| Laser toner is the ink for laser printers. It is an | | | | the page goes through a heating device to melt |
| extremely fine synthetic powder packed into a | | | | or burn the color onto the page, and the page is |
| cartridge. You insert the cartridge into your laser | | | | ejected. |
| printer according to the manufacturer’s | | | | This process uses up a lot of laser toner. |
| instructions. | | | | Typically, a laser toner cartridge will yield a few |
| Laser toner is the ink for laser printers. It is an | | | | thousand pages before needing to be replaced. |
| extremely fine synthetic powder (usually plastic) | | | | The drum, too, eventually wears out from all the |
| packed into a cartridge. You insert the cartridge | | | | positive and negative charges it gives off, and |
| into your laser printer according to the | | | | needs to be replaced every 10,000 — |
| manufacturer’s instructions. When the | | | | 30,000 pages. Some printers are made with |
| printer goes to print a page, there are several | | | | cartridge-and-drum replacement units in mind, |
| steps to the process: | | | | while other printers are designed to separate the |
| 1. The printer receives an image from your | | | | cartridge and drum. This way, when the cartridge |
| computer. | | | | runs out of toner, you don’t have to |
| 2. Lasers project the image onto an | | | | replace the longer lasting drum with it. This saves |
| electromagnetic drum. | | | | you money. |
| 3. The drum is charged positively and negatively, | | | | You can buy laser toner from your |
| and at varying levels of charge, according to the | | | | printer’s manufacturer, a computer supply |
| image. | | | | store, online, or at any of a number of other |
| 4. The drum attracts the four colors of toner in | | | | types of retailers. To save money, you might |
| the cartridge according to the charges the colors | | | | want to consider buying in bulk. |
| are attracted to. The four colors mix to create | | | | Three of the most popular brands of laser toner |
| any of millions of colors. | | | | are HP, Brother, and Samsung. |
| 5. The drum rolls the image onto a page of paper, | | | | |