PRINTER

In computing, a printer is a peripheral which makes a persistent human-readable representation of graphics or text on paper or similar physical media.

The world's first computer printer was a 19th-century mechanically driven apparatus invented by Charles Babbage for his difference engine.

TYPES OF PRINTER

DOT MATRIX

A type of impact printer that produces characters and illustrations by striking pins against an ink ribbon to print closely spaced dots in the appropriate shape. Dot-matrix printers are relatively expensive and do not produce high-quality output. However, they can print to multi-page forms (that is, carbon copies), something laser and ink-jet printers cannot do. 

INK JET

A type of printer that works by spraying ionized ink at a sheet of paper. Magnetized plates in the ink's path direct the ink onto the paper in the desired shapes. Ink-jet printers are capable of producing high quality print approaching that produced by laser printers. A typical ink-jet printer provides a resolution of 600 dots per inch, although some newer models offer higher resolutions.

LASER

A type of printer that utilizes a laser beam to produce an image on a drum. The light of the laser alters the electrical charge on the drum wherever it hits. The drum is then rolled through a reservoir of toner, which is picked up by the charged portions of the drum. Finally, the toner is transferred to the paper through a combination of heat and pressure. This is also the way copy machines work.

PHOTO PRINTER

Is a type of printer use for printing photographs.

DYE-SUBLIMATION PRINTER

Is a type of printer which employs a printing process that uses heat to transfer dye to a medium such as a plastic card, printer paper or poster paper.

                                               

THERMAL PRINTER

                                               

                                                     

 Is a type of printer that produces a printed image by selectively heating coated thermo chromic paper, or thermal paper as it is commonly known, when the paper passes over the thermal print head. The coating turns black in the areas where it is heated which then produce an image.

ALL IN ONE PRINTER

 A printer than can also do scanning, fax and make copies

                                                      

PLOTTER

 A large device use to print large posters and documents