- Thermal printer is a printer that makes use of heat in order to produce the image on paper.
- Due to quality of print, speed, and technological advances it has become increasingly popular.
- It mostly used in airline, banking, entertainment, retail, grocery, and healthcare industries.
- Thermal printing does not make use of ink or toner unlike many other printers forms but largely depends on thermal paper for producing the images.
Types:
- Direct Thermal Printers
- Thermal Transfer Printers
1. Direct Thermal Printers:
- No ribbon is used in direct thermal printing.
- Which creates a image directly on the printed material.
- It is more sensitive to light, heat, and abrasion, which reduces the life of the printed material.
- Prints in black and white only.
- Cost less than thermal transfer printers.
- Great for common barcode applications such as shipping labels, receipt labels, receipts, and nametag labels.
2. Thermal Transfer Printers:
- Requires a ribbon for printing.
- Can print in color with the addition of a colored ribbon.
- Won't fade over time.
- Good for printing logos and graphics.
- Compatible with a wide variety of materials.
- Ideal for product identification, inventory labels, and asset labeling.
- Only provide paper based label materials for thermal transfer printing, printing on polyester and polypropylene materials is possible.
Advantages of Thermal Printers:
- No involvement of cartridges or ribbons and thus organization can save investment by using thermal printers.
- More durable compared to other printers.
- Largely inexpensive and come in various models and sizes.
- More efficient and faster in printing monochrome ones compared to other forms of printing.
- Unlike standard printers, thermal printers usually do not print out colors well.
- Print-head could be harmed by the high heat used while printing, often resulting on cost to repair when it break down.
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