subject: What Can Printers Do Besides Print Documents? [print this page] The world we live in is of absolute automation. Documents in the past were printed only on the type writers which were mostly found in the offices. But as time moved on, working requirements also changed and with the advent of computers the entire scenario changed altogether. The documents were then needed to be printed out on a special machine very different from the type writer called Printer. The printers are of different types. We will shortly define the types of printers which exist now:
* Dot matrix printers
* Laser jet printer
* Bubble jet printer
* Inkjet printer
* Colored laser jet printer
* Flat bed and vertical plotter
In addition there are some multi purpose machines which work as a scanner, as photocopier and printer as well. If installed remote from the computer they perform very well as a photocopier and a fax.
Printers are driven by their own software which is called a "Driver". The driver bridges the printer hardware with the software of the computer and controls all the functions of the printer. The role of the printer is not simply limited to its use as printer for computer generated documents instead. It has also served as a fax machine. Special FAX software in installed on the computer connected on the telephone line. Even if the printer is stand alone and no operator is using it, the fax is received on the printer.
Similarly, the term printing is mainly termed as generation of a document after it's processing from the computer, either as an image, or letter, or image after the scanning.
From the connection point of view there are two types of printers, the network printers and the non-network printers. The network printers are not directly connected to one computer directly, instead they have a connection with the Host Server which collects data from the terminal computers and then sends the command to the printer on "first come first serve basis". The stand alone or the non-network printers are directly connected with any terminal computer or a standalone terminal work through direct command from that machine.
The multi purpose machines that are a combination of a printer, scanner, copier and fax are also available in two different connection topology modes. As a professional, one should avoid the "All in One" printers. A break down of one component takes away the other working components as well.
Although these printers do a lot but they do not match the print quality of professional and commercial printing. If high quality or bulk printing is required then getting it done professionally has its advantages over multipurpose printers.
