Liquid inkjet printers

Main article: Inkjet printer
Inkjet printers spray very small, precise amounts (usually a few picolitres) of ink onto the media. These droplets of ink will carry a slight electrical charge. The placement of the ink on the page is then determined by the charge of a cathode and electrode between which the ink moves towards the paper. Inkjet printing (and the related bubble-jet technology) are the most common -quality inkjet printers are inexpensive to produce.
Virtually all modern inkjet printers are color devices; some, known as photo printers, include extra pigments to better reproduce the color gamut needed for high-quality photographic prints (and are additionally capable of printing on photographic card stock, as opposed to plain office paper).
Inkjet printers consist of nozzles that produce very small ink bubbles that turn into tiny droplets of ink. The dots formed are the size of tiny pixels. Ink-jet printers can print high quality text and graphics. They are also almost silent in operation. Inkjet printers have a much lower initial cost than do laser printers, but have a much higher cost-per-copy, as the ink needs to be frequently replaced.
In addition, consumer printer manufacturers have adapted a business model similar to that employed by manufacturers of razors; the printers themselves are frequently sold below cost, and the ink is then sold at a high markup.
Various legal and technological means are employed to try and force users to only purchase ink from the manufacturer (thus leading to vendor lock-in); however there is a thriving aftermarket for such things as third-party ink cartridges (new or refurbished) and refill kits.
Inkjet printers are also far slower than laser printers. Inkjet printers also have the disadvantage that pages must be allowed to dry before being aggressively handled; premature handling can cause the inks (which are adhered to the page in liquid form) to run.