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Inkjet vs laser
Two very different ways to make the same dots: fire liquid ink, or melt powder with heat.
The short version
An inkjet printer fires tiny droplets of liquid ink through nozzles in a moving head. A laser printer charges a drum with static electricity, so that powder, called toner, sticks in the shape of the page, then presses it onto the paper and melts it with heat. It builds on printers.
I always assumed a laser printer used a laser to burn the page.
The laser draws the page onto a drum, with light.
The paper is only the last stop.
Inside an inkjet
The print head passes back and forth across the page. It has hundreds of nozzles, each thinner than a hair. A tiny heater boils a bubble in the ink, which pushes a droplet out, or a crystal flexes to squirt it. It can do this thousands of times a second, and for each dot it picks the ink needed.
Inside a laser printer
A drum is given a surface charge. A laser sweeps across it, and wherever the light lands, the charge changes, so the page is drawn as a pattern of charge. Black powder, the toner, sticks to that pattern. The drum rolls against the paper and transfers the powder. Finally, the paper passes between hot rollers, called the fuser, which melts the toner into the paper.
Which for what
Inkjet
Photos and light useSmooth colour and cheap to buy, but ink is costly and can dry out if unused.
Laser
Text and heavy useQuick, crisp and cheaper per page for text, but the machine costs more up front.
Key takeaways
- Inkjets fire ink through nozzles.
- Lasers draw with light, then use powder and heat.
- Inkjets suit photos; lasers suit lots of text.
- Running costs differ from buying costs.
Now you know.
Inkjets squirt.
Lasers draw with light, then melt powder.
Choose by what you print.
Last reviewed 3 Nov 2026
