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Glossary

Not sure what something means? Or just want to learn more about printing terms and features? Check out this glossary. If you’d like further assistance, visit any Staples® store and talk to one of our EasyTech experts.

All-in-One: A term used to indicate a printer that has additional functionalities, such as copying, scanning and faxing. (e.g., multifunction printer).

Automatic Document Feeder (ADF): The ADF is used to automatically feed originals into the device for copying, scanning and/or faxing.

Bluetooth: Bluetooth is an open wireless protocol for exchanging data over short distances from fixed and mobile devices, creating personal area networks (PANs).

Borderless Printing: Printing photos with no white space around the edges. Borderless prints look like photos from a photo lab.

Cartridge: The housing that holds ink or toner to be utilized by the printer.

Charge Coupled Device (CCD): Part of a scanner that is used to convert a reflected image to usable analog data.

CMYK: An acronym to represent cyan, magenta, yellow and black, the basic colorants (dyes, pigments or toners) used in digital imaging. These four colors alone are used to create all colors in an image. Some photo printers add additional colors for improved photos.

Duplex Printing: An accessory used for automatically printing on both sides of a sheet of paper. This accessory is not supported on all printers. Some printers offer this as an optional accessory or as an installed option.

Dot Matrix Printer: A printer type developed in late 1970s/early 1980s that arranged dots to form images and text. Because they use mechanical pressure, they can also produce multiple copies at once (e.g., impact printer).

Dye-Based Inks: Dye-based inks are generally much stronger and can produce more color of a given density per unit of mass than other inks. However, they can be more susceptible to fading especially when exposed to ultraviolet radiation as in sunlight.

Dots Per Inch (DPI): Measurement of the resolution of a scanned or printed image.

Drivers: Programs or files that translate information from software applications to a device. Printer drivers convert software commands into printer language.

Duty cycle: The maximum number of printed pages per month a printer can output.

Encapsulated PostScript File (EPS): An EPS file is a standalone, self-contained PostScript file that describes the contents of a printed page. EPS files can be scaled to any size, and they are commonly exchanged by desktop publishing and graphics professionals, publishers and printing houses.

Ethernet Network: The simplest, slowest and least expensive network design, usually well-suited for home or small offices. An Ethernet network simultaneously broadcasts data packets to all computers in the network.

Firmware: Software that resides in the read-only memory (ROM) of a device.

Font: A set of printing characters that share the same distinctive appearance. Fonts are used on a computer to display text on the monitor and print documents.

ISO: International Standards Organization � ISO standards apply to printer cartridge yields and print speeds.

Inkjet Printer: A printer or an all-in-one unit that shoots fast-drying ink through tiny nozzles onto a page to form characters. The inkjet is currently the standard for personal computer printing. Inkjets are fast, affordable and quiet. They are great for everyday, basic documents.

Laser Printer: A laser printer is a common type of computer printer that rapidly produces high quality text and graphics on plain paper. Like photocopiers, laser printers employ a xerographic printing process but differ from analog photocopiers in that the image is produced by the direct scanning of a laser beam across the printer's photoreceptor.

Local Area Network (LAN): A group of computers in an office or building connected to one another by cable. A network computer can access files on other computers in the network or enable others to open and use its files. Printers, modems and CD-ROM drives are also typically shared.

Network Printer: A printer available for use by workstations on a network. A network printer either has its own built-in network interface card or is connected to a printer on the network.

Memory Card Reader: A device that can read removable memory devices such as CompactFlash® or SD Cards.

Monochrome Printer: A printer that can only produce an image in one color or graduations of that color, usually black.

Multipurpose Tray: A tray that is adjustable to accommodate several different media types.

Optical Character Recognition (OCR): The process of analyzing an image and defining characters in order to produce editable text.

PictBridge: A standard from the Camera & Imaging Products Association (CIPA) for printing directly from a digital camera without requiring a computer in between. Within the camera, it allows the user to identify the pictures to be printed and select options (size, number copies, cropping, etc.). The camera sends the print job to the printer, which downloads the images and prints them.

Pigment Inks: While conventional inks are essentially oil-based dyes, pigment inks consist of tiny chunks of solid pigment suspended in a liquid solution. According to their proponents, pigment inks offer richer, deeper colors and have a reduced tendency to run, bleed or

Paper Capacity: Refers to how much paper (including envelopes, transparencies, etc.) a printer tray can accommodate.

Parallel Port: The common name for one type of printer connector on the back of a typical PC. Some I/O(input/output) adapter cards can provide a PC with up to four separate parallel ports, but most computers come with one as standard equipment.

Print Buffer: A separate, standalone print spooler with its own built-in memory that connects a computer and printing hardware. The print buffer can spool print jobs, freeing up all of a computer's resources for applications.

Print Resolution: The quantity of data capable of being printed, typically measured in dots per inch (dpi). Higher resolution is one of many factors that can improve print quality.

Printer Control Language (PCL): A protocol designed by HP to allow PCs to communicate with laser printers. PCL has become the standard protocol adopted by virtually all printer manufacturers.

Random Access Memory (RAM): RAM built into a printer can temporarily store data from a print job until the printer is ready to print the data.

Serial Port: A connection that allows data transfer between a computer and a printer one bit at a time.

Thermal Printer: A type of printer that uses heat to place an impression onto paper.

Toner: A powdered ink substance used in laser printers and photocopiers to form images and text on paper.

Touchscreen: A display that enables the user to interact with the printer by touching areas on the screen.

TWAIN: Industry-standard software protocol and application interface that allows communication between programs and image acqusition devices.

Universal Serial Bus (USB): A fast input/output (I/O) data transfer standard used for connecting peripherals to a computer or controller. Typically, each device connected to a computer uses its own port. USB can connect up to 127 peripherals through a single port, and peripherals can be connected together. USB devices may be hot plugged, which means that power does not have to be turned off to connect or disconnect a peripheral. USB is becoming the primary means of connection for printers and other peripherals to PCs, and is supported by most major hardware, software and telecommunications providers.

Wireless: Wireless printing allows you to print from any computer on a wireless network. No more unplugging machines, carrying laptops around, or laboring to get the operating system to identify the right printer.