All businesses today are involved in various types of paper work and document controlling in one form or another. Traditionally such documents were prepared manually by pen and paper. After the invention of the typewriter, such documents were prepared more cost effectively and all enjoyed significant productivity increases in the office. However, even though businesses enjoyed increases in productivity and more professional presented documents, copies of such documents on a larger scale, still meant quite labor intensive processing, and from this developed the typing pool where many secretaries would work diligently at producing copies throughout their work day.
In contemporary times with the rise of the computer and information technology revolution, document creation and controlling has grown significantly into a very cost effective and crucial sector of the business world. Since the invention of desktop printers, businesses can create multiple documents for distribution quickly and efficiently on the fly, resulting in major increases in effective communication and productivity. As well as the cost effective benefits, operators can now produce a multitude of different kinds of documents, many using colour pictures to communicate a message rather than just 12 point text. Consequently with all such benefits, printers have now become standard equipment in business offices all over the world.
There are many different types of printers for many different types of applications, but generally such are divided into two major sub-types, INKJET and LASER.
Laser printers have actually been in the market place for over three decades now and represent a cost effective way of producing high volume quality text documents. This type of printer comprises of an electro statically charged drum unit together with toner powder and a heat press fuser system. Basically the system works by converting binary information sent from the computer into laser firings which charge the drum up in areas where the text is to go. Then the drum rotates to the toner powder and the toner is attracted to the drum and then paper is fed through the transport system where the image on the drum is transferred to the paper. The paper with the attached toner then proceeds through a heat press system, where the loosely laid toner is melted into the fibres of the paper page. The major advantage of laser printers over others is the cost per page is generally much lower. The major disadvantage is the quality is not as high as with inkjet printers. If producing high quality colour for presentations is a need, then an inkjet printer would produce far superior results. If quality is not such an issue, then, a laser printer would be far cheaper to run and hence the natural choice for this particular need.
Inkjet printers are a relatively new to the printing market and use a different technology to create an image to paper. Such printers use cartridge tanks full of liquid ink combined with a print head assembly which comprises of hundreds of microscopic nozzles. The print head is surrounded by heating plates and it is this heating that forces the ink to expand from the cartridge through the print head nozzles and onto the paper directly. Binary information received from the computer dictate which heating plates are turned on and which colour ink tank cartridge is activated. Because of the viscosity of the ink and the microscopic nozzles, inkjet printers can produce significantly higher dots per inch ink coverage, ultimately resulting in extremely high quality prints. The major advantage of inkjet printers is quality of the print produced, while the major disadvantage is the cost per page to produce is quite high compared to their laser cousins. Other advantages of inkjet over laser is the fact that inkjet can print onto many different types of media such as cd and dvd rom discs, clothing, a greater variety of speciality and transfer papers and papers that range from as low as 40gsm right throughout to up to 300gsm thickness and density. Furthermore many such printers now can print directly from digital cameras and often such printers are packed with additional multi-function devices such as a scanner and fax machine.
So the question for prospective purchasers of printers really depends on their individual needs. If quality of produced output is crucial, then inkjet technology would be the natural choice. If higher volume, lower quality is acceptable, then laser is the obvious choice.
What also need to be kept in mind are the differences between such printers in respect to initial cost and day to day running expenses. The main rule of thumb in the industry generally suggests that the greater the initial purchase price of the printer, the lower the cost in regards the cost per page for ink and toner consumables.
Keeping such factors as quality and operating cost in mind, there are ways of making significant savings on the inkjet and laser toner cartridges to lower the cost per page.
1. Setting the printer up in draft mode for less important documents, illustrations and charts reduces hugely the use of ink and toner. This is an ideal way for business to reduce consumable consumption and the quality is acceptable for internal communiqués and meeting minutes and other organisational papers.
2. Users can become more vigilant in respect to producing photos. Rather than printing a whole photo on a page, they could save a lot of toner and/or ink by cropping the key areas only. This will have the effect of reducing the percentage of ink needed to cover the page and by extension reduce the use of the ink or toner needed to produce.
3. Undertake regular maintenance cycles on the printer. In regards to inkjet printers this would mean doing a print head clean and alignment at least once per week to reduce the incidence of streaky prints and by extension wasted printed sheets. Blocked print heads tend to waste ink because even though the ink is not actually making it to the paper, it’s being diverted away to the waste pad inside the printer. Furthermore Ink cartridges need to be replaced regularly and preferably not exhausted completely of ink. The reason for this is that the ink also acts as a coolant for the heating plates inside the print head. If the inkjet printer is used with very low ink levels, then there is a significant potential for the plates to fuse out and stop functioning, rendering the printer unusable. For laser printers, its important to make sure the paper used is not damp, as this can significantly affect quality and also create jams in the machine ultimately resulting in wasted pieces of printed matter being consumed. Furthermore regular servicing by maintenance personnel ensures quality is kept to optimum and as such if quality is high, then users are likely to save more pieces of useful work.
4. Using fully guaranteed generic and remanufactured cartridges from inkjet cartridge wholesalers for both ink jet and laser printers can significantly reduce operating costs. inkjetwholesale.com.au is a typical on line discounter of these products and they supply both fully guaranteed and certified generic and branded OEM inkjet and toner cartridges at hugely discounted prices. For those wishing to save even more on their inkjet printing consumables, inkjetwholesale.com.au also offer deluxe do-it-yourself DIY refill kits. Furthermore they offer a large range of combination bulk buy packs of these inkjet and toner cartridges saving users even more. With warehouses located across the country, inkjetwholesale.com.au also are able to provide fast shipping nationwide. They are constantly updating their online catalog and adding new inkjet and laser toner products and are committed to providing superior fully guaranteed inkjet and toner cartridges at the lowest prices in Australia.
