When the direct thermal label comes in contact with the heated print head, the label material gets burned. Thus, the area gets darkened and in turn shows the images and text on the label material with great effects. Direct thermal label printing process is known for its resolution and high-quality images. The mechanism behind this is quite simple. The printed images and text are the result of some chemical reaction between the printer head and the label material.  On the other hand, thermal transfer labels use Datamax ribbon – a chemically treated ribbon that is put in contact with the printer head to produce the images on the label material.

Direct thermal labels are used for various purposes, viz. to categorize, identify, tag and inform about products. Thus, it is important that the labels of these products remain intact as long as the protect itself. In other words, these labels must be durable. Though direct thermal labels are durable enough than most of the other labels produced through other processes, they are sensible to heat and sunlight. As a result, these labels are mostly used in retail shops and outlets as well as for tags, barcodes, and coupons that are not intended to be stored for an extended period. These labels are also cost effective – they don’t need any ribbon, ink or toner for printing. This reduces the printing cost reasonably.

As already mention, direct thermal label printing process does not require any ink or toner, as it uses thermal technology to print the images and characters accurately. This feature not only makes direct thermal labels cost effective, but also faster in comparison to other printing process. It involves a group of fans, which is responsible for the quality of the image. This group of fans also helps the direct thermal printers to bypass several expenses that are linked with other printing process.

However, the chemical in the direct thermal label papers cannot defer the heat’s source. Apart from the printer head, these thermal label papers can also get affected by the heat of sunlight. And this, in turn, can affect the clearness of the print. In other words, direct thermal labels have shorter span of life and are ideal for labeling that are required for temporary span of time.

In conclusion, direct thermal labels are good to use for printing barcodes, tags, coupons and labels – as they are quick and cheap to produce. Moreover, these labels provide clean prints and high-quality images.

• Thermal Labels
• Direct Thermal Labels
• Thermal Transfer Labels
• Preprinted Shipping Labels