now be customised with important features such as holographic overlays, HoloKotes and watermarks.{{citation needed|date=September 2023}} This is either a direct to card printer (the more feasible option) or a retransfer printer.{{citation needed|date=September 2023}}

===Virtual printer===

A ''[[virtual printer]]'' is a piece of computer software whose user interface and [[Application programming interface|API]] resembles that of a printer driver, but which is not connected with a physical computer printer. A virtual printer can be used to create a file which is an image of the data which would be printed, for archival purposes or as input to another program, for example to create a [[PDF]] or to transmit to another system or user.

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The principle is the same for practically all card printers: the plastic card is passed through a [[thermal print]] head at the same time as a color ribbon. The color from the [[ribbon]] is transferred onto the card through the heat given out from the print head. The standard performance for card printing is 300 dpi (300 dots per inch, equivalent to 11.8 dots per mm). There are different printing processes, which vary in their detail:

;Thermal transfer:Mainly used to personalize pre-printed plastic cards in monochrome. The color is "transferred" from the (monochrome) color [[ribbon]] ; [[Dye sublimation]]:This process uses four panels of color according to the [[CMYK color model|CMYK]] color ribbon. The card to be printed passes under the print head several times each time with the corresponding [[ribbon]] panel. Each color in turn is diffused (sublimated) directly onto the card. Thus it is possible to produce a high depth of color (up to 16 million shades) on the card. Afterwards a transparent overlay (O) also known as a topcoat (T) is placed over the card to protect it from mechanical wear and tear and to render the printed image UV resistant.

;Reverse image technology:The standard for high-security card applications that use contact and contactless [[Smart card|smart chip cards]]. The technology prints images onto the underside of a special film that fuses to the surface of a card through heat and pressure. Since this process transfers dyes and resins directly onto a smooth, flexible film, the print-head never comes in contact with the card surface itself. As such, card surface interruptions such as smart chips, ridges caused by internal [[RFID]] antennae and debris do not affect print quality. Even printing over the edge is possible.

;Thermal rewrite print process:In contrast to the majority of other card printers, in the thermal rewrite process the card is not personalized through the use of a color ribbon, but by activating a thermal sensitive foil within the card itself. These cards can be repeatedly personalized, erased and rewritten. The most frequent use of these are in chip-based student identity cards, whose validity changes every semester.

;Common printing problems:Many printing problems are caused by physical defects in the card material itself, such as deformation or warping of the card that is fed into the machine in the first place. Printing irregularities can also result from chip or antenna embedding that alters the thickness of the plastic and interferes with the printer's effectiveness. Other issues are often caused by operator errors, such as users attempting to feed non-compatible cards into the card printer, while other printing defects may result from environmental abnormalities such as dirt or contaminants on the card or in the printer.<ref>{{cite conference |url=http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistir/IR-7056/Interoperability/Goyet-Interoperability.pdf {{Webarchive|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160310101533/http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistir/IR-7056/Interoperability/Goyet-Interoperability.pdf |archive-date=10 March 2016 }} |title=Interoperability and Card Printing, a presentation by |conference=NIST Workshop on Storage and Processor Card-based Technologies, |year=2003. Pages 8-9. Accessed|pages=8–9 |accessdate=9 March 2016.}}</ref> Reverse transfer printers are less vulnerable to common printing problems than direct-to-card printers, since with these printers the card does not come into direct contact with the printhead.

====Variations====

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====Laser printers and other toner-based printers====

{{main article|Laser printing}}

A [[Laser printing|laser printer]] rapidly produces high quality text and graphics. As with digital [[photocopier]]s and multifunction printers (MFPs), laser printers employ a [[xerography|xerographic]] printing process but differ from analog photocopiers in that the image is produced by the direct scanning of a [[laser]] beam across the printer's [[photodetector|photoreceptor]].

