Editing Inkjet printing (section)

{{Short description|Type of computer printing}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2019}}
{{More citations needed|date=August 2018}}
[[File:Canon PIXMA TS207 Printer picture.jpg|thumb|A typical inkjet printer]]
{{History of printing}}

'''Inkjet printing''' is a type of [[printer (computing)|computer printing]] that recreates a [[digital image]] by propelling droplets of ink onto paper or plastic substrates.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Definition of INK-JET |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ink-jet |access-date=2025-05-06 |website=www.merriam-webster.com |language=en}}</ref> Inkjet printers were the most commonly used type of printer in 2008,<ref name="Auto5I-1">{{cite web|url=http://printscan.about.com/od/printerscannertypes/Types_of_Printers_and_Scanners.htm | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20080912034215/http://printscan.about.com/od/printerscannertypes/Types_of_Printers_and_Scanners.htm | archivedate = 2008-09-12|title=Printer / Scanner Types |publisher=Printscan.about.com |date=11 July 2012 |access-date=12 September 2012}}</ref>{{Needs update|date=February 2025}} and range from small inexpensive consumer models to expensive professional machines. By 2019, [[laser printing|laser printers]] outsold inkjet printers by nearly a 2:1 ratio, 9.6% vs 5.1% of all computer peripherals.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Computer peripherals market share by type 2021 |url=https://www.statista.com/statistics/541415/worldwide-printer-market-installed-base-by-type/ |access-date=2025-05-06 |website=Statista |language=en}}</ref>

The concept of inkjet printing originated in the 20th century, and the technology was first extensively developed in the early 1950s. While working at [[Canon Inc.|Canon]] in Japan, Ichiro Endo suggested the idea for a "bubble jet" printer, while around the same time Jon Vaught at [[Hewlett-Packard]] (HP) was developing a similar idea.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.osa.org/en-us/history/biographies/bios/ichiro_endo/|publisher=The Optical Society|title=Ichiro Endo bio|accessdate=2021-04-08}}</ref>  In the late 1970s, inkjet printers that could [[Digital printing|reproduce digital images]] generated by computers were developed, mainly by [[Epson]], HP and Canon. In the worldwide consumer market, four manufacturers account for the majority of inkjet printer sales: Canon, HP, Epson and [[Brother Industries|Brother]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kelly |first=Allan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S61220T-4a8C&dq=four+manufacturers+account+for+the+majority+of+inkjet+printer+sales:+Canon,+HP,+Epson+and+Brother&pg=PT164 |title=Business Patterns for Software Developers |date=2012-04-10 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1-119-95072-1 |language=en}}</ref>

In 1982, Robert Howard came up with the idea to produce a small color printing system that used piezos to spit drops of ink. He formed the company, R.H. (Robert Howard) Research (named Howtek, Inc. in Feb 1984), and developed the revolutionary technology that led to the Pixelmaster color printer with [[solid ink]]<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Howard|first=Robert|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/455879561|title=Connecting the dots : my life and inventions, from X-rays to death rays|date=2009|publisher=Welcome Rain|isbn=978-1-56649-957-6|location=New York, NY|pages=196|oclc=455879561}}</ref> using Thermojet technology. This technology consists of a tubular single nozzle acoustical wave drop generator invented originally by Steven Zoltan in 1972 with a glass nozzle and improved by the Howtek inkjet engineer in 1984 with a Tefzel molded nozzle to remove unwanted fluid frequencies.

The emerging [[ink jet material deposition]] market also uses inkjet technologies, typically printheads using [[piezoelectric]] crystals, to deposit materials directly on substrates.

The technology has been extended and the 'ink' can now also comprise [[solder paste]] in [[PCB assembly]], or living cells,<ref>{{cite journal|author1=Faulkner, A.|author2=Shu, W.|title=Biological cell printing technologies|journal=Nanotechnology Perceptions|date=2012|volume=8|pages=35–57|doi=10.4024/N02FA12A.ntp.08.01|doi-access=free}}</ref> for creating [[biosensors]] and for [[tissue engineering]].<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.rsc.org/books/edited-volume/647/Reactive-Inkjet-Printing-A-Chemical-Synthesis-Tool |title=Reactive Inkjet Printing: A Chemical Synthesis Tool |date=2017-11-27 |publisher=The Royal Society of Chemistry |isbn=978-1-78262-767-8 |language=en}}</ref>

Images produced on inkjet printers are sometimes sold under [[trade name]]s such as [[Digigraph]], [[Iris printer|Iris prints]], [[giclée]], and [[Cromalin]].<ref name="TrueStory">{{cite web |last=Johnson |first=Harald |year=2006 |title=What's In a Name: The True Story of Giclée |website=dpandi.com |url=http://www.dpandi.com/giclee/giclee.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140224002814/http://www.dpandi.com/giclee/giclee.html |archive-date=2014-02-24}}</ref> Inkjet-printed fine art reproductions are commonly sold under such trade names to imply a higher-quality product and avoid association with everyday printing.