A laser printer is a common type of computer printer

Computer printer

In computing, a printer is a peripheral which produces a text or graphics of documents stored in electronic form, usually on physical print media such as paper or transparencies. Many printers are primarily used as local peripherals, and are attached by a printer cable or, in most new printers, a...

 that rapidly produces high quality text and graphics on plain paper

Special fine paper

Special fine paper is a classification of paper used for copying and digital printing.- Copy paper :Copy paper is used for copying and laser printers. The basis weight is 70-90 g/m² and ISO brightness 80-96%. It is made of 90–100% virgin chemical pulp or 100% deinked pulp with total pigment content...

. As with digital photocopier

Photocopier

A photocopier is a machine that makes paper copies of documents and other visual images quickly and cheaply. Most current photocopiers use a technology called xerography, a dry process using heat...

s and multifunction printer

Multifunction printer

An MFP , multifunctional, all-in-one , or Multifunction Device , is an office machine which incorporates the functionality of multiple devices in one, so as to have a smaller footprint in a home or small business setting , or to provide centralized document...

s (MFPs), laser printers employ a xerographic

Xerography

Xerography is a dry photocopying technique invented by Chester Carlson in 1938, for which he was awarded on October 6, 1942. Carlson originally called his invention electrophotography...

 printing process, but differ from analog photocopiers in that the image is produced by the direct scanning of a laser

Laser

A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of photons. The term "laser" originated as an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation...

 beam across the printer's photoreceptor.
A laser beam projects an image of the page to be printed onto an electrically charged rotating drum coated with selenium

Selenium

Selenium is a chemical element with atomic number 34, chemical symbol Se, and an atomic mass of 78.96. It is a nonmetal, whose properties are intermediate between those of adjacent chalcogen elements sulfur and tellurium...

 or, more common in modern printers, organic photoconductors.