How many hold dear pictures do you have save in yourphoneordigital cameraright now ? If you ’re like most citizenry , probably quite a few – just sitting there , taking up digital space . As much as we enjoy digital picture pickings , we omit erstwhile - fashioned , hard copy photograph . And , despite the availability of gamy - caliber exposure printers , laziness and inconvenience often lie in the track of impress those pictures out .
Lucky for us , fresh mobile photograph printers are making it easier and quicker for us to free our trap images from their digital prison – all without using a drop cloth of ink .
Without ink , photo printers can be dramatically smaller than their harbinger , wee-wee them more convenient and even portable . Some stationary exposure printer are publicise as " mobile " because they receive wireless signal to impress . However , withinkless printingtechnology , printing machine can be mobile in a more extremist direction – you’re able to carry it around in a pocket or a pocketbook , just like a cellular telephone phone . And effective of all , because it does n’t need any sort of traditional ink , the maintenance is as easy as refilling photograph paper .
So what ’s the applied science behind this exposure - cranking machine ? And is it really small enough to outfit in your pouch ? discover more on the next page.
Ink-free Portable Photo Printer Specifics
In 2007 , a Polaroid twisting - off company send for Zink unveiled its ink - loose printing process engineering . Then the party team up with Polaroid to educate a pocket - sized printer that wo n’t leak ink into your pants . Let ’s take a facial expression at the PoGo instant mobile printer ( the first equipment of its sort on the mart ) to get the theme of how the technology works .
The PoGo printer connects to a digital television camera through aUSBadapter wire , countenance the printing machine and the camera to directly connect without acomputer . Connecting the printer to your cell phone , on the other hand , call for no wire . Instead the printer can apply a Bluetooth association to receive images from the sound . For those who have n’t readHow Bluetooth Works , this means that your phone ( if it ’s compatible ) and the printer can be program to utter wirelessly . And when instigate , the telephone can send out the data point for the image via radio waves to the printer .
When it get the data point , the pressman impress out a 2 - in by 3 - column inch color picture . The leave picture has a peel - off back that expose a sticky adhesive – so this photo can be used as a recording label .
When the printing machine is functioning on itslithium - ion barrage fire , it can impress as many as 15 photos [ beginning : Stone ] . When it ’s plugged in , theAC adaptor(the power cord that adjusts the right current and voltage needed ) can keep the pressman go for endless print . With the rechargeable battery attached ( but without paper ) , the printer weighs about 8 oz. [ author : Stone ] . And , at 0.9 inches by 4.7 inches by 2.8 inches , it holds up to 10 sheets and is not much bigger than a battalion of cards . Polaroid is banking on the machine ’s convenient sizing and exercising weight to attract consumers who ’d like to carry it around with their jail cell phone or digital camera . The Polaroid printing machine will carry a price tag of about $ 150 [ beginning : Bergstein ] .
Aside from Polaroid ’s efforts , Zink has also partnered with three other companies to develop other devices that will utilize theink - free printing . Also , Zink is develop a equipment that is penny-pinching to the classical Polaroid camera – a two - in - one gimmick that double as a tv camera and exigent pressman .
Zink hopes that in the future , the printer will even be built into cell phones . As there ’s no need for ink ( just paper ) , compatible printer wo n’t add too much exercising weight or size of it when attached to a earphone or any other equipment for that matter . Not only that , but because the special printing process process can go beyond just photos , Zink ’s plans also include incorporating a pressman with similar technology into equipment such aslaptops .
So now that we know what it can do , it ’s time we incur out how it does it . Next we ’ll take a look at the zero - ink process behind the instant printing of images .
Ink-free Mobile Photo Printer Paper: The Magic Behind Portable Photo Printers
So how do you publish aquality photoby installing just paper and dead no ink ? It ’s no wizardly trick – the reply rest in the newspaper itself . Observe : before printing process , the blank Zink paper is white and apparently normal . However , like the saying move , it ’s what ’s at bottom that matters .
Scientists at Zink invented a paper that contains all the " ink " necessary to make a photo . Each shroud of the Zink paper containsdye lechatelierite : some that can turn cyan , some that can reverse magenta , and some that can turn scandalmongering . These crystals are imperceptible to the naked eye and , before printing , are colorless . To activate this untapped , unperceivable " ink " in the crystal , add estrus to the equation . Heat causes a chemic reaction in these peculiarly contrive crystals , turning them from colourless crystals to high coloreddye .
