What To Know Before Buying A Thermal Printer
There are many printing technologies that can be found in the market today, with each one serving an ideal market niche. Printers that use thermal technology are distinguished from other kinds of printers by their ability to use heat i sealing the ink onto the paper that is being printed on. A printer head,, an ink ribbon, a rubber roller and a roll of specialized thermal paper generally comprise this kind of printer. The printer head heats up the ink ribbon which is treated with a polyester film backing to print the string of requested text onto the paper, similar to a thermal fax machine. Requested character strings are printed onto the specialty paper by having a rubber roller push the paper up ahead to be pressed against the heated ink ribbon. A thermal printer is able to print areas of 6-12 inches per second, accomplishing its task quickly and efficiently, making the thermal printer a practical purchase.
The “ink” that these printers utilize is different from what you would normally expect from a regular ink-jet printer and is made from either wax or resin, or a combination of both. Make sure to choose the variant that is appropriate for your printing purposes as they each have different have different shelf and print lives. Wax ink ribbons are the most cost-effective variant to purchase but only last two years at most after being printed. In case they are important, receipts from point of sales terminals that use this kind of ink should be scanned or copied for safekeeping. If you are looking for a much more durable variant of ink ribbon, a combination of wax and resin is best, especially if printed on fine-toothed paper, as well as papers that are coated with a film coat. Even with the added durability of the end product, damp environments and strong chemicals should be avoided. Resin ink ribbons are the most durable of all ink ribbons but are not made for use with conventional point of sale printers and are instead made for use with plastics.
Point-of-sale terminals and bar code printing for inventory tracking purposes are the most common application for printers that make use of thermal technology. When kept in storage, the ink ribbons of a thermal printer should be protected from both damp environments and strong chemicals. Heat, light and moisture can impact the quality of the ink ribbons and cause damage and should be kept away. Sales and inventory applications make the best use of thermal printers, as the print quality does falter when compared with ink-jet and laser printers. The inability of these printers to vary dot size or intensify the printed document results in a grainy product and is only recommended for specialty applications, even though colored inks are now available in newer thermal printing technologies in a segment that typically had only black inks.
Find out more about the best thermal printers on the market today the Prism Plus and the overall best thermal printers
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