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Glossary
Buffer
The storage memory your printer uses to hold incoming data when it arrives faster than your printer's engine can handle. This allows you to return to your application faster.
Cartridge
The actual encasement, which holds the ink. Some cartridges function as an "ink tank", while others actually contain a print-head assembly that disperses the ink on the paper.
Consumables
The supplies that your printer uses up while accomplishing it's job: toner, ink, paper, labels, etc.
Core
Refers to the empty cartridge shell, regardless whether it is an inkjet or laser cartridge.
Cyan
A dark blue color ink, when mixed with the Magenta and Yellow ink will create a variety of colors in the blue and violet family.
Device Driver
Software that controls hardware devices such as printers. A driver acts as an interpreter, ensuring that your printer properly understands commands send by software.
Duplexing
A printer's ability to print on both sides of a page with one pass through the machine.
Duty Cycle
The measure of a printer engine's durability, usually defined as the number of pages per month the printer can produce without straining.
Dye Sublimation
Sometimes called "thermal dye sublimation" or "dye diffusion," this technology is capable of producing true photo-quality prints. Dye sublimation uses ribbons with penetrating dyes rather than inks. Thousands of heating elements in the printhead cause the dye to melt into a gas (sublimate), which is absorbed by the paper. Variations in temperature vary the amount of dye that sublimates, thus varying the color intensity. The color palette is virtually unlimited and yields true photo-quality images. Except for the latest photo printers, dye sublimation machines are expensive, as is the cost of their prints.
Ink
A specially formulated liquid, usually with a dye base. Majorities of inks are water-based liquids.
Ink Jet
Inkjets have a one-line-wide, nozzle-laden printhead that moves across a page distributing ink. The "bubblejet" technology developed by Canon uses thermal inkjets, which involve a heating element that causes tiny steam bubbles to rise from the ink cartridge through the nozzles, pushing a "burst" of ink onto the page. Epson's design uses an electro-mechanical process, instead. Here, the inkjet nozzles are made of piezoelectric crystal, which has the ability to bend when electricity is applied to it. Receiving an electric jolt, the nozzles move into the cartridge, forcing ink to squirt out onto the page.
Jet
Commonly referred to as a nozzle. (See Nozzle below)
Jet Pak
A mail away system to professionally re-manufacture an inkjet cartridge. Saves you... guess what! (see "Money" below).
Laser Toner
A printing technology which uses very fine electro-magnetically charged
particles (usually called toner). The particles are dispersed onto the paper
and heated to a temperature that causes these particles to become embedded
into the paper. This process is called fusing.
Magenta
A dark red color ink, when mixed with Cyan or Yellow, will create colors in the red/orange/brown family.
Micro Dry Ink
Patented by Alps Electric, this technology uses ribbons of dry, colored inks, packed in cassettes and located in four compartments. The ribbons are positioned between the paper and a moving thermal printhead, which melts the ink, transferring it to paper where it quickly dries and hardens. This technology can create near-photo-quality images and prints that are water-proof (unlike inkjet prints), smudge-free and fade-resistant.
modelinkjet.com
A company, which wants to save you money on printing costs. Also the company responsible for this glossary.
Money
Something you work very hard for and we in turn make every effort to save it for you. "Money Saved" is a measure of your shopping savvy.
Nozzle
Tiny tubes, which allow for a heated ink bubble to travel through as it cools. Also, the one vital area of the print-head which needs to be cleaned occasionally or replaced.
OEM
Stands for "Original Equipment Manufacturer". These are the nice people that
make your printers and offer consumable products (usually made by someone
else but under their trademark) to be used in their machines. Can also mean
"Original Evasive Maneuvers" when you ask the salesperson why the ink
cartridge costs so much, while the printer was so cheap.
Page Description Language (PDL)
The language and commands that tell your printer how to create an image in print. Most printers use either HP's PCL or Adobe's PostScript.
Parallel Port
A computer interface that communicates with an external device such as a printer. In parallel mode, data is sent eight bits at a time through eight wires. Parallel data transfer is faster than serial transfer, but only reliable over distances of 20 feet or less.
Print Speed
Measured in pages per minute in two ways. "Rated engine speed" - the number of pages of "text only" that a printer can produce in one minute using internal fonts. "Throughput" - how fast raw data is turned into hard copy.
Printer
The piece of equipment that every "Printer Manufacturer" wants to sell you very cheap. Then wait with great anticipation for the day you return to the store and purchase that expensive consumable product.
Print-alignment
The proper setting of the ink nozzles and the print-head. May at times be out of whack if cartridge was not properly inserted into the "cartridge carriage". Will definitely be out of whack if Printer is suddenly dropped.
Print-Head
The important part of a printer, which contains electrical circuitry and the nozzles to heat and disperse the ink during printing. You should avoid touching or cleaning the print- head unless you have an approved solution.
Printer Memory/RAM
Random Access Memory inside your printer that stores data sent from your computer. The more complex your documents, the more printer memory you need.
Resolution
The image quality of a printed page, usually measured by the number of dots per inch printed. When describing halftone image quality, it may be measured by lines per inch. The more dots or lines per inch, the better the image quality.
Serial Port
A computer interface that communicates with an external device such as a printer. In serial mode, data is sent one bit at a time through one wire. Serial transfer is slower than parallel, but can be accomplished effectively over much longer distances, i.e. 20 feet or more.
Thermal Transfer Ribbon
A wide ribbon, looks like carbon paper but operates under the principal of applied heat. Usually this product is found in Plain Paper Fax Machines. It also could be quite expensive otherwise, the OEM would not sell the machines so cheap!
Yellow
Please ask a close friend or family member.
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