Editing Multi-function printer (section)

== Types of MFPs ==
[[Image:Photosmart C3180.jpg|thumb|A [[Hewlett-Packard]] Photosmart C3180, featuring card readers and photo printing.  An example of an AIO.]]
[[Image:KonicaMinolta-bizhub210.png|thumb|A [[Konica Minolta]] bizhub 210.  An example of a freestanding SOHO MFP.]]
[[Image:Canon ir2270.jpg|thumb|A [[Canon (company)|Canon]] IR2270.  An example of a mid-range Office MFP.]]
[[Image:KonicaMinolta-bizhubC451.png|thumb|A [[Konica Minolta]] bizhub C451 with an attached finisher.  An example of a mid-range Office colour MFP.]]
[[Image:KonicaMinolta-bizhub750.png|thumb|A [[Konica Minolta]] bizhub 750.  An example of a high end Office Black and White MFP.]]

MFP manufacturers traditionally divided MFPs into various '''segments'''. The segments roughly divided the MFPs according to their speed in pages-per-minute (ppm) and duty-cycle/robustness.  However, many manufacturers{{quantify|date=October 2013}} are beginning to avoid the segment definition for their products, as speed and basic functionality alone do not always differentiate the many features that the devices include.  Two color MFPs of a similar speed may end in the same segment, despite having potentially very different feature-sets, and therefore very different prices.  From a [[marketing]] perspective, the manufacturer of the more expensive MFP would want to differentiate their product as much as possible to justify the price difference, and therefore avoids the segment definition.

Many MFP types, regardless of the category they fall into, also come in a "printer only" variety, which is the same model without the scanner unit included.  This can even occur with devices where the scanner unit physically appears highly integrated into the product.

{{As of | 2013}}, almost all printer manufacturers offer multifunction printers.  They are designed for home, small business, enterprise and commercial use.  Naturally, the cost, usability, robustness, throughput, output quality, etc. all vary with the various use cases.  However, they all generally do the same functions; [[printing]], [[Image scanner|scanning]], and [[photocopying]].  In the commercial/enterprise area, most MFP have used [[Laser printing|laser-printer]] technology, while the personal, SOHO environments, utilize [[Inkjet printing|inkjet]] methods.  Typically, inkjet printers have struggled with delivering the performance and color-saturation demanded by enterprise/large business use.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.itpro.co.uk/printers/innovation-at-work/24442/inkjets-vs-lasers-in-the-office|title = Inkjets vs. Lasers in the office| date=22 January 2014 }}</ref>  However, [[Hewlett-Packard|HP]] has recently{{when|date=October 2013}} launched a business-grade MFP using [[inkjet technology]].  From the 1980's to the 2010's, multi-function printers often included [[fax]] functionality, contemporary with the prevalence of fax machines in office communications.

In any case, instead of rigidly defined segments based on speed, more general definitions based on intended target audience and capabilities are becoming much more common {{as of | 2013 | lc = on}}.  While the sector lacks formal definitions, it is common agreed amongst MFP manufacturers<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mejorimpresora.com/multifuncion/|title=▷ Mejores Impresoras Multifunción - 【Guía de Compra 2023 】|accessdate=27 February 2023}}</ref> that the products fall roughly into the following categories:

===All-in-one===
An All-in-one is a small desktop unit, designed for home or home-office use.

These devices focus on scan and print functionality for home use, and may come with bundled software for organising photos, simple OCR and other uses of interest to a home user.  An All-in-one will always include the basic functions of Print and Scan, with most also including Copy functionality and a lesser number with [[Fax]] capabilities.

In the past, these devices were usually not networked, and were generally connected by [[USB]] or [[IEEE 1284|Parallel]]. {{As of | 2013}} even inexpensive all-in-one devices support [[ethernet]] and/or [[Wi-Fi]] connections. In some cases the wireless devices require connection to a host computer by wire (usually USB) to initialize the device, and once initial setup is done, support wireless operations for all the work performed thereafter.

