Literature Review on Printers

Computer printing has already moved through several stages of innovation, from the first daisy-wheel
and dot matrix impact printers to common use of the non-impact inkjet printers: inkjet,laser and
thermal-transfer. Both the internet and interactive multimedia are providing ways of employing the
printed word that adds new possibilities to print’s role in culture."Today's traditional lithographic print
industries, specifically firms that are SMEs are facing new

challenges, structural change and implementation of new system processes that must beaccounted into
the firms' future if the firm expects to compete in today's highly digitalized,networked business world. It
was written by Horton (1997) in the work entitled: "The Death of Print - The Global, Digital and Virtual
Onslaught on the Traditional Print Industry" that: "thetraditional print industry - composed of noisy
press, messy inks, hundreds of thousands of

impressions, highly skilled craftsmen, and a fearsome independence, is merging with other possible
versions of a print business - the computer output business, the design service business,the digital print
business, the electronic communication business, the global information business, and the customized
service business. As a result the print industry is undergoing a slowand often painful revolution, which
will take it into the 21st century just as a part of the global information and communication industry."
(Ibid)"

Printing technology

Inkjet printers have made rapid technological advances in recent years. First, the three-color printer
succeeded in making color inkjet printing an affordable option; but as the superior four-color models
became cheaper to produce and sell, it wound up being the standard and users' choice. Inkjet printing
has two chief benefits over laser printers: lower printer cost and color-printing capabilities. But while
inkjet printers are priced much less than laser printers, they are actually more expensive to use and
maintain. Cartridges need to be changed more frequently and the special coated paper required to
produce high-quality output is very expensive. At a cost per page level, inkjet printing costs about 10
times more than laser printing. Inkjet printing, like laser printing, is a non-impact process. Ink is emitted
from nozzles while they pass over media. The operation of an inkjet printer is easy to visualize: liquid ink
in various colors being squirted onto paper and other media, like plastic film and canvas, to build an
image. A print head scans the page in horizontal strips, using the printer's motor assembly to move it
from left to right and back again, while the paper is rolled up in vertical steps, again by the printer. A
strip (or row) of the image is printed, then the paper moves on, ready for the next strip.To speed things
up, the print head doesn’t print just a single row of pixels in each pass, but avertical row of pixels at a
time.There are several types of inkjet printing. The most common is "drop on demand" (DOD),
whichmeans squirting small droplets of ink onto paper through tiny nozzles; like turning a water hoseon
and off 5,000 times a second. The amount of ink propelled onto the page is determined by the print
driver software that dictates which nozzles shoot droplets, and when.The nozzles used in inkjet printers
are hairbreadth fine and on early models they became easilyclogged. On modern inkjet printers this is
rarely a problem, but changing cartridges can still bemessy on some machines. Another problem with
inkjet technology is a tendency for the ink to

strip (or row) of the image is printed, then the paper moves on, ready for the next strip.To speed things
up, the print head doesn’t print just a single row of pixels in each pass, but avertical row of pixels at a
time.There are several types of inkjet printing. The most common is "drop on demand" (DOD),
whichmeans squirting small droplets of ink onto paper through tiny nozzles; like turning a water hoseon
and off 5,000 times a second. The amount of ink propelled onto the page is determined by the print
driver software that dictates which nozzles shoot droplets, and when.The nozzles used in inkjet printers
are hairbreadth fine and on early models they became easilyclogged. On modern inkjet printers this is
rarely a problem, but changing cartridges can still bemessy on some machines. Another problem with
inkjet technology is a tendency for the ink to

Summary

Internet-printing businesses have been established that can print as many as 100k files in one night with
fast delivery to many global destinations worldwide. Flyers represent one main target of internet-
printing shops. Other printing applications relate to packaging or commercial printing to name a few
examples. The amount of printed newspapers has decreased presumably as a result of more intense use
of mobile devices to obtain news from all over the world. Lithographic plates represent one prerequisite
for modern offset printing comprising of dyes as sensitizers. The processed lithographic photopolymer
plates can print several 100,000 impressions without thermal post-treatment (baking) depending on the
press conditions. Photopolymers for imaging exhibit a high photosensitivity. The development of
semiconductor lasers has resulted in a quantitative substitution of gas lasers by these sources emitting
either in the near infrared (NIR) region (808 or 830 nm) or violet spectral part (405 nm.