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An inkjet is a type of computer printer that reproduces a digital image by spraying very fine droplets of ink onto a surface, most commonly paper. This process uses various technologies, such as thermal inkjet, to eject the ink, which is typically made of water, pigments, or dyes. The system is controlled by a printer driver that translates the computer's data into instructions for the printer to follow.

How it works

Ink and Ejection: The printer uses either pigment-based or dye-based inks, usually in black and CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow) colors, stored in cartridges. A mechanism in the print head, controlled by the printer driver, ejects tiny droplets of this ink onto the paper.

Thermal Inkjet: A common method where a heating element rapidly heats the ink to create a bubble, and the pressure from this bubble forces a droplet out of the nozzle.

Piezoelectric Inkjet: Another method uses a piezoelectric crystal that vibrates when an electric current is applied. This vibration forces a drop of ink out of the nozzle.

Image Creation: The printer head moves across the paper, spraying the ink in a precise pattern to build up text and images from countless small dots.

Printer Driver: A software component that translates the data from the computer into a format the printer can understand, allowing users to select settings like media type and print quality.