Since early printers worked by slapping an ink filament against the paper, such as daisywheel and dot matrix printers, they were referred to as impact printers. The majority of contemporary printers, including inkjet and laser models, are categorized as non-impact printers because they lack an ink string.

Since they don't actually hit the paper, non-impact printers are typically much silent than impact printers. For instance, while laser printers use a circular cylinder to move electronically charged ink onto the paper, inkjet printers use microscopic droplets of ink that are sprayed onto the sheet. Both of these non-impact printing techniques offer a quick and quiet printing procedure. Inkjet and laser printers are less likely to require upkeep or adjustments than early impact printers because of their minimal impact design.