Printers are devices that print text or illustrations on paper. There are many different types of printers. Two categories are impact and non-impact.
Impact printers transfer the image onto paper through a printing mechanism that strikes the paper, ribbon and character together. Most impact printers use a continuous- from paper, which means the paper is connected together to produce a continuous flow through the printer.
Emamples of impact printers are Dot Matrix printers, and band and chain printers.
Non impact printing means that printing occurs without having a mechanism strike the paper. Ink can be sprayed against the paper or heat and pressure are used to fuse a fine black powder into the shape of a character. Examples of non-impact printers are ink-jet printers laser printers page printers and Thermal printers.
Some important features of the different printers are speed, graphics capability, fonts, and color. Speed is measured in characters per second or pages per minute. The speed of printers varies widely.