There are many different types and brands of printers on the market. While many are made to accomplish the same job, every printer tends to be designed differently. Because of the different designs, each one is only compatible with certain types of printing ink. This means there are several types of ink available. Learn about the different types of printer inks by reading below.
Laser Printer Ink
Laser printers use powdered toners for their ink. This is a powder mixture that’s mostly made of granulated plastic. Some toner plastics are designed from petroleum plastic, and some are now designed out of plant-derived plastic. Laser printers operate by beaming an image onto a drum, then transferring toner onto the paper. The toner adheres to the paper through a heating process. Some of the major benefits of working with a laser printer and its toner are the convenience of its fast and precise printing along with the high-quality image it can produce. If you are printing large quantities of text-based documents, marketing materials, labels, or business documents, laser printing is a great option.
Inkjet Printer Ink
Inkjet printers use ink cartridges that contain pigmented or dyed printer ink made of carbon black pigment, drying agents, binders, solvents, and chelating agents. The printer is designed to lay ink droplets onto printer paper until it completely reproduces the image. Each droplet is smaller than a cross-section of hair. The buildup of tiny droplets allows the printer to recreate an image with exact detail. This is why it’s able to make colors in printed images blend perfectly. You have to be careful with inkjet printer cartridges, though, as they can dry out over time, which will render them useless. If you’re printing images, especially photos, inkjet printing will reproduce them with high quality.
Other Types of Printer Ink
While laser printer and inkjet printer inks are the most common of the different types of printer inks, there are other general types that are worth mentioning. Liquid ink can be used in inkjet printers and is made in either dye-based or pigmented forms. There are also solid inks that can be used instead of liquid inks. Solid ink tends to be waxy in composition and is heated by the printer and applied to the printing surface. Ribbon ink is another type that’s most often used in dot matrix and thermal transfer printers. This ink is applied from an ink-soaked ribbon that is pressed to a page. Thermal transfer printers heat a wax or resin that coats the ribbon. Once melted, the ink is exposed and laid onto the page. UV ink is cured onto a printing surface through UV light exposure.
If you’re looking to purchase inkjet label rolls and other inkjet printer equipment, Texas Label Printers offers products to be compatible with the highest quality printers. Here, you can count on finding the right supplies to create your labels.
