Inkjet Prints (1990s—present). Inkjet prints are the most common form of computer-generated print. Firstly, the photographic image is digitized, a digital computer file being created by scanning a print, transparency, or negative of the original. Or the image may be loaded directly into the computer from a high resolution digital camera. The digital file is manipulated on the computer to achieve the desired result in printing, the old techniques of dodging and burning in being achieved electronically, as is colour manipulation and many of the other tricks once done by hand. The print can be made on various kinds of paper or substrate, the only limitation being that it must be capable of being loaded into the printer. As the name implies, inkjet printing means that that computer controlled printing heads spray minute droplets of ink at the paper. Multiple droplets are overlaid to create a continuous tone reproduction, rather than the screen or dot patterns associated with traditional photomechanical printing techniques. When properly made on the more professional printers, inkjet prints can offer exquisite image quality, and now that the newer inks are offering archival permanence, will become a much more established part of the contemporary photo art market.

— Collecting Photography, By Gerry Badger, p. 139 (Glossary)