Inkjet Cartridges
Monochrome inkjet printers have only a single ink cartridge. Color inkjet printers typically
have two cartridges, one black and one tricolor (CMY). (The black cartridge is separate be-
cause the vast majority of printing done on an inkjet is text or line drawings that only use
black.) One of the downsides to having cyan, magenta, and yellow in the same cartridge is
that when one color runs out, regardless of how much ink remains of the other colors, the
cartridge needs to be replaced. Newer color inkjet printers feature ink cartridges with a re-
placeable ink tank for each of the CMY colors, which addresses this problem.
Virtually all inkjet cartridges have a built-in printhead, which guarantees a fresh
printhead each time a new cartridge is installed. The printhead has 64 to 128 microjets
through which the ink is fired to the paper. The printhead also contains built-in resistors
on the flexible circuits located on the front on the cartridge. These resistors do wear out in
time and can cause slanted or wavy print. When this happens, the cartridge should be re-
placed. Also located on the cartridge is the ink reservoir that contains a sponge.
Thejuryisstilloutonwhetherornotrefillinginkcartridgesisagoodidea.Itcertainlyis
less expensive than buying new cartridges, but at least with a new cartridge you know
what you are getting and it should have some warranty. The worst things that can happen
with a refilled ink cartridge, beyond the mess you might make refilling it, are that it doesn’t
print because the ink is too thick for the printer or that it may smudge or smear because it is
too thin. Most manufacturers do not recommend using refilled ink cartridges, especially
color cartridges, but then, most of them also manufacture ink cartridges.Inkjet Paper
The challenge for inkjet manufacturers has been producing good print quality on standard,
plain bond paper. Inkjet printers have always been able to produce outstanding print qual-
ity on special papers. Inkjet inks are more absorbent than the toner used in laser printers or
sold inks, like those on the ribbon of a dot matrix printer. Because of this, inkjets typically
work better with paper that has been treated for inkjet inks. This has been especially true
with high-resolution images, such as photographic reproductions.
Inkjet ink performs better on paper that has been primed to bond the ink to the paper.
Canon has developed a process that primes the paper immediately before the ink is ap-
plied. Other manufacturers, such as Hewlett Packard and Epson, have concentrated their
efforts on improving the quality of print on plain paper.Paper Flow
The paper feed mechanism of the inkjet printer is controlled by the commands sent to the
printer from the computer and its application software. The paper control commands are
includedatthebeginningoftheentirebitmapfile,attheendofeachline(printheadpass),
and at the end of the file.
At the beginning of the file, the printer’s device drivers place a command to load the
first sheet of paper and position it for the first printhead pass. As the printhead completes(^422) PC Hardware: A Beginner’s Guide