Printer & Scanner Basics

Introduction to Printers
• Printers are commonly used output devices that produce a
hard copy of document stored in electronic form, i.e they
put information from computer on to paper.
• There are various kinds of printers available today like
Impact printers, Bubble-jet printers, Laser printers, Thermal
printers etc.
• Types of printers
– Impact
– Solid-Ink Printers
– Thermal Printers
– Inkjet Printers
– Laser printers
Laser Printer
 Introduction to Scanners
• Scanner is a device that scans images, printed
text, and handwriting etc and converts it to
digital form or image.
• It is so named because the data is converted
one line at a time or scanned down the page
as the scanning head moves down the page.
 Components inside a
scanner
• Glass Plate and Cover
• Scanning head
• Stepper Motor
 Types
• Flatbed Scanners
• Sheetfed Scanners
• Handheld Scanners
 Printer and Scanner Interfaces
• A printer's interface is a combination of
hardware and software that allows the printer
to communicate with a computer.
• The hardware interface is called port and each
printer has atleast one interface. An interface
incorporates several components including its
communication type as well as the interface
software.
• There are eight major communication types
 Printer and Scanner Interfaces
1. Serial : Computers send one bit at a time, one after another through serial
connection. The communication parameters like parity, baud should be set on
both entities before communication takes place.
2. Parallel : Parallel communication is more popular with printers because it is
more faster than serial communication. In this type of communication, printer
receives eight bits at a time over eight separate wires.
Parallel uses a DB25 connection on the computer side and a oddly shaped 36
pin connection on the printer.
3. USB (Universal Serial Bus) : These can transfer data quickly with a transfer
rate up to 12 Mbps and it automatically recognizes new devices.
4. Network : Network, or commonly Ethernet, connections are commonplace
on network laser printers, though some other types of printers do employ this
type of connection. These printers have a Network Interface Card (NIC) and
ROM-based software that allows them to communicate with networks,
servers and workstations.
 Printer and Scanner Interfaces
5. Infrared : Infrared transmissions are wireless transmissions that use radiation in the
infrared range of the electromagnetic spectrum. An Infrared acceptor allows your
devices (laptops, PDA's, Cameras, etc) connect to the printer and send print
commands via infrared signals.
6. SCSI (Small Computer System Interface) : Laser printer, dye-sublimation printers
and few other use SCSI interfaces to PC as there are benefits like daisy chaining
wherein more than one device could be on a single SCSI connection and it is easy to
implement.
7. IEEE 1394 Firewire : Firewire is a high speed connection typically used for digital
video editing or other high bandwidth requirements. This interface currently supports
devices with a maximum throughput of 800 Mbps and capable of speeds up to 3.2
Gbps.
8. Wireless : Wireless is the currently popular technology like infrared, Bluetooth,
802.11 etc. The information is transmitted wirelessly through the air using radio waves
and is received by the device.
Bluetooth is used to replace the cables between computers and its
peripherals and they usually work over small distances of about 10 meters.
Out of these above communication types scanners mostly use USB, Parallel, SCSI, IEEE
1394/FireWire.
 Installing And Configuring
Printers And Scanners
• Step 1 : Attach the device using a local
or network port and connect the power
• Step 2 : Install and Update the Device
driver and calibrate the device
• Step 3 : Configure options and default
settings
• Step 4 : Print/scan a test page
Printers And Scanners Problems
And Troubleshooting
• Dot-Matrix printer problems
– Print results are too light
– Printer does not print
– Characters are incomplete
– Printout jams inside the printer
– Stepper motor problems
Printers And Scanners Problems
And Troubleshooting
• Laser printer problems
– Print results too light, white/light
columns
– Ghosting
– Prints black pages
– Memory Overflow error
– Paper jams
– Repetitive small marks or defects
– Image Smudging
 Scanner Problems and
Troubleshooting
• Common problems with scanner are scanners won't turn on, strange
noises from scanner, Scanners won't scan etc.
• Tips to troubleshoot the basic scanner related problems are:
• Ensure that the scanner software is properly installed and all the
settings are properly configured
• Make sure that the power light on the scanner is turned on.
• If any software related problems are noticed in scanner then uninstall
and reinstall the scanner software
• Try to perform the basic tests that are provided by the manufacturer.
• Make sure that the cables to the scanner are properly connected.
• Overheating, dust and humid environment can cause permanent
damage to the scanner.
• Restarting your computer, unplugging cables and verifying any
hardware conflicts in the device manager can diagnose and
troubleshoot the possible errors.
 Tools To Troubleshooting
Problems
• Multimeter
• Screw driver
• Cleaning solutions
• Extension Magnets
• Test patterns
 References
(https://www.tutorialsweb.co
m/computers/printers-
scanners/.htm)
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2. https://www.howstuffworks.com
3. https://www.brainbell.com
4. CompTIA A+ complete study guide
Thank you