Printers (formerly popular as printing devices) are computer peripherals that are used to print on paper (and sometimes other materials) documents that may include text and images. Most printers are used as peripherals attached by cable to a single personal computer. Other printers, known as network printers, operate with a built-in network interface (usually wireless or Ethernet), serving many users simultaneously. Many modern printers can reproduce electronic documents directly, from digital media (multimedia flash card, USB flash, scanner, digital camera or camcorder), without a connection to a computer. A printer combined in one device with a scanner, fax and copier is called a multifunction device.
The world's first mechanically driven printer was invented by Charles Babbage in the 19th century.
There are many different types of printers: from portable printers the size of a 0.500 ml mineral water bottle to giant-sized office printers that can copy, scan, fax, punch, collate sheets and collate them into a book.
The best way to understand printer types is to take a close look at the main ways they can be categorised: by place of use (home or office printers), by technology (inkjet and laser printers), single function and multifunction printers (MFPs), colour and monochrome (black and white). Most interestingly, printer types are divided into two main groups - impact and non-impact printers according to the printing technology.
Impact printers - Impact printers make contact with the paper. They usually form images on the paper by pressing an ink-soaked ribbon onto the sheet using a hammer or needles.
Dot-matrix printers - Dot-matrix printers use print heads with 9 to 24 needles. To create images on paper, these printers initially create patterns of dots on the sheet. 24-needle dot matrix printers pattern more dots than 9-needle printers, which affects much better quality and clearer images. The main rule here is that the more needles, the better the image on the paper. The needles tap the soaked ink ribbon individually as the printing mechanism moves along the sheet in two directions: left-to-right, then right-to-left. Colour images can also be printed with this type of printer, but the black ribbon must be replaced by a colour ribbon. Dot-matrix printers are inexpensive and print at speeds of 100-600 characters per second.
In the dynamic world we live in, anything that saves you time and effort is valuable. Apart from being an expensive and inconvenient pleasure to queue up just to print a page, this negative experience can also give your day an unpleasant start.
Having a printer at your home can be even more valuable than you think. Here are some of the benefits of having a printer in your home:
Saves you time - You'll end forever hanging in lines and running to the nearest copy centre when you have a printer in your home.
Saves you money - In the long run, the investment for the device will pay you back many times over, as the markup at copy centres is high.
It doesn't take up much space - No matter how small your place is, there's always room for a printer. The good thing is that it's compact and can be placed almost anywhere.
Easily and quickly print custom designs, business cards and anything else you might need - just think - you can print anything you want, and from your bed!
✅ Experts available : | 2 |
✅ Average price : | £38/hr |
✅ Session format : | Face-to-Face or Online |
✅ First lesson free : | Yes |