Homebrew PCBs

dg140@... wrote:

>How thick is the thinnest line that can be generated by a lasejet (say the
>HP1200) and an injket?
>
>When doing photographic etching, is the thickness of the line from the
>printer the same as the eventual trace on the foil pattern?  If the line
>was, asay 0.5MM thick, would the trace be the same size as well?
>
>I have found that the lines created by a Laserjet seem to be more "crisp"
>than even a good Inkjet.  Even if the Injket has from 1200 to 2400 DPI, a
>LaserJet appears slightly clearer.  Does this quality difference affect
>the quality of a foil pattern?
>

One major fact with inkjets is that the print is very depended on the 
print media. Lasterjets on the other hand do not suffer the same. 
Comparing inkjet to laser is meaningless unless the inkjet is on a 
suitable paper/film. I have a 600 dpi Brother laser printer and a Epson 
Stylus 600. The Epson has slightly better line edge jaggedness than the 
laser when printing on transparency film (the Epson is also much more 
opaque and pin hole free). To get small width lines and spaces you have 
to have good process control in exposing, developing, and etching. All 
this depends on what equipment you are using.
The advertised 1200/2400 dpi inkjets are not true black ink resolution. 
There is plenty  inkjet technology info around the web. These days many 
people use inkjets for printing photos on special photo papers. The 
printers are therefore optimized for photos and black text sharpness is 
not a major priority.