Printers And Printing; Types Of Printers; Printing Considerations - Red Hat ENTERPRISE LINUX 3 - INTRODUCTION TO SYSTEM ADMINISTRATION Administration Manual

Printers are an essential resource for creating a hard copy — a physical depiction of data on paper —
version of documents and collateral for business, academic, and home use. Printers have become an
indispensable peripheral in all levels of business and institutional computing.
This chapter discusses the various printers available and compares their uses in different computing
environments. It then describes how printing is supported by Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

7.1. Types of Printers

Like any other computer peripheral, there are several types of printers available. Some printers employ
technologies that mimic manual typewriter-style functionality, while others spray ink on paper, or
use a laser to generate an image of the page to be printed. Printer hardware interfaces with a PC or
network using parallel, serial, or data networking protocols. There are several factors to consider when
evaluating printers for procurement and deployment in your computing environment.
The following sections discuss the various printer types and the protocols that printers use to commu-
nicate with computers.

7.1.1. Printing Considerations

There are several aspects to factor into printer evaluations. The following specifies some of the most
common criteria when evaluating your printing needs.
7.1.1.1. Function
Evaluating your organizational needs and how a printer services those needs is the essential criteria
in determining the right type of printer for your environment. The most important question to ask is
"What do we need to print?" Since there are specialized printers for text, images, or any variation
thereof, you should be certain that you procure the right tool for your purposes.
For example, if your requirements call for high-quality color images on professional-grade glossy
paper, it is recommended you use a dye-sublimation or thermal wax transfer color printer instead of a
laser or impact printer.
Conversely, laser or inkjet printers are well-suited for printing rough drafts or documents intended for
internal distribution (such high-volume printers are usually called workgroup printers). Determining
the needs of the everyday user allows administrators to determine the right printer for the job.
Other factors to consider are features such as duplexing — the ability to print on both sides of a piece
of paper. Traditionally, printers could only print on one side of the page (called simplex printing). Most
lower-end printer models today do not have duplexing by default (they may, however, be capable of a
manual duplexing method that requires the user to flip the paper themselves). Some models offer add-
on hardware for duplexing; such add-ons can drive one-time costs up considerably. However, duplex
printing may reduce costs over time by reducing the amount of paper used to print documents, thus
reducing the cost of consumables — primarily paper.
Another factor to consider is paper size. Most printers are capable of handling the more common
paper sizes:
letter — (8 1/2" x 11")
•
A4 — (210mm x 297mm)
•

Printers and Printing

Chapter 7.