The promise of a paperless office has not happened though conservation is catching on and it is possible to reduce paper consumption by using your computer or device more effectively. Having said that many computers are attached to printers and there are many reasons to print out documents that you create on your computer. Most software programs and applications allow the user to print the information that is created in the program.

When choosing a printer consider the peripheral equipment that you will need as well as the actual printer. Peripherals include paper, ribbons or ink cartridges, toner and occasionally print heads.

You may have to adjust some of the settings for the printer to get the output you want. Density adjustments determine how much ink is placed on the paper or how many dots per inch (DPI). Draft quality will print quicker but creates a fainter copy (less dense). Modern Software has a Preview option which show what the page will look like when it is printed. Portrait prints the document up and down. Landscape prints the document on it's side or wide. Most software allows the user to adjust the margin width or the blank space at the top, bottom, left and right edge of the paper.

A printer can be attached directly to your computer using a printer cable, through a wifi connection or connected through a network. Network printers can be accessed directly from the computers on the network and send their printing jobs directly to the network printer.