Industrial Thermal Label Printers & Thermal Transfer Labels

What is direct thermal and thermal transfer printing?

Direct thermal and thermal transfer are digital print methods that utilize heat to print or mark the substrate that is fed through the printer. Both direct thermal and thermal transfer printers have a ceramic printhead consisting of tiny elements or dots to create or burn the image.  Standard print heads are 203, 300 or 600 dpi (dots per inch).  The higher the dpi (dots per inch) the higher the print quality.

What is the difference between direct thermal and thermal transfer printing?

Direct thermal printing requires the media or substrate to be specially formulated so the substrate is blackened when put through the print head. Thermal transfer printing requires a ribbon and label substrate that are designed to work together.  The print head heats up and transfers the image from the ribbon onto the label or print media.   

What are the advantages of direct thermal printers or printing?

Direct thermal printing does not require a ribbon; therefore, they are easy to use and less expensive than other print methods.  They provide good readability of barcodes, QR codes, etc.  Direct thermal applications are typically short term as the image fades over time and ideal for shipping labels, work in progress marking and receipts.

What are the disadvantages of direct thermal printing?

Direct thermal printing is short term and not able to withstand the elements or chemicals and fades over time. 

What are the advantages of thermal transfer printers or printing?

Thermal transfer printing provides crisp, clear printing of barcodes, QR Codes and images.   When using the correct ribbon and media combination, this printing will withstand exposure to elements, chemicals and abrasion making this process ideal for asset tags, nameplates or any application that requires on demand printing at your location. 

How do I know what thermal transfer ribbon to use?

There are three types of thermal transfer ribbons:  wax, wax/resin and resin ribbons.   Wax ribbons are typically used with a paper media and used for short term applications. Wax/resin ribbons are designed to be used with high quality papers and some films.  They are good for applications that require a longer shelf life or exposure to elements.   Resin ribbons when paired with the right top coated label or media provides the most durable thermal transfer printed label or tag.

How do I send my information to the thermal or thermal transfer printer?

We recommend NiceLabel software for your on demand printing requirements. This single platform can support single site, small business users to global labeling processes.

What can I do with NiceLabel?

Easy to use, NiceLabel lets you create barcodes and serial number labels on demand in minutes.   More sophisticated users have one platform for standardizing all of their labels.  Design, review, approve and manage labeling all from a centralized database.