What kind of printing technologies have been invented until today?

Many people would give the following answer to this question: dot-matrix, inkjet and laser technology. You would be right if you are listing the most common ones. However, there are more ways to print. In this article you can get to know them. For visual representation, please check the end of the article. The easiest way for you to think about printing technologies is to make a distinction between impact and non-impact technology.

• Impact – these printers include all those that have a mechanism for touching the paper. They include:

Dot matrix printers – they produce printout through the help of series of small pins, which strike an inked ribbon and thus cause the ink to transfer to the paper at the point if impact.

Character printers – they are much like computerized typewriters. They have a ball or series of bars with actual letters and numbers embossed on the surface. The required character is struck against the ink ribbon, transferring the character's image to the paper.

• Non-impact – these printers do not touch the paper while producing a printout. Here they are:

Inkjet printers make a printout by spraying drops of ink straight on the paper with the help of nozzles.

Laser printers – they use toner, static electricity, and heat to place and attach the ink onto the paper. Solid ink printers have sticks of wax-like ink that are melted and applied to the paper. The ink then hardens and the printout is ready.

Dye-sublimation printers contain a long roll of transparent film which resembles sheets of red-, blue-, yellow- and gray-colored cellophane attached together end to end. This film has inside solid dyes of to the four basic colors used in printing: cyan, magenta, yellow and black (CMYK). The print head uses a heating element that differs in temperature, depending on the amount of a certain color that needs to be applied. The dyes vaporize and enter the glossy surface of the paper before they return to solid form. The printer runs the long roll completely over the paper for each of the basic colors. Thus step by step the image is produced. Thermal wax printers function as a hybrid of dye-sublimation and solid ink technologies. They use a ribbon with alternating CMYK color bands. The ribbon passes in front of a print head which has many tiny heated pins. The pins make the wax melt and attach to the paper, where it hardens right away.

Thermal autochrome printers are different from other printer types because they have the color in the paper instead of in the printer. Wrapped between a base material and a protective heat-resistant layer, the three layers (cyan, magenta and yellow) in the paper, are activated by the application of a specific amount of heat. The print head has a heating element that can differ in temperature. When it goes over the paper three times, it provides the required temperature for each color layer.