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====Solid ink printers====

{{main article|Solid ink}}

[[Solid ink]] printers, also known as phase-change ink or hot-melt ink printers, are a type of [[thermal transfer printer]], graphics sheet printer or 3D printer . They use solid sticks, crayons, pearls or granular ink materials. Common inks are [[CMYK color model|CMYK]]-colored ink, similar in consistency to candle wax, which are melted and fed into a piezo crystal operated print-head. A Thermal transfer printhead jets the liquid ink on a rotating, oil coated drum. The paper then passes over the print drum, at which time the image is immediately transferred, or transfixed, to the page. Solid ink printers are most commonly used as color office printers and are excellent at printing on transparencies and other non-porous media. Solid ink is also called phase-change or hot-melt ink and was first used by Data Products and Howtek, Inc., in 1984.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Gregory|first=P|title=Editor|publisher=Blackie Academic & Professional for Chapman and Hall|year=1996|isbn=0-7514-0238-9|___location=Great Britain|pages=113–138}}</ref> Solid ink printers can produce excellent results with text and images. Some solid ink printers have evolved to print 3D models, for example, Visual Impact Corporation<ref>{{Cite book|last=Burns|first=Marshall|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/27810960|title=Automated fabrication : improving productivity in manufacturing|date=1993|publisher=PTR Prentice Hall|isbn=0-13-119462-3|___location=Englewood Cliffs, N.J.|pages=97|oclc=27810960}}</ref> of Windham, NH was started by retired Howtek employee, Richard Helinski whose 3D patents US4721635 and then US5136515 was licensed to Sanders Prototype, Inc., later named Solidscape, Inc. Acquisition and operating costs are similar to [[Laser printing|laser printers]]. Drawbacks of the technology include high [[energy conservation|energy consumption]] and long warm-up times from a cold state. Also, some users complain that the resulting prints are difficult to write on, as the wax tends to repel inks from [[pen]]s, and are difficult to feed through [[automatic document feeder]]s, but these traits have been significantly reduced in later models. This type of thermal transfer printer is only available from one manufacturer, [[Xerox]], manufactured as part of their [[Xerox Phaser]] office printer line. Previously, [[solid ink]] printers were manufactured by [[Tektronix]], but Tektronix sold the printing business to Xerox in 2001.

====Dye-sublimation printers====

{{main article|Dye-sublimation printer}}

[[File:RGB dye sublimation panels.jpg|thumb|300px|A disassembled dye sublimation cartridge]]

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====Impact printers====

{{anchor|Impact_printers}} Impact printers rely on a forcible impact to transfer ink to the media. The impact printer uses a print head that either hits the surface of the ink ribbon, pressing the ink ribbon against the paper (similar to the action of a [[typewriter]]), or, less commonly, hits the back of the paper, pressing the paper against the ink ribbon (the [[IBM 1403]] for example). All but the [[dot matrix printer]] rely on the use of ''fully formed characters'', [[letterform]]s that represent each of the characters that the printer was capable of printing. In addition, most of these printers were limited to monochrome, or sometimes two-color, printing in a single typeface at one time, although [[emphasis (typography)|bolding]] and [[underlining]] of text could be done by "overstriking", that is, printing two or more impressions either in the same character position or slightly offset. Impact printers varieties include typewriter-derived printers, teletypewriter-derived printers, daisywheel printers, dot matrix printers, and line printers. Dot-matrix printers remain in common use <ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.printersbuddy.com/uses-of-printer/| title = Uses of Printer?| work = PrintersBuddy.com| access-date = 7 June 2022| archive-date = 17 January 2023| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230117222607/https://www.printersbuddy.com/uses-of-printer/| url-status = liveusurped}}</ref> in businesses where multi-part forms are printed. ''An overview of impact printing''<ref>{{cite journal | url=http://www.research.ibm.com/journal/rd/416/zable.pdf | url-status=dead | title=An overview of impact printing | journal=IBM Journal of Research and Development | author1=J. L. Zable | author2=H. C. Lee | pages=651–668 | volume=41 | issue=6 | date=November 1997 | doi=10.1147/rd.416.0651 | issn=0018-8646 | access-date=29 December 2008 | archive-date=9 October 2022 | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.research.ibm.com/journal/rd/416/zable.pdf }}{{subscription required}}</ref> contains a detailed description of many of the technologies used.

