What is a toner printer?

brother laser printerAre you looking for a printer for your office but you’re unsure which one is more suitable? Read our quick guide to selecting the best printer for the job.

The difference between print and toner

Firstly it is important to note that ink is used in inkjet printers from liquid tinted with pigments or dyes, and toner is used in laser printers made from a fine powder mixture through a laser toner cartridge.

With this in mind a toner printer is also known as a laser printer, with the latter being it’s most common name.

So what is the difference between an Inkjet and Laser printer?

Both inkjet and laser (toner) printers are used for home and business printing purposes, but the way they apply material to paper is very different.

Inkjet printers squirt miniature droplets of ink through tiny nozzles onto paper, thousands of times per second through sophisticated printer software which controls all of the nozzles, firing ink in particular patterns. Most homes own an inkjet printer.

Laser printing isn’t as straightforward because toner doesn’t stick to paper the way a liquid-based ink does.

Toner is made from finely ground polyester which is a type of plastic. This ground polyester powder holds a static charge grabbing onto anything with an opposite charge. In these toner printers a laser produces an electrostatic template of your images on a revolving drum made from metal, which has an electrical charge. A toner cartridge then distributes toner powder onto the drum making the toner stick only to specific places, such as the outline of your image, where the laser changes the drum’s electrical charge.

Paper is then also charged as it passes through the printer machine. The sheet of paper curl past the drum and are pulled off the charged toner in precise shapes making up the text and images. Finally a hot fuser melts the polyester, delivering sharp and smudge-free prints.

Choosing The Best Printer For Your Business

The type of jobs and volume that you print will help you decide which type of printer is best suited for your business.

Inkjet printers

  • All-round printer
  • Prints images, graphics, photos and text
  • Great if you only print a few hundred pages a year

Laser/Toner printers

  • You print mainly text
  • Text quality is more precise, much crisper and faster at printing than an inkjet printer
  • Print at a much larger volume of a thousand pages or more per year

Browser our range of Inkjet and Laser printers today.

Feel free to contact us by email or phone for any further advice you might need in choosing the right printer or toner for your business.

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