Welcome back to another exciting post from CopyLady! Today we’re going to talk about the supplies in your machine, namely the toner, or ink. Whichever one your machine takes.

In this case, we’re going to talk about the differences between toner and ink.

Toner is commonly used in laser printers and copiers, while ink is found in inkjet printers and copiers. Ink is a liquid-based solution, while toner is made of very fine powder.

These differences matter quite a bit, especially in how it is applied to your document. Injket machines spray ink onto the paper in a precision controlled manner using what is known as a print head. From there, the sheet is air dried as it passes through and out of the machine.

Laser machines use imaging drums that have the image applied to them via a laser, then are charged with a high voltage to attract the toner powder to the areas of the drum that are hit by the laser. This is then applied to either a transfer roller, or a transfer belt, then to your document. From there, the document passes through a heated press roller, known as a fixing unit or fuser. This fuses the toner to the paper. This is why your documents come out nice and warm.

Inkjet machines employ a print head that moves back and forth across the sheet of paper. Depending on the document being printed, this can cause print speeds to vary. Laser machines on the other hand, do not employ a print head of any sort, but rather lasers, drums and a transfer belt/roller to create your document. This allows the machine to maintain a consistent print speed regardless of the document’s content.

One thing that does hold similarities between the two, is the waste containers. Many models of both inkjet and laser printer use waste containers. On inkjets, these containers are used to catch ink that is sprayed when the machine performs an automatic head cleaning. On laser machines, it is used to catch toner that does not adhere to the drums, transfer unit or the document. (Mind you this is not a whole lot)

Of course, there is also the yield, or how much you can print on a cartridge. Ink generally has a lower yield than toner in most cases. If you are operating in a large office environment where printing is big, laser is the way to go.

And here at CopyLady, we carry both laser AND inkjet machines! Give us a call today at 239-939-5383!