What printer technology existed before inkjets and laser jets? -

1) Dot matrix - line of small dots, as in some receipts, (2)Thermal - chemical paper, as in older faxes, almost all receipts (3) Impact - like old typewriters, daisy wheels, like many printing calculators, (4)Plotters - a pen on a mechanical arm, used mostly in engineering and architecture. Btw, Laser Jet is a brand name. Call them laser printers.

Impact printers. Those would be dot matrix where individual pins were struck on an inked ribbon, to make a pattern of dots on the paper, which in the process of things would form the pictures or text. Another form of impact printer is called a Daisy Wheel, which instead of individual pins, formed characters are struck through the ribbon, much like a typewriter. Early such printers were sometimes based on typewriter mechanisms. Plotters. Rather than being quot;Rasterquot; images of dost that most printers are, a plotter would draw the image or text as lines. Its head was more or less a pen attached to an X and Y system driven. by motors. Plotters were mostly used for CAD systems, whose drawings were mostly lines. Vinyl lettering cutters are basically a variety of plotters, as are some CNC machines. Thermal. Basically a specially treated paper, which the elements on the head would quot;burnquot; the special coating black. Older fax machines, receipt printers, and some printing calculators would use that technology.

Impact printers also for larger volume business usage. EDIT - also reverse strike impact printers using rotating bands of characters such as the IBM Model 4245 http://argecy.com/images/4245-3.jpg

Dot matrix

its dotmatrix printers.... still it has its own values

dot matrix