The Difference Between Ink And Toner Cartridges

By Author: William Hauselberg
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Learn the Differences Between Toner & Ink for Printers

If you are unsure what the difference are between ink and toner for printers, this quick explanation will help inform you so you are ready to purchase exactly what you need for your printer, copy or fax machine.

Toner cartridges

Toner is an electrically charged dry carbon powder housed in plastic cartridges. Typically, printer toner cartridges are used with laser jet printers and copy machines to meet demanding business printing needs. Depending on the model, in some fax machines and personal printers can use toner cartridges as well.

When printing or copying, toner is transferred from the cartridge to the paper through a heating process. As the toner melts, it binds to paper fibers making it hard to smear. Toner cartridges are available in black, cyan, magenta and yellow. While some printer models use combined color cartridges, others need a separate cartridge for each color. To find out which type you need, refer to your printer’s instructional guide.

Ink for printers

The other cartridge choice is ink for printers and fax ...
... machines. Ideal for home and school printing needs, ink cartridges are most commonly used with inkjet printers and are available in two different types: dye-based or pigment-based. Like toner cartridges, inkjet printer ink is also available in black and color, including cyan, magenta and yellow.

Dye-based Ink

The most common type is the dye-based inkjet ink cartridge, in which dye is absorbed by the paper’s fibers. Dye-based inks produce bright, vivid colors and are an excellent choice for printing photographs. Be careful, though, since they can fade when exposed to UV light and may smear when wet.

Pigment-based Ink

Made of resins ground into small particles, pigment-based inkjet printer ink sits on top of the paper instead of being absorbed like dye inks. This allows for a fade-resistant image that’s more resistant to water. However, pigment-based ink for printers yields colors that are less vibrant and bold, so this ink best used for textual documents.

Glossary of Ink & Toner Terms

Below is a list of commonly used terms when it comes to ink and toner for printers, copy and fax machines.

Ink cartridges Most commonly found in inkjet printers, ink cartridges are dye-based liquids used in printing.

Inkjet printer Uses ink cartridges and a print head to spray droplets of ink onto paper to create text or images.

Laser printer A type of printer that uses toner cartridges, a drum and a laser to transfer text and images onto paper.

Laser toner cartridges Used by laser printers, toner cartridges contain a dry powder bound to paper through heating.

Print head Similar to the drum found in laser printers, the print head transfers the image onto paper in inkjet and dot matrix printers.

Printer ribbon An ink printer ribbon is a cloth ribbon soaked in ink and is used in dot matrix printers.

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