this post was submitted on 01 May 2025
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you know the computer thing is it plugged in?
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It may not be true for commercial printing, but it is absolutely true for all consumer printers made since the mid 1990s.
Some can produce B&W identification marks, but every consumer printers stamps every single page printed with identification marks with at minimum the printer model and serial number.
Right, but that's not the reason it won't print if you're out of a color. Especially since you can still print in B&W only mode. Or you certainly used to be able to, but I'm still using the same color laser from >10 years ago for home use, and an old Brother photo printer for things that need to be higher resolution.
If you use a Brother printer with ecotank cartridges, you can get an empty yellow cartridge and fill it with water if you're worried about tracking dots. You'll want to run a few cleaning cycles first to ensure that all the residual yellow is gone from the yellow print head.
...Or you can buy a typewriter at a pawn shop with cash, and dump it once you've written the ransom note/bomb threat. If you're counterfeiting stuff, you should probably consider the printer to be a consumable item that gets discarded and replaced after every batch.
Also, not every printer made since the mid-90s does that. See here