=====Typewriter-derived printers=====

{{main article|Friden Flexowriter|IBM Selectric typewriter}}

[[File:IBM Selectric typeball.jpg|thumb|left|Typeball print element from IBM Selectric-type printer]]

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=====Teletypewriter-derived printers=====

{{main article|Teleprinter}}

The common [[teleprinter]] could easily be interfaced with the computer and became very popular except for those computers manufactured by [[IBM]]. Some models used a "typebox" that was positioned, in the X- and Y-axes, by a mechanism, and the selected letter form was struck by a hammer. Others used a type cylinder in a similar way as the Selectric typewriters used their type ball. In either case, the letter form then struck a ribbon to print the letterform. Most teleprinters operated at ten characters per second although a few achieved 15 CPS.

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=====Daisy wheel printers=====

[[File:Triumph-Adler Daisy wheel Cubic PS-92800.jpg|thumb|left|"Daisy wheel" print element]]

{{main article|Daisy wheel printer}}

Daisy wheel printers operate in much the same fashion as a [[typewriter]]. A hammer strikes a wheel with petals, the "daisy wheel", each petal containing a letter form at its tip. The letter form strikes a ribbon of [[ink]], depositing the ink on the page and thus printing a character. By rotating the daisy wheel, different characters are selected for printing. These printers were also referred to as ''letter-quality printers'' because they could produce text which was as clear and crisp as a typewriter. The fastest letter-quality printers printed at 30 characters per second.

=====Dot-matrix printers=====

{{main article|Dot matrix printer}}

[[File:Dot matrix example text.png|thumb|right|Sample output from 9-pin dot matrix printer (one character expanded to show detail)]]

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In the 1970s and '80s, dot matrix printers were one of the more common types of printers used for general use, such as for home and small office use. Such printers normally had either 9 or 24 pins on the print head (early 7 pin printers also existed, which did not print [[descender]]s). There was a period during the early home computer era when a range of printers were manufactured under many brands such as the [[Commodore International|Commodore]] VIC-1525 using the [[Seikosha]] '''Uni-Hammer''' system. This used a single solenoid with an oblique striker that would be actuated 7 times for each column of 7 vertical pixels while the head was moving at a constant speed. The angle of the striker would align the dots vertically even though the head had moved one dot spacing in the time. The vertical dot position was controlled by a synchronized longitudinally ribbed platen behind the paper that rotated rapidly with a rib moving vertically seven dot spacings in the time it took to print one pixel column.<ref>{{cite web|title=VIC-1525 Graphics Printer User Manual|url=http://www.classiccmp.org/cini/pdf/Commodore/VIC-1525%20Printer%20User%27s%20Manual.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.classiccmp.org/cini/pdf/Commodore/VIC-1525%20Printer%20User%27s%20Manual.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|publisher=Commodore Computer|access-date=22 February 2015}}</ref> 24-pin print heads were able to print at a higher quality and started to offer additional type styles and were marketed as [[Dot matrix printing#Near Letter Quality .28NLQ.29|Near Letter Quality]] by some vendors. Once the price of inkjet printers dropped to the point where they were competitive with dot matrix printers, dot matrix printers began to fall out of favour for general use.

Some dot matrix printers, such as the NEC P6300, can be upgraded to print in color. This is achieved through the use of a four-color ribbon mounted on a mechanism (provided in an upgrade kit that replaces the standard black ribbon mechanism after installation) that raises and lowers the ribbons as needed. Color graphics are generally printed in four passes at standard resolution, thus slowing down printing considerably. As a result, color graphics can take up to four times longer to print than standard monochrome graphics, or up to 8-168–16 times as long at high resolution mode.

