to print (out)
HSK level
打印 is written with 10 strokes (打: 5, 印: 5). The animation replays automatically.
打印 (dǎyìn) is a verb meaning 'to print' with a printer — to produce a paper copy of a digital document, photo, or file.
It is neutral, everyday office and school vocabulary: 打印文件 (print a document), 打印一份 (print a copy). The related noun is 打印机 (dǎyìnjī, 'printer'). English speakers should note the distinction from 印刷 (yìnshuā), which is 'printing' in the industrial/publishing sense — books, newspapers, mass runs on a press.
打印 is personal, on-demand output from a desktop or office printer. Historically 印 meant to stamp with a seal, so 打印 originally meant 'to affix a stamp,' but in modern usage it overwhelmingly means printing from a computer. It is transitive: you 打印 a document.
Character by character
Memory hook: 打 (do) + 印 (imprint) = 'make an imprint' → print it out.
请帮我打印这份文件。
Qǐng bāng wǒ dǎyìn zhè fèn wénjiàn.
Please help me print this document.
neutral
打印机没纸了。
Dǎyìnjī méi zhǐ le.
The printer is out of paper.
spoken
我把机票打印出来了。
Wǒ bǎ jīpiào dǎyìn chūlái le.
I printed out the plane tickets.
neutral
这份报告需要彩色打印。
Zhè fèn bàogào xūyào cǎisè dǎyìn.
This report needs to be printed in color.
written
印刷 is industrial printing — books, magazines, flyers produced in bulk on a press. 打印 is small-scale, on-demand output from a home or office printer. Use 打印 for your homework, 印刷 for a published book.
打 alone can informally mean 'print out' in some spoken contexts (打一份出来), but it is ambiguous. 打印 is unambiguous and standard for printing.
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