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- Thermal and Thermal Transfer labels and Thermal Transfer ribbons
No matter how good your printer is, you won’t produce good quality labels without good quality labels and ribbons.
We have matched label materials and ribbons to ensure high quality print and consistent bar codes - at competitive prices.
According to your application; choose from standard, scratch resistant and non-scratch thermal transfer ribbons (colours too) and paper, vinyl or hybrid label materials. Tags are also available as are part-printed labels for overprinting.
 More
about labels |
More
about ribbons |
Labels
from Stock and to order |
Pre-printed labels
We are happy to supply you with pre-printed labels and bar code labels. We will process your data and produce labels from it, produce runs of sequential numbers or produce batches of one or more label types. The labels can be simple paper, heavy duty vinyl or high quality photocomposed. Barcoded swipe cards and other specialist items can also be made.
More about Labels
Labels can be made of thermal transfer paper, direct thermal paper or synthetic materials. There are many different makes and grades of label material available and your application should determine the type of label you use. Always take care to match the label, ribbon and printer. The table below briefly summarizes the differences between the main categories of label materials.
|
|
Remarks |
Uses |
|
Direct Thermal Paper Labels |
Does not use a ribbon but is chemically treated to respond to heat i.e. turns black when heated. Thus the printed image is made by the print head heating the paper. Economy or Premium grades available. Premium quality produces sharper images. Permanent or peelable adhesive. |
Short lifespan bar code labels. Will fade over a period of months especially in strong light. Useful for shipping and address labels, product bar-codes and other short term uses. |
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Thermal Transfer Paper Labels |
Uncoated and coated paper. Uses a thermal transfer ribbon for a permanent image. Several grades available. The image does not fade. Matt and semi-gloss finishes. Permanent or peelable adhesive. Can come with special adhesives for fridge and freezer use. |
X-ray films and folders, laboratory slides and forms, Medical records folders (see below), asset marking, document marking and tracking, shelf marking, product bar-codes. |
|
Synthetic Material |
Uses a thermal transfer ribbon for a permanent image. Very hard wearing label. Permanent adhesive. Can be used outdoors. Very durable with strong adhesive will last for many years. Produces a virtually scratchproof label if printed with a resin ribbon |
Long lifespan labels. Ideal for permanent asset marking labels, appliance testing labels, and record tracking (eg. Medical Records/Healthcare Records folders). |
More about Ribbons
Thermal transfer ribbons are not like typewriter ribbons. They print once and are wound on. At the end of the ribbon they are finished. This ensures consistent quality of print on every label. They are on rolls of very thin cellulose type backing and coated with wax, resin or a combination of wax and resin. Briefly, the higher the resin content, the tougher the image i.e. a bar code printed with a wax ribbon will smudge when rubbed (or scanned with a contact scanner/wand) whereas a bar code printed with a resin ribbon will not smudge. The degree of "smudgeproofness" is in between for a wax/resin mixture (hybrid).
Some label materials do not suit certain ribbon types and care must be taken to ensure a match of label and ribbon. The make and model of printer can even affect the print quality - as can the print settings. We always use the highest quality ribbons.
The wrong combination of label, ribbon and printer can produce badly printed bar codes. These can be difficult or impossible to read. On top of this, the life of the printer’s print head can be drastically reduced. So a saving on low quality ribbons or labels now could result in the early replacement of a print head – false economy.
We supply BRANDED (i.e. made by the same manufacturer as printer) or HIGH QUALITY NON BRANDED labels and ribbons. Non-branded ribbons tend to be less expensive and often the same material. Armour makes our non-branded ribbons – they are the worlds leading ribbon manufacturer. Our non-branded paper is always matched to the ribbon and machine for to ensure the highest quality of print.
Types of Ribbon
This table briefly summarizes the differences in ribbon types.
|
Type |
Remarks |
Uses |
Suits Label Type |
|
Wax |
Easy to smudge/scratch. Lowest cost. |
Address labels, bar code labels for non-contact scanning and relatively short life or use. Laboratory slides and forms. |
Thermal transfer paper and low grade thermal transfer paper. |
|
Wax/Resin Hybrid |
Resistant to smudging /scratching. Produces a good quality label on thermal transfer paper. |
X-ray films and folders, laboratory slides and films, document and records marking. |
Quality Thermal transfer paper (coated) and some synthetics (very few) |
|
Resin |
Very smudge and scratch resistant. Chemical and solvent resistant |
Medical records, asset marking and other archival applications. |
Certain quality thermal transfer papers. Synthetic label materials. |
Your Requirements?
What is the: -
- Label material (Direct thermal, Thermal Transfer, Synthetic)
- Label Size and presentation (how many across, wide edge or narrow edge leading –normally wide edge leading)
- Adhesive type – (Permanent (usual) or peelable)
- What they are being used for
- How many on a roll and core size - and/or machine type
- How many you need in total and in how many drops e.g. 100,000 in four quarterly drops of 25,000 labels.
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