Solid Ink Frequently Asked Questions

When did Xerox first announce solid ink?
Xerox announced it's first solid ink printer in 1991, and its groundbreaking capabilities immediately won Editors' Choice Awards from PC Magazine, MacUser, and MacWorld. Successive solid ink products have won over 50 major awards. Now more than ever, businesses, schools, and other organizations are taking advantage of solid ink's unique color quality, speed, reliability, ease of use, and low cost.

Is solid ink print quality as good as color laser?
Yes. Unlike laser and liquid ink-jet printers, solid ink products produce consistent color quality page after page on almost any kind of media, including everything from inexpensive office paper to special letterhead, coated card stock, and transparencies.

Does solid ink print slower the more color you add to the page?
No. Due to its single-pass design, solid ink prints full-color at full speed.

Can solid ink print on both sides of the page?
Yes. Automatic two-sided printing is a fast and reliable feature of Xerox's solid ink products, because the duplex paper path is already built into the product.

Can I print transparencies with solid ink?
Xerox solid ink products are legendary for their bright colors, smooth gradients, and fast, easy, reliable transparency printing. And unlike some color lasers, there's no chance of having a sheet of transparency film melt onto a hot fuser roller because, with solid ink, there is no fuser.

How reliable is solid ink technology?
The elegantly simple design of a single-pass solid ink product allows it to have 60% fewer parts than the typical four-pass color laser. The secret is in the printhead, which is precisely engineered and calibrated to deliver full-page full-color prints in one pass through the product. Solid ink products have a shorter paper path, and do not have the cartridges, drums, belts, and rollers that make color lasers so complex.

Are the ink sticks safe to handle? Are they messy?
The resin-based solid ink sticks do not rub off on hands or clothing. Unlike liquid ink jet or laser toner, solid ink cannot leak or spill in the process of replenishing the ink supply.

Can I match the color output to my screen or to other color devices?
Matching what you see on your monitor or what you expect from your final production product can be tricky. But solid ink is especially good at it for three reasons: (1) Since solid ink products can print a wider range of colors than most color lasers, it is more likely to accurately render the target color. (2) Solid ink prints the same color consistently, page-to-page and job-to-job. (3) Extensive color management is built into every Xerox solid ink product and includes TekColor Automatic Color Correction, which intelligently optimizes the color of every element on the page