Dot matrix printers are still commonly used in low-cost, low-quality applications such as [[cash register]]s, or in demanding, very high volume applications like [[invoice]] printing. Impact printing, unlike laser printing, allows the pressure of the print head to be applied to a stack of two or more forms to print [[Multipart stationery|multi-part documents]] such as sales invoices and [[credit card]] receipts using [[continuous stationery]] with [[carbonless copy paper]]. It also has security advantages as ink impressed into a paper matrix by force is harder to erase invisibly. Dot-matrix printers were being superseded even as receipt printers after the end of the twentieth century.

=====Line printers=====

{{main article|Line printer}}

Line printers print an entire line of text at a time. Four principal designs exist.

[[File:Drum-printer.jpg|thumb|left|Print drum from drum printer]]

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==== Plotters ====

{{main article|Plotter}}

[[File:Calcomp 565 drum plotter.jpg|thumb|right|A Calcomp 565 drum plotter]]

Pen-based [[plotter]]s were an alternate printing technology once common in engineering and architectural firms. Pen-based plotters rely on contact with the paper (but not impact, per se) and special purpose pens that are mechanically run over the paper to create text and images. Since the pens output continuous lines, they were able to produce technical drawings of higher resolution than was achievable with dot-matrix technology.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.hpmuseum.net/exhibit.php?class=4&cat=24|title=HP Computer Museum|website=www.hpmuseum.net|access-date=10 June 2014|archive-date=3 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140703013250/http://hpmuseum.net/exhibit.php?class=4&cat=24|url-status=live}}</ref> Some plotters used roll-fed paper, and therefore had a minimal restriction on the size of the output in one dimension. These plotters were capable of producing quite sizable drawings.

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* Barcode printer multiple technologies, including: [[thermal printing]], [[inkjet printing]], and [[laser printing]] [[barcode]]s

* Label printer

* [[Wide-format printer]]

* Billboard / sign paint spray printers

* Laser etching (product packaging) industrial printers

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=== Printer steganography ===

[[File:Printer Steganography Illustration.png|thumb|An illustration showing small yellow tracking dots on white paper, generated by a color laser printer]]

{{Main article|Printer steganography}}

Printer steganography is a type of [[steganography]] – "hiding data within data"<ref>{{Cite journal |doi = 10.1109/4236.935180|title = Digital steganography: Hiding data within data|journal = IEEE Internet Computing|volume = 5|issue = 3|pages = 75–80|year = 2001|last1 = Artz|first1 = D.}}</ref> – produced by color printers, including [[Brother Industries|Brother]], [[Canon (company)|Canon]], Dell, [[Seiko Epson|Epson]], [[Hewlett-Packard|HP]], IBM, [[Konica Minolta]], [[Kyocera]], Lanier, [[Lexmark]], [[Ricoh]], [[Toshiba]] and [[Xerox]]<ref>{{cite web|title=List of Printers Which Do or Do Not Display Tracking Dots|url=https://www.eff.org/pages/list-printers-which-do-or-do-not-display-tracking-dots|publisher=[[Electronic Frontier Foundation]]|date=2007-09-20|access-date=11 March 2011|archive-date=20 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170120103601/https://www.eff.org/pages/list-printers-which-do-or-do-not-display-tracking-dots|url-status=live}} Retrieved 11 March 2011.</ref> brand color laser printers, where tiny yellow dots are added to each page. The dots are barely visible and contain encoded printer serial numbers, as well as date and time stamps.<ref>{{factCite web |date=February2020-06-03 |title=Why printers add secret tracking dots |url=https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20170607-why-printers-add-secret-tracking-dots |access-date=2025-03-31 |website=www.bbc.com |language=en-GB | archive-url = https://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/index2.php?url=https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20170607-why-printers-add-secret-tracking-dots#federation=archive.wikiwix.com&tab=url | archive-date = 2025-03-31}}</ref>

==Manufacturers and market share==

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[[Category:Computer printers]]

[[Category:Office equipment]]

[[Category:Printing technology]]

[[Category:Typography]]

[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]