In case of a typewriter or a dot matrix printer, the printer ribbon moves in the opposite direction of the typing and is automatically wound like a tape from one end of the roll to another. Once the ink in the printer ribbon is over, you can simply throw the printer ribbon away and buy a new one. A printer ribbon is less expensive than an ink cartridge that may cost a bomb. A printer ribbon maybe available just for a few dollars while a cartridge may set you back by at least 50 dollars.

The laser printers use what is known as a toner. Here the ink is stored in the toner and ink is sprayed on the paper due to heat created by the acting laser when the print command is given. People have done the use of the printer ribbon from a long time. The printer ribbon is mess free, it is easy to install in the printer or the typewriter, it is economical to buy and last but not the least it does not fail to get good results.

You can in fact get good quality and cheap printer ribbons from a computer store or even from a stationary store. Computer accessories like cartridges and printer ribbons have become such a lucrative market that many stationary stores double up as computer stationary stores as well. The demand for printer ribbons is more from the corporate houses who need to change them on a daily basis as the printing tasks are huge. However the demand for printer ribbon is fast being changed by the demand for ink cartridges for inkjet printers and toner for laser printer. This is because the print quality is very good in the case of printer cartridges and toners as compared to printer ribbons.

Over the last few years the demand for printer ribbons has decreased considerably over the last few years but still there is little demand because of dot matrix printers.