In This Chapter
Understanding color and black-and-white printing
Choosing a printer
Outputting your work
You can print documents in many ways in Adobe Creative Suite 5. Similarly, you can print many different kinds of documents. You can create anything from a CD-ROM sticker to a 300-page book to a T-shirt iron-on transfer using the programs you find in the Creative Suite. Whatever you're working on, knowing the options that are available for printing your work is a good idea. Knowing the kinds of printers you can work with, what to buy (and from where) in order to use them, and how to save your work help improve the quality of the print job when you've finished your work.
When it comes to printers, you encounter hundreds of options at a great variety of prices. Printers can differ greatly in the areas of quality, cost of maintenance, and the speed at which the printer can print. Some inkjet printers excel at printing full-color photos but don't print text well; a low-end or medium-end laser printer may print black-and-white documents at good speed and quality but can't print in color.
The most common type of consumer (home) printer is now an inkjet printer, which works by spraying ink stored in cartridges onto a sheet of paper while it passes through the printer. This type of printer is common in households because it's the least expensive type of color printer. It's also versatile. You can walk into virtually any computer ...