Powder ink is a specialized ink for laser printers. Powder ink has the advantage of being hard to fade, but it is very expensive. Therefore, printers should only use this form of ink when absolutely necessary.
1. What is powder ink?
Powder ink is used for laser printers. This ink technology is the bonding of a pigment with a polymer, forming a fine powder with special electrical properties.
Inside the printer, a laser “draws” the image to be printed onto a drum, which charges the drum with an electrostatic charge. The drum rotates onto the toner cartridge, sucks up the toner that is then transferred onto the paper and melts where it needs to be printed.
Powder ink can be applied to print labels, decals, packages, book covers… based on digital inkjet technology for beautiful quality.
2. Classification of powdered ink
Powder ink is divided into 2 types: black powder ink and pigment ink, in which black ink is carbon ink, commonly used for copiers, black and white printers. The main ingredients in this ink are carbon and binders to help improve ink quality. Pigment ink is a specialized ink for color printing equipment, including binders and colorants.
2. Advantages and disadvantages of powder ink
Advantages of powder ink
Powder inks excel in durability and quality, especially for applications such as text and single-line drawings. Once printed on paper, the powder ink does not fade and is difficult to peel off.
However, this ink is not good for printing photos, while inkjet printers can print high resolution and therefore produce better images.
Disadvantages of powdered ink
The disadvantage of powdered ink is quite expensive, it has to be replaced quickly. Typically, one cartridge is replaced every 4 prints. Besides, toner powder used for laser printing, laser printers are more expensive than other types of office printers. Therefore, laser printing should only be chosen when you really need the best print quality to save costs.
3. Difference between powder ink and liquid ink
In short, the main difference between powder ink and liquid ink is the type of material used for printing. Liquid ink cartridges contain liquid ink and are used in inkjet printers. Toner cartridges are used for laser printers.
Below is a table comparing the pros and cons of these two inks
| TONER POWDER (TONER) | INK LICENSE (INK) | |
| Advantage | – Faster printing (more powerful and more accurate).– Better print quality (thanks to precision technology).– More durable (larger space; with the ability to collect excess ink and reuse them). | – Cheaper (contains less ink, no complicated technology).– Easy to replace. |
| Defect | – Quite expensive to replace (you have to replace the drum every 4 cartridges). – Laser printers are usually more expensive (due to modern technology). | – Low ink capacity.– The ink nozzles are easily clogged. |
So which type of ink will be suitable for large volume printers and which type of ink is suitable for printing in the office, printing at home?
For ease of understanding, we will compare laser printers with inkjet printers:
Laser printers are suitable for:
- Big office
- Fast print speed (up to 100 ppm)
- Low demand for varied paper sizes
Inkjet printers are suitable for:
- Small business, family
- No need for fast printing (up to 16 ppm possible)
- The demand for a large variety of paper sizes (can include cloth, glossy paper, etc.)
As such, powdered inks tend to last for a long time. That means the cost per page of an inkjet printer will be higher than that of a laser printer. Laser printers will save you more money in the long run, especially if you print a large number of pages per week.
Refer to some other types of printing ink:
