ink-jet printer

References

Images

Diagram of an inkjet printer showing labeled parts such as ink cartridges, printhead, motors, and paper feed, with side illustrations explaining how heated bubbles force ink droplets onto paper.

ink-jet printer

Written by

The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last updated

June 29, 2026

Quick Summary

Diagram of an inkjet printer showing labeled parts such as ink cartridges, printhead, motors, and paper feed, with side illustrations explaining how heated bubbles force ink droplets onto paper. — Inkjet printer Color inkjet printers can produce nearly any color by simultaneously heating and depositing various amounts of pigment from black, cyan, magenta, and yellow ink cartridges.

An ink-jet printer is a type of non-impact computer printer that transfers text or images from a computer to a medium like paper. It works by spraying small drops of liquid ink onto the paper. Some ink-jet printers use electrically charged droplets of ink. Important characteristics of printers include resolution, speed, color capabilities, and memory.123

Summary created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

3 Britannica Sources

Ask Britannica AI about this topic

Britannica doesn't have a full article on this topic, so we've curated a list of our relevant coverage.

cybercrime
Counterfeiting and forgery
Ink-jet printers now account for a growing percentage of the counterfeit currency confiscated by the U.S. Secret Service. In 1995 ink-jet currency accounted for 0.5 percent of counterfeit U.S. currency; in 1997 ink-jet printers produced 19 percent of the illegal cash. By 2014 almost 60…
Read More
Ink-jet printers now account for a growing percentage of the counterfeit currency confiscated by the U.S. Secret Service. In 1995 ink-jet currency accounted for 0.5 percent of counterfeit U.S. currency; in 1997 ink-jet printers produced 19 percent of the illegal cash. By 2014 almost 60…
Read More

information processing
Printers
…type of nonimpact printer, the ink-jet printer, sprays electrically charged drops of ink onto the print surface.
Read More
…type of nonimpact printer, the ink-jet printer, sprays electrically charged drops of ink onto the print surface.
Read More

computer
Output devices
…home and small businesses is inkjet printing. The majority of inkjet printers operate by ejecting extremely tiny droplets of ink to form characters in a matrix of dots—much like dot matrix printers.
Read More
…home and small businesses is inkjet printing. The majority of inkjet printers operate by ejecting extremely tiny droplets of ink to form characters in a matrix of dots—much like dot matrix printers.
Read More

printer
…an area of the paper; ink-jet printers spray a jet of liquid ink; and thermal printers transfer wax-based ink or use heated pins to directly imprint an image on specially treated paper. Important printer characteristics include resolution (in dots per inch), speed (in sheets of paper printed per minute), colour…
Read More
…an area of the paper; ink-jet printers spray a jet of liquid ink; and thermal printers transfer wax-based ink or use heated pins to directly imprint an image on specially treated paper. Important printer characteristics include resolution (in dots per inch), speed (in sheets of paper printed per minute), colour…
Read More