Don't Fear Your Printer!

Understanding your printer is the first step in using it without being afraid of what might happen. Sometimes computers or software don't work, but a restart or other simple troubleshooting can solve a majority of problems, and avoid expensive maintenance operations.

Printers can be enigmatic and opaque to users. Get to know your printer a little bit better to stop worrying.

First, remember that a printer is usually a peripheral part of your computer, attached via cable or wireless. Nowadays, printers often perform functions independently from the computer, such as copying or even printing from a USB. Don't let that confuse you.

There are a wide variety of types of printers, the two most common general use printers are inkjet and laser printers. Laser printers rely on toner and static electricity to transform your digital documents into paper printouts. Inkjet printers propel liquid ink onto the paper.

Printers have resolution, this means that they either propel the liquid ink, toner, or other application medium onto the paper, and different printers do this with a varying number of dots per inch. This is commonly referred to as DPI, and more dots per inch means a sharper image. However, keep in mind that printing at extremely high DPI will use a great deal of ink or toner.

If you understand very simple printing basics, your printer could start looking friendlier and more usable.