Glossary

Printer terms, plainly explained

Every technical term you're likely to meet on a printer datasheet or on this site — defined in plain English, without jargon.

Last reviewed: April 16, 2026 · 32 terms defined

ADF (Automatic Document Feeder): A tray on top of a multifunction printer that automatically pulls each page through the scanner, letting you scan or copy a multi-page document without placing pages on the flatbed one by one.
AirPrint: Apple's standard for printing wirelessly from an iPhone, iPad, or Mac without installing a driver. Most modern home printers support it.
Bluetooth Printing: Short-range wireless connection (typically up to 10m) used mainly for phone-to-printer jobs without joining a Wi-Fi network.
Bypass Tray: A secondary paper input used for envelopes, labels, card stock, or any special paper not kept in the main drawer.
Continuous Ink System (CISS): A factory-fitted large-volume ink supply (e.g. HP Smart Tank, Epson EcoTank, Canon MegaTank) that dramatically lowers per-page cost compared to cartridges.
Cost Per Page (CPP): Running cost of one printed page of average coverage, calculated as cartridge price divided by rated yield. The single most useful figure for comparing long-term printer cost.
DPI (Dots Per Inch): Print resolution. Higher DPI means finer detail, especially on photos and fine text. 1,200 DPI is sharp; 4,800×1,200 is photo-grade inkjet territory.
Duplex Printing: Automatic two-sided printing. Cuts paper use roughly in half on long documents and is standard on most office-class printers.
Duty Cycle: Manufacturer-rated maximum pages a printer can produce per month without damage. Heavier use is permitted occasionally; prolonged operation near the limit shortens lifespan.
Energy Star: U.S. EPA certification awarded to printers that meet strict power-efficiency thresholds in standby and sleep modes.
Ethernet: Wired network connection (RJ-45). More reliable than Wi-Fi in offices and unaffected by wireless congestion.
Fuser (Fusing Unit): The heated roller inside a laser printer that melts toner onto paper. Replaceable consumable on high-volume machines; its cost should be factored into long-term TCO.
HP Instant Ink: HP's subscription ink service billed per page rather than per cartridge. Can be cheaper for consistent low-to-medium users, but ties the printer to an active subscription.
Ink Cartridge: A small replaceable tank holding inkjet ink. Yields typically range 120-400 pages for standard cartridges; XL cartridges can push past 800 pages.
Inkjet: Printing technology that sprays microscopic ink droplets onto paper. Excellent for photos; running cost per page is usually higher than laser.
ISO Yield: The standardised cartridge page-yield measurement (ISO/IEC 19752 for mono laser, 19798 for colour laser, 24711 for inkjet) at 5% page coverage. The basis for honest CPP comparisons.
Laser Printer: Printing technology that uses a laser to transfer fine toner powder to paper, which is then heat-fused. Faster and cheaper per page than inkjet for text-heavy workloads.
Mopria: A cross-platform standard for driverless printing from Android and Windows devices. Supported by most major printer brands.
MFP (Multifunction Printer): A printer that also scans, copies, and often faxes — sometimes called an "all-in-one".
NFC (Near-Field Communication): Tap-to-print from a phone by physically touching it to the printer. Available on a small subset of Wi-Fi printers.
OCR (Optical Character Recognition): Software that converts a scanned image into editable, searchable text. Bundled with many office MFPs.
PPM (Pages Per Minute): Print-speed rating in monochrome A4. Colour PPM is typically 30-50% lower than the mono figure.
Print Head: The part of an inkjet printer that actually sprays the ink. On some brands (HP) the head is integrated into the cartridge; on others (Epson, Canon) it is a permanent part of the printer.
Resolution: See DPI.
Scan-to-Email / Scan-to-Cloud: Features on office MFPs that send a scan directly to an email address or to Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive etc., without needing a PC in between.
Sheet Capacity: The number of sheets a paper tray holds. Budget printers start at 60-100 sheets; office units commonly handle 250-500 sheets per drawer.
Thermal Printer: Printing technology that uses heat to produce an image on specially coated paper — common in receipt and label printers, uncommon in documents.
Toner Cartridge: The consumable used in laser printers. Contains fine coloured powder rather than liquid ink. Yields are typically 1,500-10,000 pages.
Total Cost of Ownership (TCO): The true lifetime cost of a printer — purchase price plus all ink/toner, maintenance kits, electricity, and paper over the expected lifespan.
USB 2.0 / USB 3.0: Direct wired connection from the printer to a single computer. Simple, reliable, unaffected by Wi-Fi issues.
Wi-Fi Direct: Lets a phone or laptop connect directly to the printer without going through a router. Useful in guest-print and mobile scenarios.
XL Cartridge: A high-yield version of a standard cartridge. More expensive upfront but typically 30-50% cheaper per page than the standard size.