Cartridge – The printer is useless without a cartridge.
Inkjet printers are available from manufacturers like HP, Canon and Epson. For laser printers, toner cartridges are also available. Both, inkjet and laser printers work on different technologies. In the case of a thermal inkjet printer the cartridges are available in black and also in color. In the case of a thermal printer, when a print command is given, the ink reservoir heats up the ink in the cartridge as a result of which the ink in the nozzle expands and then it is sprayed in paper in definite patterns. This whole process of ink heating up and getting sprayed on paper takes just a few seconds. Ink must flow in the cartridge of the printing needs to be smooth. Many times the ink in the printer cartridge dries up as a result of which dried ink accumulates on the cartridge head. This results in poor printing. Hence, once in a while you should clean the cartridge with a soft wet cloth or cotton.
You will often see that there are two cartridges, (one black and one color) inserted into a color printer. The color cartridges contain the three primary colors, which mix to form other colors. In many printers, the each primary color may have a dedicated cartridge. In this case you have to replace only the cartridge whose color gets over. It is often seen that the different printer manufacturers manufacture their own set of cartridges. Hence a cartridge of one manufacturer will not be compatible with a printer from other manufacturer.
There are cartridges designed for different purposes such as photo cartridges that are designed for photo printing. The prices of cartridges unlike other computer accessories are on the higher side. Hence may people use compatible ink cartridges that are not made by the printer manufacturer, but they still give good results resulting in less printing costs. There are many people who use inexpensive ink that they use to refill their cartridges, but this may prove to be damaging to the printer in the long run. The costs of the printer have come down considerably but the costs of the genuine cartridges are still on the higher side.
Major printer manufacturers like HP, Epson and Canon do not make much profit on selling printers hence they depend on selling cartridges to get a good overall profit.