Ink Toner Cartridges - Toner Versus Ink

<p>Laser printers and inkjet printers are popular items with computer users in the UK and all over the world. While both types of printer deliver clear, crisp copies, the processes they use are very different. Here's some information about the types of ink contained ink toner cartridges and inkjet cartridges.</p><p>What is Toner?</p><p>Toner is the printing medium used in photocopiers and laser printers. Originally, toner was simply powdered carbon. Today's toner is a blend of carbon and a polymer. A polymer is a type of plastic. The polymer used in toner cartridges melts easily and has good flow and adhesion properties. Laser printers have a heating device called fusers that melt the polymers in toner. Toner formulations are highly variable from manufacturer to manufacturer and the most common differences occur in melting point and particle size.</p><p>How Does Particle Size Relate to Print Quality?</p><p>In general, the smaller the particle size in an ink toner cartridge, the better the image. Toner manufacturers maintain strict quality control on toner particle size. The manufacturing process begins when the ingredients are compounded into a dense slab. Then the slab is pelletized and transformed into a fine powder. The size of the particles is controlled by an air jet milling process. In an alternative method, some manufacturers are "growing" toner by way of a chemical process that results in smaller particle size and better print and image quality.</p><p>What is Inkjet Ink?</p><p>Ink cartridges usually contain water-based inks comprised of a mixture of pigments or dyes with glycol and water. Glycol is a chemical compound that belongs to the same family as alcohol. While such inks are easy and inexpensive to manufacture, their properties are difficult to control. This resulted in the need to use specially coated paper in the early day's inkjet printers. Many of today's inkjet printers use solvent based inks whose main ingredients are volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Such inks are categorised as solvent inks. Solvent based inks eliminate the need for coated paper and enable inkjet printing on a variety of materials such as banners, billboards and vehicle graphics. Other types of inkjet inks include UV-curable and dye sublimation. UV-curable inks, although they produce high-quality images, require an expensive curing module in the printer.</p><p>Dye sublimation inks are formulated to print onto polyester fabrics and utilise a heating process to create a durable image with vivid coloration.</p><p>Although ink toner cartridges and inkjet printer cartridges use different types of printing technology, both deliver high-quality printed text and images to UK users.</p><p>Shawn Lead has been working in the printer and ink industry for over 6 years. Shawn is presently working with TONIK - a mass provider of Inks and Toners. Tonik has been selling inkjet cartridges and toner cartridges since 2001. Tonik also offers an unconditional guarantee on its Tonik brand of compatible ink cartridges, as well as selling original manufacturer product for all leading ink and toner printers at low prices.</p><p>Tonik specialises in providing <a target="_new" href="http://www.tonik.co.uk/ink-cartridges/ink-toner-cartridges.php" rel="nofollow">Ink Toner Cartridges</a></p><p>It aims to supply every kind of inkjet cartridge and toner cartridge. If you need more information, get in touch at <a target="_new" href="http://www.tonik.co.uk" rel="nofollow">http://www.tonik.co.uk</a></p>