Thermal Label Printers

As your business starts to grow, you will find that laser and inkjet label printers may become more costly and less efficient over time. While thermal printers typically have a higher initial purchase price, they will make up for it in fewer recurring fees and increased printing speeds.

Thermal label printers do not require ink or toner cartridges like inkjet and laser printers. If you’re printing high quantities of labels, this advantages can easily save you hundreds of dollars over the course of a few months.

Moreover, you can get the same quantity of printable labels for significantly less money when you own a thermal printer. Laser printers use only label sheets, and some inkjet printers can use small label rolls. Thermal printers, on the other hand, use large label rolls. In the end, buying thermal labels is more economical, especially for operations with lots of products they need to label.

Thermal printers also tend to offer much higher print speeds. They can print more labels per second than inkjet and laser label printers. Every second counts when processing orders.

Finally, thermal printers are ideal for precise printing needs, such as one- and two-dimensional barcode printing. They’re designed to print with tight tolerances and to produce the exact bar widths required for successful barcode printing and scanning.

If you are a large business with a lot of products to label, a thermal label printer may be your best choice for saving time and money in the long term. Let’s take a closer look at the two kinds available: thermal and direct thermal printers:

Thermal Transfer Printers

Thermal transfer label printers use printhead elements that heat the backside of a ribbon to melt and transfer the compounds on the front side of the ribbon to the label surface. They’re compatible with a wide variety of media including paper, polyester, and polypropylene materials.

Direct Thermal Printers

Direct thermal printers also use printhead elements. However, unlike thermal printers, no ribbon is used in direct thermal printing. The image or design is directly printed on the label surface.

Direct thermal printers require chemically treated, heat-sensitive media that darken in response to heat. This limits the variety of printable labels and materials that are compatible with direct thermal label printers. Your options include certain specially treated paper and synthetic labels.