In the world of printing, there are many varieties of ink to choose from. Different types of ink and toner are best suited for different print needs, whether it's printing vibrant photographs on glossy photo papers, producing eye-catching marketing materials on card, or outputting crisp and professional business documents on plain paper.
In practice, however, it's not possible to choose an ink type for each specific job – if you have a mono laser printer, to take an extreme example, you can't choose to fill it with colour inkjet ink to print a photo. The type of ink you use is not really a choice in the way that paper type may be: inkjet and laser printers can handle a range of paper finishes, weights and sizes, but when it comes to ink, you simply have to supply the type of ink your printer is designed to use. Instead of choosing inks for a job, you are likely to choose a printer based on the type of ink or toner it uses, bearing in mind the print requirements you expect to have.
Here, we'll introduce the different types of ink available, explore what print tasks each is best suited for, and explain ink-related concepts such as page yield and cost per page, so that you can make an informed decision about the best printer for your needs. For more, take a look also at our answers to some of the most common queries about printing, ink and paper.
- Ink vs toner and other printing technologies
- Inkjet varieties: pigment vs dye-based inks
- FINE cartridges vs single ink cartridge printers
- Other inkjet cartridge types
- How many colours of ink?
- What is ink yield?
- High-yield ink cartridges
- Do you have to use Canon inks?
- Save with a subscription
- Recycling used ink cartridges