📖 Tech Glossary
Every tech term, explained like a friend would. 20 terms and growing.
All | A | B | C | D | E | I | P | T
ADF
Automatic Document Feeder — the tray that pulls multi-page documents through the scanner automatically. Ess...
AirPrint / Mobile Printing
Apple's built-in wireless printing standard that lets iPhones and iPads print to a compatible printer with ...
All-in-One (AIO) Printer
A printer that also scans, copies, and sometimes faxes — as opposed to a print-only model. Most home and sm...
Borderless Printing
A print mode that extends the image slightly past the paper's edges so the final print has no white border ...
Cost Per Page
What one printed page actually costs once you factor in ink/toner prices and yield — the number that matter...
Cost per page
The real price of printing: cartridge cost divided by page yield. Under 1¢ is excellent (ink tank), 2–4¢ is...
DPI
Dots per inch — print resolution. 300 DPI looks sharp for documents; 1200+ matters for photos. Marketing nu...
DPI (Dots Per Inch)
A measure of print resolution — how many dots of ink or toner fit in one inch. Higher DPI generally means s...
Duplex Printing
Automatic double-sided printing, done by the printer itself without you having to manually flip the paper. ...
Duplex printing
Automatic double-sided printing. Saves paper, makes documents look professional, and worth requiring on any...
Duty Cycle
The maximum number of pages a printer is built to handle per month without excessive wear. A home printer m...
Duty cycle
The manufacturer's maximum monthly page rating. Ignore it for quality claims — but respect it: a printer ru...
EcoTank / Refillable Ink System
A printer design (pioneered by Epson, now offered by other brands under different names) that uses large re...
Ink tank
A refillable reservoir of liquid ink inside the printer. Instead of replacing cartridges, you pour in bottl...
PPM
Pages per minute. Color ppm is always lower than black. Real-world speed is 50–70% of the rated number for ...
PPM (Pages Per Minute)
The manufacturer's rated print speed. Real-world speed is usually lower than the advertised number, especia...
Page yield
How many pages a cartridge or bottle prints before running out, measured at 5% coverage (the ISO standard)....
Print head
The part that sprays ink onto the page. In inkjets it can clog if unused for weeks; some printers have repl...
Toner
The dry powder laser printers fuse onto paper with heat. It never dries out, prints sharper text, and lasts...
Toner vs. Ink
Toner is a fine powder used by laser printers, fused to paper with heat — it doesn't dry out and is typical...