Do you know what the letters in printer names mean?

Navigating the various printer names can be really difficult. All the more so because manufacturers name the printer using abbreviations indicating what functions, or possibly multifunction features, it offers. To understand them, you no longer need to search at length for their meaning. Read about the abbreviations you are most likely to encounter and what they actually mean.

Printer designations may vary

Knowing everything a printer can do at a glance from its name alone can be tempting. And yet it’s not even that impossible. You only need to learn what the individual abbreviations mean, and you will very quickly find your way around the range of printers on offer. Of course, some labels may vary between individual printers depending on the brand (manufacturer). Nevertheless, they will provide you with a great overview of what you can expect from the given printer.

Overview of abbreviations that may be used to label a printer and their meanings:

• B – (black) monochrome printer
• BT – (Bluetooth) - enables printing using Bluetooth technology
• C – (colour) – color printer
• D – (duplex) – automatic double-sided printing
• DTN - (duplex - tray - network) these printers offer double-sided printing, wired network connectivity, and also include an external input tray
• E – (ePrint) – enables printing via email.
The feature was created in the past exclusively for HP. It is mainly used as an emergency function for offices if you cannot connect via USB, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth. It was introduced in 2010, but nowadays it is no longer used much.
• F – (fax) – a printer with a built-in fax unit
• H – (hard drive) – a printer marked with this letter has its own hard drive, which allows it to store large volumes of data. You will encounter it especially with office and industrial printers.
• i – (Imaging) – means that the printer has a memory card slot. Here you can insert directly into the printer without having to convert files first. It is often used in printers primarily intended for photo printing.
• M – monochromatic – single-color, black-and-white printing
• MFP, MFC – (multifunction printer, multifunction center) – devices that offer multiple functions, meaning they include not only a printer, but also a scanner and a copier.
Such a printer is also called an "All in One".
• N – (network) – enables the printer to be connected to a network, allowing you to print to it from multiple computers.
• PS – (PostScript) – a printer programming language used for fast data processing. Through it, the printer can lay out the final print on the page and appropriately program the print head.
• S – (stapler) – a stapling device used to bind printed sheets of paper with spiral binding.
• T – (tray) – this is an additional paper tray (A3 or A4) with a capacity of several hundred sheets. It is usually part of printers with a high print volume (for example, in an office).
• W – (wireless) – an older designation that is a common standard in current models. Indicates the possibility of wireless connection to the printer from a computer, tablet, or smartphone, if applicable. the possibility of connecting the printer to a local network.
• X – for HP devices, the letter X indicates printers with an additional paper feeder. For the others, it refers to printers equipped with duplex printing, the option of a wired network connection, and an external input tray.
• Z – designation for HP multifunction devices from the Flow model series, which have faster scanners with a function enabling scanned text to be converted into a format that can subsequently be edited in a text editor (OCR - Optical Character Recognition) and with increased capacity of the automatic document feeder (ADF - Automatic Document Feeder).

Example of how to read a printer name

Epson WorkForce Pro WF-C8690DWF

• Epson – indicates the manufacturer's name
• WorkForce – designation of the model series
• Pro WF-C8690 – designation of the specific printer model
• D – duplex – automatic double-sided printing
• W – wireless – features wireless connectivity
• F – offers fax functionality