Canon manufactures numerous kinds of printers made specifically for photography and in all these different variations image quality is of the most significant importance. There are several different technologies that they use to accomplish this, each depending on the type of printer involved, and therefore each uses various different types of ink. There are several different styles involved for Canon printer ink.
Canon's Inkjet Printer Ink
Most of the photo printers produced by Canon utilize inkjet technology. This technology creates images by outputting onto paper a significant number of droplets of ink. These micro-droplets are created from the nozzles in the section of the printer called the printer head. This method of printing is one of the most popular and most common as well, and is typically quiet, fast and produces high-quality images.
Fairly standard cartridges carry canons printer ink for its inkjet printers. One significant feature that makes canons printer ink cartridges different than many other manufacturers is the strategic choice to keep the printer head, the section from which the nozzles ink is output onto the paper, separate from the cartridge.
It is important to note that in various inkjet printers the print head is mounted directly onto the cartridge, therefore it has to be replaced each time the cartridge needs replacing. It is significant to point out that even amongst Canon's products, not every inkjet cartridge is compatible with every canon inkjet printer. Different styles of cartridges are used on different models. Various models have all-in-one color cartridges, while some others utilize a separate cartridge for each significant printing color: magenta, cyan, black, and yellow.
Canon's Dye-sublimation Printer Ink
There are some of Canon's products, most notably their smaller handheld photo printers, that utilize what is known as thermal dye-sublimation system of printing. What this actually means is that the printer utilizes predetermined quantities of heat to transfer ink onto the paper from a ribbon. All four basic ink colors are contained in the ribbon itself, that are transferred onto the paper in different successive layers.
There is a clear protective layer that is added over the top of the ink for Canon's photo printers. These can be a highly effective means of producing images very quickly, and end up using less space compared to ink jet printers.
Canon's dye-sublimation printer ink is generally sold on the market with the paper itself in a package. These particular packages are mostly interchangeable, as the majority of Canon's compact photo printers utilize similar papers styles, sizes and ink. Canon also makes available specialty versions, specifically manufactured to make greeting cards or labels. These particular ones may not be compatible with many of Canon's printer models, but are useful for creating specialty items nonetheless.
