Form

• Laser toner is a powder instead of the liquid form of ink found in inkjet printers and pens. Even though laser toner powder may look like other types of powder, it will stain clothing, hands and most surfaces it comes in contact with. To keep the toner from spilling, it is kept in a toner cartridge, which releases the needed amount of the powder in printers to print onto pages.
  
  

Electrical Charging

• When the laser toner is released from the toner cartridge, it is attracted to the correct portions of the paper by an electrical charge. A roller in the laser printer charges certain areas of the paper in the shape of text or graphics, attracting the toner to form the necessary words and images. The toner is still in a powder form at this point. If you were to touch toner that has only been attracted to the proper areas of the paper, the words and images would smudge easily.
  
  

Heat and Pressure

• After the toner is attracted to the paper to form text and images, the paper is passed over a heat roller. If you have touched a paper that has barely left a laser printer, you will notice the page is warm to the touch. The heat melts the powder onto the page. To make sure the toner is completely fused to the paper, it is put between two rollers that apply pressure to the toner.
  
  

Colors

• Laser printer toner can come in black or various colors, just like any other type of ink. The process of applying and setting color toner onto a piece of paper is the same as the process of applying and setting black laser toner to a paper. A special type of photo paper that will bond with laser toner has been released. The surface of this photo paper will bond with the powdered toner and withstand the heat necessary to make the bond last.
  
  

Properties

• Laser printer toner is not gritty; it is a fine powder. The toner is made of plastic resins, dyes, iron oxide, and a few other minor ingredients to aid with the bonding process. The plastic resins allow the toner powder to go from a fine powder into a solid mass that will stay on the paper. Toner particles are of varying sizes. The smaller the toner particles the greater the resolution a laser printer is able to produce.