How Laser Printers Work

Explaining how laser printers work is a bit daunting; the printing system uses a very complex process to produce the highest-quality prints. Here is a overview of how laser printers work.

Take control

Laser printers start the printing process by receiving input from a computer and steering it through a central controller, which directs the operations. Laser printers contain a controller that can handle many tasks simultaneously, lining them up and then printing them sequentially. This capability of handling many jobs at once is what makes laser printers very popular.

Drum it out

Once the controller receives the information about what it is printing, the process starts. Within the laser printer, a printer drum and transfer corona roller are electrically charged. This positive or negative charge is sent to the controlling mechanism, directing a tiny laser to write on the drum to create an electrostatic picture.

Keep it positive

The drum revolves through the positively charged toner cartridge, sticking to the spots that have a negative charge on the drum. The laser printer supplies a sheet of paper that receives a more powerful negative charge from the transfer corona wire prior to rolling past the drum. The image on the drum is then transferred onto the sheet of paper.

Fuse it together

The sheet of paper then goes through a printer fuser that heats up the toner to stick to the fibrous materials in the sheet of paper. At the same time, the entire external surface of the drum is exposed to a discharge lamp. This procedure removes the electrostatic picture of the image that was just printed.

Finally, the transfer corona wire receives positive charge again, and the laser printer is now ready for the next printing task.