This Interactive Simulator Will Tell You What Your Inkjet Printer Actually Does

Laser printers are generally well-regarded, but inkjet printers are at the top of the list of products that consumers hate. Part of that is the business practice of dramatically marking up ink, but it is also about functionality and reliability. The truth is that inkjet printers are very complex and most people have no idea what happens inside the enclosure. If you’d like to better understand inkjet printing, check out this simulator created by Dennis Kuppens.

This is a 2D inkjet printing simulator that focuses on the practical effects of the process — particularly as it applies to functional printing. It accomplishes a couple of important feats. The first is separating a digital image and a printed image, because they are very different. The second is demonstrating what the inkjet printhead does as it prints, which sheds a lot of light on the effects of print settings.

The simulator is surprisingly comprehensive, with dozens of printhead parameter presets available to choose from and many configurable print settings. You can, for example, select the Epson I3200 1200dpi printhead and then set the print job’s resolution (in X and Y), direction, and so on. When you click the “Start Printing” button, an animation will run and show you exactly what will happen. You’ll also get data, including the volume of ink used and the thickness of the printed ink.

This is, of course, interesting and enlightening for anyone working in the printing industry. But it is especially useful for functional printing, such as when printing conductive ink for working electric circuits. The simulator can help you identify shorts or broken traces that occur as an unintended result of the inkjet process.

If you want to try the simulator for yourself, you can download the JavaScript files and run them locally. Or you can simply launch the web app and use it right away.