Chapter 10. Printers

In this chapter

• The Printing Process

• Dot-Matrix Printers

• Inkjet Printers

• Laser and LED Printers

• Thermal Printers

• Dye-Sublimation Printers

• Solid-Ink Printers

• Installing Firmware and Software Drivers

If you want to get what you see on the screen onto a piece of paper, you need a printer.

All printers have the following characteristics in common:

• A method of transferring characters (and often graphics) to paper. Except for a tiny number of specialized printers that use heat-sensitive paper stock, this involves some sort of ink or toner as well as a mechanism to transfer the ink or toner to the paper.

• One or more methods of feeding paper stock.

• An interface that connects the printer with the computer.

• A "language" used by software to send commands to the computer.

The details of these features are what separate the various types of printers from each other.

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