All-in-one devices may have features oriented to home and personal use that are not found in larger devices. These functions include [[smart card]] readers, direct connection to [[digital camera]]s (e.g. [[PictBridge]] technology) and other similar uses.

The print engine of most All-in-one devices is based either on a home desktop [[Inkjet printing|inkjet printer]], or on a home desktop [[Laser printing|laser printer]].  They may be black-and-white or colour capable. Laser models provide a better result for text while inkjet gives a more convincing result for images and they are a cheaper multifunctional.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://comprar-impresora.com/multifuncion/|title=Multifuncion (Spanish)|date=8 November 2018}}</ref>

Some of these devices, like the [[Hewlett-Packard]] Photosmart C8180 printer, have a [[DVD]] burner and [[LightScribe]] functionality where the user could burn DVDs and create an image on a special Lightscribe DVD, or CD using special software like [[Roxio]] or [[Nero AG]] Software Suite to create the image. To create a Lightscribe image takes about 10 to 25 minutes.

===SOHO MFP===
A large desktop or small freestanding unit, designed for Small Office/Home Office use.  Often, the form factor of the MFP (desktop or freestanding) depends on the options added, such as extra paper trays.

Generally a SOHO MFP will have basic Print, Copy, Scan and Fax functionality only, but towards the larger end of the scale, may include simple document storage and retrieval, basic authentication functions and so on, making the higher end of the "SOHO" scale difficult to differentiate from the lower end of the "Office" MFP scale.

SOHO MFPs are usually networked, however may also be connected via USB or, less frequently, parallel.  SOHO MFPs may have basic finishing functionality such as duplexing, stapling and hole-punching, however this is rare. In general, document output offset, sorting and collation are standard capabilities.

By comparison to an All-in-one product, a SOHO MFP is more likely to have an automatic document feeder, greater fax capabilities and faster output-performance. Most SOHO MFPs have their history in low-end black and white [[photocopier]]s, and the print engine is accordingly based around this type of technology.

===Office MFP===
A mid-sized free-standing unit, designed as a central office system.

These units are usually the most fully featured type of MFP.  They include the basic Print, Copy and Scan functions with optional Fax functionality as well as networked document storage with security, authentication using common network user credentials, ability to run custom software (often a manufacturer will supply a [[Software development kit]]), advanced network scan destinations such as [[File Transfer Protocol|FTP]], [[WebDAV]], [[Email]], [[Server Message Block|SMB]] and [[Network File System|NFS]] stores, encryption for data transmission and so on.

Office MFPs usually have moderately advanced finishing functions as options such as duplexing, stapling, holepunching, [[offset mode]]s and booklet-creation.

Office MFPs are almost always networked, however some have optional or standard (but infrequently used) [[USB]] and [[IEEE 1284|parallel]] connections.
Most Office MFPs have their history in mid-range [[photocopier]]s (both colour and black-and-white), and the print engine is therefore based around this type of technology, however, [[Hewlett-Packard]] recently introduced two Office MFPs based on fixed-head inkjet technology.

===Production printing MFP===
A large free-standing unit, designed as a central printing-device or reprographic-department device.

These devices, while far larger and more expensive than Office MFPs, generally do not have all of the advanced network functionality of their smaller relations.  They instead concentrate on high-speed, high-quality output, and highly advanced finishing functionality including book creation with cover insertion (including hot-glue binding) and so on.  Production printing itself is often further divided into "light" production printing and "heavy" production printing, with the differentiating factor being the speed.  A 100ppm device for example, falls into the light production printing category by the standards of most manufacturers.

Because of the focus on printing, while most Production Printing MFPs have a scanner, it is infrequently used and often only has very basic functionality.

There are a variety of different print engines for Production Printing MFPs, however in the "light" end of the Production Printing market, most are based on the large Office MFPs, which themselves are based on [[photocopier]] technology as described above.
Production Printing MFPs may also be known as "[[Print on demand]]" devices, or "[[Digital printing|Digital presses]]".  This latter term can also be used to refer to the [[print controller]] controlling the MFP, however.