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How to choose a printer – a beginners guide

At Canon, we have printers for every use including for high volume office printing, for printing photos and art and for occasional use at home. To help you understand how to choose a printer and some of the printer jargon, we’ve created this handy printing for dummies printer buying guide.

UNDERSTANDING YOUR PRINTER

WHICH CANON BRAND SHOULD I BUY

Understanding Your Printer

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Inkjet vs Laser

The difference between inkjet and laser is the process in which it prints your document. Laser printers use toner cartridges. These dry cartridges are fused to the page by a high-temperature roller. On the other hand, inkjet printers use ink cartridges and ink tanks. This process is wet. They lay ink onto the page from the printer. Inkjet printers are better suited for document and photo printing in small to medium businesses and at home, while laser printers are better suited to large offices.

Single vs Multifunction

The second point addressed in our printer buying guide is single function or multifunction. Some of our printers are described as multifunction, single function, 3-in-1 and 4-in-1. Single function or single use printers have one function only – which is to print. A multifunction printer can have 3 or 4 functions, which will be any of printing, scanning, copying and faxing. These are often called 3-in-1 or 4-in-1 printers.

Mono vs Colour

A mono printer will only print in black and white, while a colour printer will print colour.

What is the difference between toner and ink cartridges?

When ordering your ink or toner, you need to know which it is that your printer is compatible with. Ink cartridges are compatible with inkjet printers. These inkjet printers tend to be lower workload and everyday printers. Ink tanks are larger, better suited for offices and are also compatible with inkjet printers. Our MegaTank range of printers has refillable ink tanks, enabling lower cost and high volume printing. Finally, toner cartridges are only suitable with our laser printers.

How to find compatible ink

You can find compatible ink via our ink finder. Our ink finder is located via the Ink, Toner & Paper icon in the navigation bar in our menu at the top of our page. Enter which printer you want or do own, and we’ll find the right ink for you.

Which Canon Brands Should I Buy?

At Canon, we have a number of brands that each have different sub-brands. The product you decide to purchase depends on what you need your printer for. Find out how to choose a printer by using the above printers selection guide to narrow down which type of printer you need.

Brand	Sub-Brand	What for?	Where can I use it?
Canon MAXIFY	MAXIFY IB	Print only inkjet printers	Home office and small business
	MAXIFY MB	Multifunction inkjet printing	Home office and small business
	MEGATANK GX	For low cost and efficient high workload single to multifunction inkjet printing	Busy home offices, and busy small and medium businesses
Canon ImagePROGRAF	N/A	Wide-format A3+ pro photo inkject printers	Professional photo printing at home or at work
Canon PIXMA	MG/MX	Multifunction inkjet printing	Home, home office
	TS	Inkjet photo printing	Home printing
	TR	Efficient and compact inkjet multifunction printers	Home, home office
	G	For low cost and efficient high workload inkjet multifunction printers	Busy home, home office
	PRO	Large format A3+ pro inkjet photo printing	Professional photo printing at home or in the office
Canon i-SENSYS	N/A	Multifunction laser printers	Medium to large-scale businesses

What do the codes mean?

Each Canon printer is given a code. The start of the code refers to the sub brand, which you can see listed in the table above. A PIXMA Printer that starts “Canon PIXMA TS” will be part of the TS sub-brand. The other thing you can determine is colour, which can be determined by the final number of a code. If the number is 0, the printer is black. If the number is 1, the printer is white, and if it is a 2, then the printer is red.

Subscription Services: How to save money on printer ink

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We offer a range of ink subscription services that mean you’ll always have ink for your printer. Save time and money with a Canon print subscription plan that puts your needs first. Save 5% on repeat orders with our Repeat & Save service, automatically get ink delivered when you run low with our Auto-Ink Delivery service or get a tailored plan based on your print usage with our PIXMA Print Plan. Choose how you want to print.

Apps & Services

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We have a range of apps that let you get the most from your printer. To help you understand better, we’ve put together all of these apps in one place:

PIXMA PRINT App: Print, copy and scan from your smart devices. You can also check your printer’s status and link it up to the cloud

Apple AirPrint: Helps you to create printed output without the need to download or install drivers. Print photos and documents from your Apple devices

Mopria for Android: Similar to Apple Airprint, Mopria for Android covers all Android devices

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Easy Photo-Print Editor: Software for printing the images stored in the computer or cloud. Enables you to edit and print works including cards and calendars

Creative Park Web & App: An online service open to everyone and lets you create your own greeting cards, calendars and lots of other photo and paper objects

SELPHY Photo Layout: Create and print photos, stickers and bookmarks from your phone

PosterArtist Web: Free online design app from Canon. Can easily create and print your original poster/flyer/banner/menu/calendar from various templates.

How to find Canon printer software and manuals?
To find out more about Canon printers, their software and printer manuals. Please follow this link.

Glossary: Words You Need to Know

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ADF: Automatic Document Feeder

D-ADF: Two sided Automatic Document Feeder

Automatic Duplex Printing: 2 Sided printing

Borderless Photo Printing: Printed photos with no border

Wi-Fi Printing: Printing via Wi-Fi

Touchscreen Panel: The panel used to operate your printer

IPM: Print speeds per minute

Mono / Colour: Mono is a black and white only printer

Multifunction: Has a number of different functions. Usually print, scan and copy, but sometimes fax as well

3 in 1: A printer that prints, scans and copies

4 in 1: A printer that prints, scans, copies and faxes