Print Technologies

• Inkjet Technology

  

  Inkjet printers are favoured mostly by home users, photographers and the graphics industry. Although quite expensive to run, inkjets are unrivalled for photo realistic printing.

  For day to day use it may be worth considering a laser printer as the quality for other types of document will at least be on a par but with much lower running costs however, the initial purchase price needs to be considered for the total cost of ownership.

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• Laser Technology

  

  A laser (or LED) printer is a very versatile machine that is suitable for both home and office use. Text is always razor sharp and images are clean. Photo's can be a problem at the lower end of the price bracket although even the most expensive laser can not compete with a decent inkjet for photo quality printing.

  Laser printers enjoy the lowest running costs although it may be worth considering an inkjet for light use.

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• Solid Ink Technology

  

  Solid ink is a unique printing method from Xerox. It takes solid blocks of a wax-like material and melts it down before it's applied to a drum and then the paper. The result is vibrant and glossy on any paper type and is fantastic for point of sale material or anything else where colour matters.

  Although photo's can look great, they can also look a little speckled on light shades and skin tones. A little more expensive to run than a laser but far more eco friendly.

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• Dot Matrix Technology

  

  Dot matrix printers, also known as line printers, are generally used in more industrial or stores environments where quality isn't necessarily top of the agenda. They are by far the most robust of printers and are able to print on multi-part or carbon copy stationery using pre-printed "tractor-feed" paper. This technology is typically very noisy although sound dampening cabinets are available for office installations.

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• Edgeline Technology

  

  Edgeline is a new technology from HP which is based around inkjet technology in so far as it uses ink tanks (albeit on a much larger scale) and a printhead to fire the ink onto the paper.
  Edgeline uses a stationary printhead that spans the width of the page meaning that it can print incredibly fast. This low running cost technology is aimed at busy workgroups with a high workflow. The quality is in-between that of a laser and an inkjet.

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• Gel Technology

  

  Ricoh invented GelSprinter technology, which is a hybrid between laser and inkjet printers offering a balance between print speed and image quality at an affordable price in a business environment.

  Gelsprinters use viscous Gel instead of ink, which dries instantly, is UV proof and Waterproof. They have a unique feature called "Level Colour" which reduces the density of colour Gel on the page. This mode reduces consumption of colour Gel on the graphics part of a document to over half normal level whilst maintaining the normal thickness of black on the text.

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