Editing Printer (computing) (section)

== Attributes ==

=== Connectivity ===

Printers can be connected to computers in many ways: directly by a dedicated [[data cable]] such as the [[Universal Serial Bus|USB]], through a short-range radio like [[Bluetooth]], a [[local area network]] using cables (such as the [[Ethernet]]) or radio (such as [[WiFi]]), or on a standalone basis without a computer, using a [[memory card]] or other portable data storage device.

=== Printer control languages ===
Most printers other than line printers accept [[control character]]s or unique character sequences to control various printer functions.  These may range from shifting from lower to upper case or from black to red ribbon on typewriter printers to switching fonts and changing character sizes and colors on raster printers. Early printer controls were not standardized, with each manufacturer's equipment having its own set.  The IBM [[Personal Printer Data Stream]] (PPDS) became a commonly used command set for dot-matrix printers.

Today, most printers accept one or more [[page description language]]s (PDLs). Laser printers with greater processing power frequently offer support for variants of Hewlett-Packard's [[Printer Command Language]] (PCL), [[PostScript]] or [[XML Paper Specification]]. Most inkjet devices support manufacturer proprietary PDLs such as [[ESC/P]]. The diversity in mobile platforms have led to various standardization efforts around device PDLs such as the [[Printer Working Group]] (PWG's) [[PWG Raster]].

=== Printing speed ===

The speed of early printers was measured in units of ''characters per minute'' (cpm) for character printers, or ''lines per minute'' (lpm) for line printers. Modern printers are measured in ''pages per minute'' (ppm). These measures are used primarily as a marketing tool, and are not as well standardised as [[ISO/IEC 19752|toner yields]]. Usually pages per minute refers to sparse monochrome office documents, rather than dense pictures which usually print much more slowly, especially color images. Speeds in ppm usually apply to [[ISO 216|A4 paper]] in most countries in the world, and [[letter (paper size)|letter]] paper size, about 6% shorter, in North America.

=== Printing mode ===

The data received by a printer may be:
* [[plain text|A string of characters]]
* [[raster graphics|A bitmapped image]]
* [[vector graphics|A vector image]]
* A [[computer program]] written in a [[page description language]], such as [[page description language|PCL]] or [[PostScript]]

Some printers can process all four types of data, others not.
* Character printers, such as [[daisy wheel printer]]s, can handle only plain text data or rather simple point plots.
* Pen [[plotter]]s typically process [[vector image]]s. Inkjet based plotters can adequately reproduce all four.
* Modern printing technology, such as [[Laser printing|laser printer]]s and [[inkjet printer]]s, can adequately reproduce all four. This is especially true of printers equipped with support for PCL or PostScript, which includes the vast majority of printers produced today.

Today it is possible to print everything (even plain text) by sending ready bitmapped images to the printer. This allows better control over formatting, especially among machines from different vendors. Many [[printer driver]]s do not use the text mode at all, even if the printer is capable of it.<ref name=":1" />

===Monochrome, color and photo printers===
A monochrome printer can only produce [[Monochrome|monochrome images]], with only shades of a single [[color]].  Most printers can produce only two colors, black (ink) and white (no ink). With [[half-tonning]] techniques, however, such a printer can produce acceptable [[grayscale|grey-scale]] images too

A color printer can produce images of multiple colors. A photo printer is a color printer that can produce images that mimic the [[gamut|color range]] (gamut) and [[image resolution|resolution]] of prints made from [[photographic film]].

===Page yield===

The page yield is the number of pages that can be printed from a [[toner cartridge]] or [[ink cartridge]]—before the cartridge needs to be refilled or replaced.
The actual number of pages yielded by a specific cartridge depends on a number of factors.<ref>[http://static.highspeedbackbone.net/html/printeryieldguide.html "The Science Behind Page Counts, Cartridge Yields and The 5% Rule"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150215032442/http://static.highspeedbackbone.net/html/printeryieldguide.html |date=15 February 2015 }}.</ref>

For a fair comparison, many laser printer manufacturers use the [[ISO/IEC 19752]] process to measure the toner cartridge yield.<ref name="measuring_yield">
[ "Printer & Page Yield Overview"].
Hewlett-Packard.
</ref><ref>[https://www.lexmark.com/en_us/products/supplies-and-accessories/iso-page-yields.html "ISO Page Yields"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170806180732/https://www.lexmark.com/en_us/products/supplies-and-accessories/iso-page-yields.html |date=6 August 2017 }}.
quote: "Many original equipment manufacturers of printers and multifunction products (MFPs), including Lexmark, utilize the international industry standards for page yields (ISO/IEC 19752, 19798, and 24711)."</ref>

===Economics===
In order to fairly compare operating expenses of printers with a relatively small [[ink cartridge]] to printers with a larger, more expensive [[toner cartridge]] that typically holds more toner and so prints more pages before the cartridge needs to be replaced, many people prefer to estimate operating expenses in terms of [[cost per page]] (CPP).<ref name="measuring_yield" />

Retailers often apply the [[Razor and blades model|"razor and blades" model]]: a company may sell a printer at cost and make profits on the [[ink cartridge]], paper, or some other [[spare part|replacement part]]. This has caused legal disputes regarding the right of companies other than the printer manufacturer to sell [[computer compatibility|compatible]] ink cartridges. To protect their business model, several manufacturers invest heavily in developing new cartridge technology and patenting it.

Other manufacturers, in reaction to the challenges from using this business model, choose to make more money on printers and less on ink, promoting the latter through their advertising campaigns. Finally, this generates two clearly different proposals: "cheap printer&nbsp;– expensive ink" or "expensive printer&nbsp;– cheap ink". Ultimately, the consumer decision depends on their reference [[interest rate]] or their [[time preference]]. From an [[economics]] viewpoint, there is a clear [[trade-off]] between cost per copy and cost of the printer.

=== Printer steganography ===
[[File:Printer Steganography Illustration.png|thumb|An illustration showing small yellow tracking dots on white paper, generated by a color laser printer]]
{{Main|Printer steganography}}

Printer steganography is a type of [[steganography]] – "hiding data within data"<ref>{{Cite journal |doi = 10.1109/4236.935180|title = Digital steganography: Hiding data within data|journal = IEEE Internet Computing|volume = 5|issue = 3|pages = 75–80|year = 2001|last1 = Artz|first1 = D.}}</ref> – produced by color printers, including [[Brother Industries|Brother]], [[Canon (company)|Canon]], Dell, [[Seiko Epson|Epson]], [[Hewlett-Packard|HP]], IBM, [[Konica Minolta]], [[Kyocera]], Lanier, [[Lexmark]], [[Ricoh]], [[Toshiba]] and [[Xerox]]<ref>{{cite web|title=List of Printers Which Do or Do Not Display Tracking Dots|url=https://www.eff.org/pages/list-printers-which-do-or-do-not-display-tracking-dots|publisher=[[Electronic Frontier Foundation]]|date=2007-09-20|access-date=11 March 2011|archive-date=20 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170120103601/https://www.eff.org/pages/list-printers-which-do-or-do-not-display-tracking-dots|url-status=live}} Retrieved 11 March 2011.</ref> brand color laser printers, where tiny yellow dots are added to each page. The dots are barely visible and contain encoded printer serial numbers, as well as date and time stamps.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-06-03 |title=Why printers add secret tracking dots |url=https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20170607-why-printers-add-secret-tracking-dots |access-date=2025-03-31 |website=www.bbc.com |language=en-GB | archive-url = https://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/index2.php?url=https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20170607-why-printers-add-secret-tracking-dots#federation=archive.wikiwix.com&tab=url | archive-date = 2025-03-31}}</ref>