Types of label printers

There are two types of label printers in the market. In fact, there are two types of technologies to be more precise. One is called direct thermal and the other is called thermal transfer. Both have their own advantages and disadvantages, and it is responsibility of the final users to determine which technology will suit their needs. This is why we are going to try to explain in this article the characteristics of each technology. First of all, direct thermal technology uses heat applied to a special paper in order to produce the barcodes. This special paper turns black upon contact with the printing surface, pretty much like fax paper. Label printers that use this technology are cheap because they don’t use any movable parts and they don’t use ribbons or ink. So their advantage is the price, but they have a disadvantage, and is that the barcodes printed using this technology do not last for a very long time, in fact, the paper fades away in a few weeks, and if the label is subject to extreme heat, abrasion or high degrees of moisture, their life span will be significantly reduced. Label printers using this technology are designed to cover the requirements of the shipment industry, because they do not need the information on the labels to last for years. On the other hand, thermal transfer technology uses ribbon and ink to produce the symbols. The information printed this way is designed to last a very long time. Of course, label printers that use thermal transfer are more expensive and their maintenance cost is also higher because they use replaceable parts. Some label printers that use thermal transfer technology can also work with direct thermal paper, but the opposite is not true, so you need to evaluate carefully which technology is better for your company.