Thermal printers are a category of printers used for applications such as barcode printing, receipt printing and wristband printing as they produce accurate high quality barcodes/text/ images with precise definition.
There are two printing technologies for thermal printers; 1) direct thermal printing 2) thermal transfer printing. Both these printing technologies use a thermal printhead to apply heat to the material being marked e.g labels. There are however some main differences.
Direct thermal printing
- Direct thermal printing does not use ink, toner or ribbon, instead the specially treated label material blackens when it goes under the thermal printhead.
- For direct thermal printing the label material options are much more limited than thermal transfer printing as it requires chemically treated, heat-sensitive material. The material options are mainly limited to paper.
- Direct thermal labels are extremely sensitive to environmental conditions, when exposed to heat the label darkens which makes the print unreadable.
- Direct thermal labels are only suitable for applications requiring a short shelf life such as shipping labels and receipts.
Thermal transfer printing
- Thermal transfer printing uses a ribbon roll that when heated by the printhead melts onto the label to form text / barcodes / images.
- Thermal transfer printing has a much wider variety of label materials available including vinyl, polyester and polypropylene.
- Thermal transfer printing is very durable – by selecting a certain label and thermal ribbon combination labels can be produced that are suitable to withstand harsh environmental conditions including high temperatures, chemicals etc.
- Thermal transfer printing is suitable for long life applications including product identification, laboratory labelling and outdoor applications.
If you would like to purchase a direct thermal or thermal transfer printer, please don’t hesitate to contact our specialists on 0800 085 8850 or info@systemsprintmedia.co.uk
