Differences between ink and toner

If you’re searching for a new printer or looking for the correct cartridge to fit your printer, you’re sure to stumble across the question- what’s the difference between an ink cartridge and a toner cartridge?
Whilst both toners and ink are used to print, they differ in their components and printing mechanism.

What is an ink cartridge?

An ink cartridge is the ink reservoir for an inkjet printer. Ink cartridges are smaller in size than toner and probably the most recognisable for most people with a printer in the home.

Ink cartridges typically come in four colours: black, cyan, yellow and magenta. With these four colours, you can create millions of combinations of colours! The exception to this is photo colour ink cartridges which come in a wider colour range for printing photos. This makes inkjet printers that use ink cartridges perfect for printing photos.

How does an ink cartridge work?

An ink cartridge is made up of a small sponge saturated with liquid ink. The printhead consists of nozzles that are responsible for spraying the ink onto paper. The nozzles ensure the ink is distributed evenly, creating the shape desired for text or images. The printed page you see will therefore reflect the image on the screen. One disadvantage of having liquid ink is that it can dry out, so the cartridges need to be used frequently to avoid this.

Another important component of an ink cartridge is the chip. The chip inside a cartridge is responsible for communicating with the software in the printer. The chip has information in it that allows it to work with a particular printer. This is why one cartridge works in one printer, and not in another. It also contains information on the ink levels of each colour and if they need to be replaced. The chip will provide this information to the printer and will allow the user to read it on screen.

One disadvantage of chips is that they’re inserted by the manufacturer and prevent the cartridge from being refilled. Thankfully, our 123ink own-brand ink cartridges and their chips are fully compatible with all printer brands.

 

 

What is a toner?

A toner cartridge is the container for laser printing powder called toner. Toners are used in a laser printer. Toner cartridges are larger in size than ink cartridges as they contain more components, making them less straightforward to replace. Laser toners are more commonly used in business settings. Toners also come in black, cyan, yellow and magenta colour cartridges. However, black toner cartridges are most commonly used in monochrome laser printers that print in black and white only. There are also colour laser printers that take the four colour cartridges.

How does a toner work?

A toner cartridge contains powder. This negatively charged powder is contained within the toner cartridge. The laser printer projects the document to be printed onto the drum. The imaging drum contains an electrically charged roller to which toner powder is attracted to and forms the specified pattern. With the help of electricity and heat, the toner powder is melted and adhered to the paper.

With some toners, the drum is part of the toner cartridge. With others, it’s bought separately.  Like ink cartridges, you will be able to see on the printer screen whether the drum or toner, or both, need to be replaced.

Toners including the drum are often more expensive to purchase, but toners can be more cost-effective in the long run than ink cartridges due to their larger capacity, especially if you only require black-and-white printing. Toner powder also cannot dry out, making your toners last for a long time.

Ink cartridges or toners: which to choose?

Both ink cartridges and toners have their advantages, which you can view easily in the table below.
 

If you’re still unsure what is best suited for you, you can read our blog on the difference between inkjet and laser printers.  

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