Assembly Line

How inkjet printers are made

An inkjet printhead fires droplets of ink one at a time, either by heating the ink or by squeezing a crystal.

stations
6
things upstream
102
raw sources
31
steps from the ground
9

The short version

An inkjet printer is built around a printhead with rows of tiny nozzles that propel droplets of ink onto paper. A heater or a piezoelectric crystal behind each nozzle forces out one drop on demand. The printhead rides on a belt-driven carriage, with rollers feeding the paper and a circuit board running it all.

  1. Make the printhead

    Nozzles, ink channels and heating elements or piezo crystals are patterned onto a silicon or metal plate. The nozzles are tiny, and each channel has to be the same size or the drops will not match.

    Goes in
    Silicon wafer

  2. Mold the plastic frame

    Plastic pellets are melted and injected into molds to make the chassis, the paper tray, the rollers' housings and the cover.

    Goes in
    ABS plasticPolystyrene

  3. Fit the carriage and motors

    A carriage that holds the printhead is mounted on a steel rod and belt, driven by a small motor. A second motor turns the rollers that pull paper through.

    Goes in
    SteelElectric motorVulcanized rubber

  4. Fill the ink

    Cartridges or refillable tanks are filled with liquid ink and sealed. Printers work with inks of cyan, magenta, yellow and black, which mix to make color.

    Goes in
    Ink

  5. Populate the control board

    A processor, memory and driver chips are soldered to a circuit board. The board fires each nozzle at the right moment as the carriage moves.

    Goes in
    Printed circuit boardMicrochipSolder

  6. Test print

    Each machine prints a test pattern. A scanner or a technician checks for missing nozzles, banding and paper jams before the printer is boxed.

    Goes in
    Paper
End of the lineInkjet printer

Worth repeating

  • Piezoelectric inkjet heads, using a crystal to squeeze out drops, were developed in the early 1980s.
  • Inkjet technology is also used in industry to deposit materials directly onto surfaces.

Back to the ground

Follow every input upstream and inkjet printer starts as these 31 raw sources.

QuartzAirNatural rubber latexSulfurWaterKaolinLimestoneCrude oilNatural gasIron oreDolomiteManganese oreSoybeansRapeseedClayTitanium oreCornSugarcaneCopper oreSilica sandTin oreCoalGold oreLead oreSilver oreZinc oreTimberRock saltTronaBauxiteSugar beet

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Keep walking

Container ship 9 stations · 23 raw sources Headphones 6 stations · 14 raw sources Lithium-ion cell 10 stations · 23 raw sources Leather handbag 6 stations · 20 raw sources Microwave oven 10 stations · 27 raw sources Piano 8 stations · 15 raw sources

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Sources

These sources say little about the factory steps themselves, so parts of this line are a general description. Treat the details with care, and tell us if you know better.

Cite this page: "How inkjet printers are made." Assembly Line, 2026-11-03. https://assemblyline.org/make/inkjet-printer

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