1993 Apple LaserWriter Pro 630 laser printer This article is part of the series on: History of printing Technologies Phaistos Disc (1850?1400 BCE) Woodblock printing (200 CE) Movable type (1040) Printing press (1439) Rotary press (1843) Intaglio (printmaking) Lithography (1796) Chromolithography (1837) Offset press Screen-printing (1907) Flexography Thermal printer Photocopier (1960s) Laser printer (1969) Dot matrix printer (1970) Inkjet printer Dye-sublimation printer Digital press (1993) 3D printing v ? d ? e A laser printer is a common type of computer printer that rapidly produces high quality text and graphics on plain paper. Like photocopiers, laser printers employ a xerographic printing process but differ from analog photocopiers in that the image is produced by the direct scanning of a laser beam across the printer's photoreceptor.