Laser Printing
Static electricity is the principle behind laser printers. A revolving drum or cylinder builds up an electrical charge. A tiny laser beam pointed at the drum discharges the surface in the pattern of the letters and images to be printed creating a surface with positive and negative areas. The surface is then coated with toner, a fine powder that is positively-charged so it clings only to the negatively-charged areas, and is then passed onto the paper to form the positive image. The paper then passes through heated rollers fusing the toner to the paper. Color lasers make multiple passes, in order to mix the different color toners.
Speed and lower operation costs make laser printers attractive to many businesses. Although black and white models (black toner) are relatively inexpensive and common in many homes and small offices, color lasers are still too expensive for most consumers. Color lasers can be found at service bureaus and printers and are often used to produce high-resolution color digital proofs. Laser printers have their own command language which translates the digital information in a file into the bitmap images printed on the page. Adobe PostScript capabilities found in many laser printers make them popular with graphic designers and desktop publishers who often utilize EPS images and PostScript files. Hewlett-Packard's PCL language is another popular command language used by laser printers.
In 1984 Hewlett-Packard produced the LaserJet, the first desktop laser printer. The following year, Adobe introduced PostScript, the industry standard Page Description Language (PDL) for professional typesetting. That same year Apple was the first to manufacture a desktop laser printer that contained PostScript — the LaserWriter printer. These desktop laser printers and technologies helped to launch the era of desktop publishing.
Speed and lower operation costs make laser printers attractive to many businesses. Although black and white models (black toner) are relatively inexpensive and common in many homes and small offices, color lasers are still too expensive for most consumers. Color lasers can be found at service bureaus and printers and are often used to produce high-resolution color digital proofs. Laser printers have their own command language which translates the digital information in a file into the bitmap images printed on the page. Adobe PostScript capabilities found in many laser printers make them popular with graphic designers and desktop publishers who often utilize EPS images and PostScript files. Hewlett-Packard's PCL language is another popular command language used by laser printers.
In 1984 Hewlett-Packard produced the LaserJet, the first desktop laser printer. The following year, Adobe introduced PostScript, the industry standard Page Description Language (PDL) for professional typesetting. That same year Apple was the first to manufacture a desktop laser printer that contained PostScript — the LaserWriter printer. These desktop laser printers and technologies helped to launch the era of desktop publishing.
Do You Need a PostScript Printer?
Not all laser printers use Adobe PostScript. Discover whether you need a PostScript-capable printer.
Not all laser printers use Adobe PostScript. Discover whether you need a PostScript-capable printer.
Laser Printers
About.com Printers/Scanners: Laser printers are great for printing black-and-white text and graphics. They're more expensive to buy than inkjet printers but are cheaper to run. Here's how they work.
About.com Printers/Scanners: Laser printers are great for printing black-and-white text and graphics. They're more expensive to buy than inkjet printers but are cheaper to run. Here's how they work.