Resolution is the maximum number of dots that the laser or inkjet printer can print in a square inch. In theory higher resolution will give better results. It will print more details which is important especially for printing graphics. But as a marketing trick, manufacturers inflate the resolution numbers and these numbers are not the only factors in print quality. The ink cartridges or toner cartridges, the number of colors, the paper and the method of printing are also great factors in print quality.

Resolution is measured by the dpi (dots per inch) which indicates the maximum number of dots that the laser or inkjet printer can print in a square inch. And each of these dots in a digital photograph is called pixels. A digital photograph is made up of thousands of pixels.

The resolution of an inexpensive inkjet printer will be between 1200 by 1200 dots per inch (dpi) to 2400 by 1200 dpi. And a higher-end inkjet printer will have a resolution between 2400 by 1200 dpi to 4800 by 1200 dpi.

The resolution of a Personal Monochrome laser printer will be between 600 by 600 dpi to 1200 by 1200 dpi. And a workgroup laser printer will typically be 1200 by 1200 dpi.

The resolution of an inexpensive color laser printer will be between 1200 by 600 dpi to 2400 by 1200 dpi. And a higher-end color laser will have a resolution between 2400 by 1200 dpi to 2400 by 2400 dpi. Although laser printers have lower resolutions, they are quite sufficient in printing text and simple graphics.

In any case, it is best to print out a sample to test the real print quality of the inkjet or laser printer rather than just looking at its resolution.

The speed of a laser printer or inkjet printer is measured by the ppm (pages per minute); the number of pages a laser or inkjet printer can produce in one minute. Generally the speed increases as the price of the printer increases. Normally inkjet and laser printers have 3 levels of quality settings: draft, normal, best. The higher the quality, the lower the speed. Bear in mind that the speeds stated by the manufacturers are often higher than real life speeds. While testing the speed, the manufacturers often print the basic text with lowest print quality and come up with such fast speeds. The real speed is likely to be nearly half the speed stated by the manufacturer if you use the normal printing quality. Speed will especially be important for you if you intend to print graphics frequently with your inkjet or laser printer.

Print speeds may vary depending on many factors such as your laser or inkjet printer's print mode, system configuration, page coverage, document complexity and software.

So print speed of a typical inkjet printer may vary between 1 to 28 ppm for black text and 1 to 20 ppm for color photo or graphics. A mid-range monochrome laser printer's print speed may vary between 6 to 25 ppm for sharp black texts and 2 to 20 ppm for black & white graphics. A typical color laser printer's print speed will vary between 6 to 20 ppm for black text and 1 to 12 ppm for color graphics.