The Xerox phaser printer is a novel computer peripheral that uses Xerox solid ink technology. Originally, solid ink was developed by Tektronix in 1986. With Xerox's acquisition of Tektronix in 2000, solid ink became a signature innovation for the company. The way this works is that the printer will melt the solid ink slightly until it is liquid. If you have observed how offset printing works, you will see some basic similarities between this method of printing and offset printing, since phaser printers use an indirect method of printing images on a sheet of paper.
Printing Specifics
Like a skilled graffiti artist, the phaser printer takes a "spraying" approach to displaying its art. This means that the printer will spray ink from the container onto a rotating drum, placing its images on a sheet of paper. Print heads are placed in a manner that they are separated by color. The mixture of the colors (black, yellow, cyan, and magenta) create vibrant, eye-catching images. The reason these specific colors are used in the creation of newer colors is the fact that they are the base colors. In other words, these colors can produce virtually any other color by mixing just the right amount of each color.
Final Product
After the print heads place the image on the drum, and the drum rotates, the paper is pushed out with the image that was on the drum, clearing the drum of the ink, which prepares it for another rotation. Solid ink can make images look more lively, since they do not mix with the paper like liquid inks. Once the ink freezes again, it ends up being a very small welt on the paper. This is similar to how polish looks on wood. The image on the paper will have a clear and professional appearance.
