Impact printer: Character Printer, Line Printer

Impact printer: 

The type of printer whose printing head touches the surface of the paper during the printing process is called impact printer. It forms characters or images by striking a mechanism such as print hammer for while against the surface and inked ribbon and images on the paper.

Figure: Impact printer

• Character Printer: 

In a character printer, characters are printed one after the others. Only one character can be printed at a time. The character printer is also known as serial printer.
Example:

1. Daisy Wheel Printer
2. Dot Matrix Printer

• Line Printer: 

In a line printer, many character of a line are printed at a time. To the user, the line printer appears to print a complete line of character is one shot.
Example:

1. Drum Printer
2. Chain printer
3. Band printer