Which is more cost-effective: printer ink or toner?
It is essential to understand which type of cartridge works in your printer. If you order the wrong type of cartridge, you could end up costing your company a lot of money in some way. There is a significant difference between ink and toner cartridges, and each has advantages and disadvantages in comparison.
What Is the Difference Between Ink and Toner?
To summarise, the main contrast between toner and ink is the material used to print. Ink cartridges are used in inkjet printers and contain liquid ink. Toner cartridges, also known as powder cartridges, are used in laser printers and contain toner.
Ink
Depending on the type of cartridge you decide to buy, ink can be pigment-based or dye-based. Most popular inkjet printers use dye-based ink. It is far less expensive than pigment-based inks and has a higher capability for producing true-to-life and vibrant colours in photos and prints.
The main disadvantages of dye-based ink is that it is not waterproof and thus prone to smudging. It is also not very long lasting, fading after 25 years. The finish is much crisper with pigment ink, and it dries much faster than dye-based ink. Because of its ability to print archive-quality images and text, graphic designers and professional photographers prefer pigment-based ink over dye-based ink. It is also water and UV ray resistant, allowing it to last much longer. Pigment-based ink has a lifespan of up to 200 years.
Toner
Toner is a powder that does not stain like an ink cartridge. However, it can still get messy, especially if you don’t handle it properly. On the one hand, there are monochrome laser printers that can only be loaded with black toner cartridges and use only black toner. Color laser printers, on the other hand, use four different colours of toner to print. These are the colours black, magenta, cyan, and yellow. When printing, they are mixed together in various proportions to produce all of the colours.
The drum unit is another important component of your laser printer that you should be familiar with. You will be unable to print without this component of your printer. During printing, it fuses the toner powder from the toner cartridge onto the paper. Depending on how your laser printer is designed, it may be sold separately as a unit or integrated into the toner cartridge.
Toner cartridges with built-in drums are generally more expensive than those without. They do, however, provide you with the convenience of never having to replace the drum unit in your printer. You’re already doing it every time you replace a toner cartridge.
If you buy the drum unit separately, you’ll have to replace it after three to four toner cartridge replacements.
