Installing and Configuring

Printers
What is a printer?

► An external hardware device responsible for

taking computer data and generating a hard
copy of that data. Printers are one of the most
commonly used peripherals and they print
text and still images on the paper.
“Factors affecting print quality”

► DPI:
► It is a measurement of printer’s resolution indicating how many
ink dots can be placed by the printer in one square inch. The
higher the DPI, the sharper is image.
► Type of printer:
► Each type of printer has its own capabilities of printing. Some
types of printers produce high quality print while other produce
low quality print.
► Print Mode:
► The printing mode may also affect the quality. For example the
draft mode increases the print rate but quality is reduced.
► Toner:
► The quality and amount of toner also affects print quality.
“Impact Printer”
•These printers have a
mechanism that touches
the paper to create an
image. These printers
work by banging a print
head containing a
number of metal pins
which strike an inked
• An
impact printer showing
ribbon placed between details of print head
the print head and the
paper.
“Non-Impact Printers”

•These printers create an

image on the print
medium without the use
of force. They don’t
touch the paper while
creating an image.
Non-impact printers are
much quieter than A non-impact printer
impact printers as they
don’t strike the paper.
 “Dot Matrix Printer”

•The term dot matrix refers to

the process of placing dots
to form an image.
•Its speed is usually 30 to 550
characters per second (cps).
•This is the cheapest and the
most noisy printer and has a
low print quality. Dot Matrix
were 1st introduced by
Centronics in 1970.
“Advantages/Dis-advantages of Dot-Matrix”

► Advantages:
(1) In-expensive.
(2) Low per page cost.
(3) Energy efficient.
► Dis-advantages:
(1) Noisy
(2) Low resolution
(3) Limited fonts flexibility
(4) Poor quality graphics output.
 “Daisy Wheel Printer”

•A daisy wheel printer is

basically an impact printer
consisting of a wheel and
attached extensions on
which molded characters
are mounted. A daisy wheel
printer produces letter
quality print and it can’t
produce graphics output.
 “Ink-Jet Printer”
•It is a non-impact printer
producing a high quality
print. A standard Inkjet
printer has a resolution of
300dpi. Newer models have
further improved dpi. Inkjet
printers were introduced in
the later half of 1980s and
are very popular owing to
their extra-ordinary
performance.
Advantages/ Dis-advantages

► Advantages:
(1) High resolution output.
(2) Energy efficient.
(3) Many options to select.
► Dis-advantages:
(1) Expensive.
(2) Special paper required for higher resolution
output.
(3) Time consuming in case of graphics printing.
How Inkjet Printer works?

► Print head having four ink cartridges moves .

► Software instructs where to apply dots of ink, which
color and what quantity to use.

Color cartridge showing inkjet nozzles.

Thermal Printer
► Thermal printers are
in-expensive printers mostly
used in fax machines. The
Thermal printers are further
classified into two types.
(1) Electro thermal printers:
(2) Thermal Wax printers:

A fax machine using a thermal printer

“Laser Printer”

► Laser printers use very

advanced technology
and produce a high
quality output. Laser
printers can also
produce high quality
graphics images.
► Resolution is 600 to
1200dpi.
 “Multi-function printer”
► A multi function printer
abbreviated as MFP is an
all purpose device that
prints, faxes, copies and
scans. A single multi
function printer can
replace several bulky
devices. These printers use
inkjet technology and
provide high quality print
but at slow speed.
 “Plotter”
► A large scale printer which is
very accurate in producing
engineering drawings and
architectural blueprints.
► Two types of plotters are
flatbed and drum.
► Flatbed plotters are
horizontally aligned while
drum plotters are vertically
positioned.
Parts of a Typical Ink(bubble)-Jet Printer

► Print Head/Ink Cartridge

► Print head - The core of an inkjet
printer, the print head contains a
series of nozzles that are used to
spray drops of ink.
► Ink cartridges - Depending on the
manufacturer and model of the
printer, ink cartridges come in
various combinations, such as
separate black and colour
cartridges, colour and black in a
single cartridge or even a cartridge
for each ink colour. The cartridges
Parts of a Typical Bubble-Jet Printer

► Print head stepper motor - A stepper motor moves the print head
assembly (print head and ink cartridges) back and forth across the paper.
Some printers have another stepper motor to park the print head
assembly when the printer is not in use. Parking means that the print head
assembly is restricted from accidentally moving, like a parking brake on a
car.
► Belt - A belt is used to attach the print head assembly to the stepper
motor.
► Stabilizer bar - The print head assembly uses a stabilizer bar to ensure that
movement is precise and controlled.
► Paper feed assembly:
► Paper tray/feeder - Most inkjet printers have a tray that you load the
paper into. Some printers dispense with the standard tray for a feeder
instead. The feeder typically snaps open at an angle on the back of the
printer, allowing you to place paper in it. Feeders generally do not hold as
much paper as a traditional paper tray.
► Rollers - A set of rollers pull the paper in from the tray or feeder and
advance the paper when the print head assembly is ready for another
pass.
► Paper feed stepper motor - This stepper motor powers the rollers to move
the paper in the exact increment needed to ensure a continuous image is
printed.
► Power supply - While earlier printers often had an external transformer,
most printers sold today use a standard power supply that is incorporated
into the printer itself.
► Control circuitry - A small but sophisticated amount of circuitry is built into
the printer to control all the mechanical aspects of operation, as well as
decode the information sent to the printer from the computer.
► Interface port(s) - The parallel port is still used by many printers, but most
newer printers use the USB port. A few printers connect using a serial port
or small computer system interface (SCSI) port.
Laser Printer 6 Steps

