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Please visit our main page on thermal
label printing.
Thermal Label Printing
Thermal label printing, as specified through
its name, is a type of label printing, which primarily
uses heat to define the impression of a specific
design. There are two types of thermal label printing,
one of which is thermal wax transfer. This produces
the design impression by the application of pressure
from the label printer
to melt a wax-based ink. Once the wax is melted
it is transferred onto a ribbon in the label printer,
which is subsequently transferred onto the printing
material. The use of wax ribbons in this label
printing process makes it the most cost-effective
type of thermal label printing. Wax based labels
however do not cope well for long periods of time
when exposed to heat and also have poor resistance
to abrasion.
The second type of thermal label printing is
direct thermal printing, which is often used
for the production of barcodes on packing and
commercial products, however the process of thermal
wax transfer printing can also produce barcode
labels.
Direct thermal printing is when the
label printer perforates small marks onto
the printing material, by use of heat. In this
method of thermal label printing, pressure is
not applied as in the thermal wax transfer, the
use of heat is the key element within this method.
This form of label printing is the primary of
the two, as it creates a much more realistic appearance
and a much sharper impact than the thermal wax
transfer. However, though the quality of the direct
thermal printing may be the better quality option
between the two, the wax transfer method is the
quicker choice. Similarly to the wax based labels,
direct thermal labels have a poor resistance to
heat and also do not cope well in environments
exposed to humidity and direct sunlight for long
periods of time. When exposed to such environments,
the labels can begin to fade. This is not such
a drastic concern, as after the label printing
process, the labels are often used within a short
span of time. This also means that the cost effectiveness
through this process of label printing tends to
countermand the disadvantage caused by label life
span.
The typical sorts of labels that are produced
using thermal label printing,
other than barcode labels can be, simple logos,
consecutively numbered labels, picket fence or
ladder barcodes for tracking and many other industrial
labels. Size of text used on these labels can
range from large to quite small.
Note: This article is provided for information
purposes only and the accuracy of the information
is not guaranteed. This article is Copyright of
Mercian Labels Ltd who are a label
printer.
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