Ink Cartridges
Ink cartridges are used in inkjet printers. Liquid ink is filled in a cartridge, and the printer moves the cartridge back and forth, and the image is created as the cartridge drops small droplets of ink on the paper.
Ink cartridges vary from printer to printer and brands. Most ink jets consist CMYK: cyan, magenta, yellow and black cartridge. Some inkjets have extra color cartridge option.
Ink cartridges are cheaper to replace, but the number of pages per cartridge is less compared to toners. High-quality inkjet printers can produce realistic photos.
Toner Cartridges
Toner cartridge uses fine powder and plastic particles, and it is used in a laser printer. Unlike ink cartridges the printer does not move the toner on the paper; instead, a laser draws an electrostatic image on a metal drum. Next, the paper rolls past the drum and the toner is fused onto the paper by the fuser which heats the plastic particles.
Toner cartridges are expensive to replace, and drums also need to be changed but not a frequently as toners. The number of pages a single toner cartridge can print is more.
Inkjets can not match the quality of print of laser printers. The quality of laser drawn image is more precise and accurate. The speed of printing is also faster in laser printers compared to inkjets.