► Remember the line "Charlie Can Walk Dance & Talk French". The first
letters are in the order of the 6 steps.
❑ Cleaning: Excess toner is scraped from the photoelectric drum.
❑ Conditioning: A uniform -600 volt charge is placed on the photoelectric
drum by the primary corona.
❑ Writing: Laser diodes write an invisible electric image on the photoelectric
drum by causing the drum surface to be less negative wherever the laser
beam hits.
❑ Developing: This is where the transfer roller places the toner on the drum.
The toner sticks to the areas that have had the electric charge lessened
due to the laser beam.
❑ Transfer: The secondary corona uses a positive charge to attract the toner
from the drum to the paper. The paper gets charged by corona too.
❑ Fusing: The toner is then melted into the paper.
❑ Cleaning: During the first stage of the image formation process, a photosensitive
drum's surface is prepared to hold an image through a physical and electrical cleaning
process. Before a new image is formed on the drum, leftover toner from the previous
image must be removed. This is accomplished by a rubber-cleaning blade which scrapes
toner off the drum into a debris cavity. The drum is also electrostatically cleaned by
erase lamps which illuminate the drum's photosensitive material to neutralize any
electrical charges that remain on the drum.
❑ Conditioning: After the photosensitive drum has been physically and electrically
cleaned, it must be conditioned. The conditioning process consists of the application of
a uniform negative charge on the surface of the photosensitive drum by the primary
corona wire. A high negative voltage is applied to the primary corona wire by the high
voltage power supply. Negative charges from the wire migrate to the surface of the
drum. The primary corona grid is positioned between the primary corona and the
drum's surface to regulate the voltage applied to the drums that a uniform negative
charge is applied.
❑ Writing: After rotating past the conditioning station, the drum has a uniform high
negative charge on its surface. At the writing station, a sweeping laser beam is used to
discharge this potential in selected areas by focusing laser light on selected portions of
the photosensitive drum. This creates what is known as an electrostatic image. This
image is later developed into a visible image. Portions of the drum not exposed to the
laser still have a high negative charge.
❑ Developing: At the developing station, the invisible electrostatic image is
developed into a visible image on the photosensitive drum when toner from a
developer cylinder is transferred to discharged areas on the drum. The toner
particles acquire a negative charge from the developer cylinder which is connected
a negative DC power supply. This electrostatic charge causes the toner particles to
be attracted to the areas of the drum which have been exposed to the laser light
and repelled to the areas not exposed. An AC potential is applied to the developer
cylinder to assist the attraction of the toner from the developer cylinder to the
photosensitive drum.
❑ Transfer: At the transfer station, the toner image on the photosensitive drum is
transferred to the paper. A corona wire is positioned behind the paper so that the
paper, which is traveling the same speed as the drum's surface is rotating, contacts
the drum. This corona produces a positive charge on the paper. Because the
positive charges on the paper are stronger, they pull the negatively charged toner
particles off the drum and on to the paper. As the paper and drum advance, a row
of metal teeth with a high negative charge called the static charge eliminator
weakens the attractive force between the negatively charged drum and the
positively charged paper. This helps separate the photosensitive drum and paper.
❑ Fusing : Until the paper reaches the fusing station the toner is held on the paper
only by gravity and weak electrostatic forces. At the fusing station, toner is melted
and forced into the paper by pressure and heat of the fusing roller to produce a
permanent image. The heat of the fusing roller is maintained by a high intensity
lamp inside the fusing roller. At this point the finished print is ejected and the
process is restarted from stage one.
Interface Types

► There are two major classifications here: wired and wireless. Wired
examples are serial, parallel, USB, and Ethernet. Wireless options include
802.11, Bluetooth, and infrared.
► Serial: When computers send data serially, they send it 1 bit at a time, one
after another.
► Parallel: When a printer uses parallel communication, it is receiving data 8
bits at a time over eight separate wires (one for each bit). A parallel cable
consists of a male DB25 connector that connects to the computer and a
male 36-pin Centronics connector that connects to the printer.
► Universal Serial Bus (USB): The most popular type of printer interface is
the Universal Serial Bus (USB).
► Ethernet: Ethernet interface that allows to connect directly to an Ethernet
cable. These printers have an internal network interface card (NIC) that
allow them to communicate on the network with servers and
workstations.
Interface Types

► Wireless: Some printers have built-in WiFi interfaces, while others has
option to attach wireless network cards.

Printer -Parallel
Cable
 Thank You
► Any Questions ??