A quick guide to photographic laser printing jargon

From ArticleWorld

Color laser printers are becoming cheaper and more accessible, which means that they are starting to become mainstream. However, since the process itself is more complex, there are a few basic terms you should understand in order to adjust the printer and the printing quality to your purpose.

• Color saturation refers to the relation between the thickness of the paper and the amount of saturation present in colors. By default, printers are configured for common paper (80-100 s/m). If the paper is thicker, the colors will appear pale, and the color saturation has to be increased. The thicker the paper, the more color saturation you need.

• Printing speed refers to the number of printed pages the printer can output every minute. Slower speeds mean less chances of a paper jam and a better color saturation. This also depends on the paper material, so, if your printer does not explicitly allow you to select a printing speed, you can make it print slower by selecting a thicker paper type than the one you actually print on.

• Paper polarity is a more advanced option. The toner has a negative electric charge. Therefore, if a positive charge is applied to the paper, more toner will stick to it.

• Resolution refers to the way the image is composed. The image on the paper is made out of very small dots. The more dots used to render the image, the sharper it will look. Therefore, a high resolution (like 2400 dots per inch or dpi) ensures a better quality than a lower one, like 600 dpi. On the other hand, higher resolutions require more toner and more time to print an image.

• Thermal stress refers to the effects of the heat inside the printer. Some types of paper are very sensible to heat, and a laser printer can raise the temperature to 200 degrees Celsius while printing. When printing at slower speeds, the pages heat more. Therefore, you should adjust the paper type to the printing speed, printing resolution and number of pages to print.