Re: Inkjet/dot matrix/IMPACT printers

["Stephen E. Collins" <sec@BOOMBOX.MICRO.UMN.EDU>]

In message <01H9HT42B27CDP91YC@VX.CIS.UMN.EDU> "Steve K. Grant" writes:

[A good essay on impact vs laser vs dot matrix deleted]

> The main
> reason inkjet output doesn't generally look _quite_ as sharp as laser is
> that the tiny droplets of ink tend to splatter minutely when they hit the
> paper, and bleed a bit before drying.  I'm sure this is why I've found that
> using a higher-quality paper with my inkjet printer dramatically
> increases the resolution.

I'd like to clarify "high-quality" in this context.

For ink-jet, the printer is using liquid ink.  The high-quality
cotton rag or linen papers that are typically thought of as the
"best" papers will give you horrid output on ink-jet printers because
the ink bleeds through the fibers in the paper.

The best papers for ink-jet are (clay) coated papers.  Before you blame
a printer for low quality output, try a piece of special ink-jet printer
paper first.


Stephen E. Collins   http://www.micro.umn.edu/SEC.html
University of Minnesota      sec@boombox.micro.umn.edu
Distributed Computing Services          (612) 625-1300