Daisy wheel printing is an impact printing technology invented in 1969 by David S. Lee at Diablo Data Systems. It uses interchangeable pre-formed type elements, each with 96 glyphs, to generate high-quality output comparable to premium typewriters such as the IBM "Golfball" Selectric, but three times faster. Daisy-wheel printing was used in electronic typewriters, word processors and computer systems from 1972.

By 1980 daisy-wheel printers had become the dominant technology for high-quality print. Dot-matrix impact or thermal printers were used where higher speed was required and poor print quality was acceptable. Both technologies were rapidly superseded for most purposes when dot-based printers—in particular laser printers—that could print any characters or graphics rather than being restricted to a limited character set became able to produce output of comparable quality. Daisy-wheel technology is now found only in some electronic typewriters.