The ink-jet printer was developed after the stylus printer and used a non strike working mode. The outstanding advantages are small size, simple and convenient operation, low printing noise, and the use of special paper can produce pictures comparable to photos, etc.

There are two main technologies used for ink-jet printers: continuous ink-jet technology and random ink-jet technology. The early ink-jet printers and the current large format ink-jet printers all use continuous ink-jet technology, while the current popular ink-jet printers generally use random ink-jet technology. Continuous ink-jet technology is represented by charge modulation. In random ink-jet system, ink is sprayed only when printing is required, so it is also called on-demand.