Canon toner cartridges are made for the company's laser printers and their copiers. Although famous for their bubble jet machines, Canon does make fine laser printers. One reason this is interesting is that lasers use an entirely different technology from inkjets.

Inkjets put images on paper using tiny nozzles, or jets, of ink. Lasers are based on static electricity. When static electricity builds up, it makes objects stick together. Lasers use this phenomenon to fuse ink onto paper. As the paper passes through a pair of heated rollers, the loose toner powder clinging to the drum melts. In other words, lasers use toner, not ink, to produce text.

All-Important Toner

Laser printers and photocopiers both use electrostatic principles--and toners--to create print and images. So, what is toner made of that enables it to print as ink does? Basically, it is a powder with an electrical charge, and it consists of pigment and plastic. Obviously, the pigment creates the image; the plastic makes the toner melt when the paper passes through the heated rollers, thereby fusing the toner with the fiber of the paper.

Laser printers have a larger initial outlay of money, but they are far cheaper than inkjets to operate. Toner powder is cheap and it lasts a long time, unlike inkjet printer cartridges. Canon toner cartridges would, of course, be more expensive than generic toners. By buying cheap toner cartridges, an owner can cut down even more on the relatively low-cost of operating a laser printer as opposed to an inkjet. As with compatible inkjet cartridges, laser toners are specially formulated for each brand/model. Toners are not interchangeable from brand to brand, so consumers should make sure they are specifically made for their laser printer.