To get a closer aspect at how the newspaper ferment , let ’s inspect the different layers :
Also , interlayers in between the imaging stratum listed above keep the imaging layer separate from each other .
As the newspaper goes through the thermal printhead , the semblance activated depends on the printhead ’s temperature and time of app . For example , if the printer needs to trigger magenta alone , the heating system applied will not be live enough to activate sensationalistic crystal and wo n’t be applied long enough to activate cyan crystals .
The " lower " temperature and " long " amounts of fourth dimension used on these printers are really neither low nor long – temperatures are hot , ranging from 212 to 392 degree Fahrenheit ( 100 to 200 degree Anders Celsius ) , and printing one line takes only 16 milliseconds [ source : Clarence ] .
Different mixtures of cyan , magenta and yellowish can yield all the colour that you want to print a quality image . Each 2 - column inch by 3 - inch sheet contains about 100 billion dye crystals and gets activated by 200 million heat pulses [ origin : Zink ] .
Although years of labor croak into perfecting the science of this newspaper , Zink has cope to grow it cheaply enough to deal it for about $ 3 per 10 - pack ( about 33 centime per plane ) for the PoGo pressman [ beginning : Kirsner ] . And , although Polaroid ’s PoGo printing machine use 2 - in by 3 - inch paper , Zink can produce paper of any size . As Zink and its other partnering companies get other compatible printer , more sizes will be usable .
So , we know this printer is compact and kettle of fish - free , but does it have any drawbacks ? What are its persuasiveness and weakness ? translate the next page to learn more .
Mobile Photo Printer Advantages and Disadvantages
Let my pictures go ! Will the pocket - sized twist be the Moses of pressman – setting free the enslaved digital images trap inphonesand digital tv camera everywhere ? Perhaps , but it might take some more time solve in the science laboratory for PoGo to execute its hope .
Zink ’s ink - destitute paper is a descendent of old - fashioned , thermal fax newspaper applied science . facsimile paper is cake with extra chemical substance , and when heat is apply the paper darkens through a chemical response . Zink newspaper publisher is different because it prints in color ( as controvert to black and white , like facsimile paper ) .
Zink paper also shares similarities with other printing methods , namely dyestuff dissemination thermal transferral or dye sublimation method . These methods print in color , but are complicated because they utilize a third material ( such as a ribbon ) that contains the ink , which involve to be evaporate down to the paper . The reward of Zink is that there ’s no middleman – the only cloth it require are the composition and printer .
The obvious reward of the production is that it ’s modest and light . It can fulfill instant gratification – you do n’t have to wait to get home to a stationary printer to get finished prints of your images .
And eco - witting people will find that the paper is recyclable ( unlike thermal paper ) and non - toxic . Also , because there is no ink magazine or medal to dispose of , the pressman produces nowaste .
Given the vantage , you ’d expect this engineering science to take the public by storm . But some drawback might foreclose it from catch on , at least for a little while .
First , some user have complain that the quality of the photo produced by a mobile photo printer is subpar . One expert reviewer for PC Magazine , David Stone , claimed that half of his mental testing photos came out with skewed coloration and that some were " washed out " [ source : Stone ] . He also tested the supposed water resistance the printing machine advertises and ground that , although the photos sustain drop that are immediately wipe off , the image suffers if drops teetotal on it . Time will tell apart whether these twist can be press out in late advances .
And finally , Stone reassert the obvious suspicion that rut affects these ikon post - printing ( given that high temperature is creates the print in the first seat ) . When he held a photographic print up to a hot light bulb , the colors became falsify . If you ’ll remember , it takes temperature of at least 212 degrees Fahrenheit ( 100 point Celsius ) to trigger vitreous silica in Zink paper . Although photos are improbable to get these temperatures normally , it ’s best to keep them away from hot areas , like the oven or stave in . Unlike with thermal fax paper , temperatures are unlikely to get hot enough in a sun - broil car to affect Zink composition .
For more information on yourcamera , cubicle headphone and other everyday applied science , peruse the links on the next page .
