Thermal Transfer Printers and Supplies

Labels can be printed on location using different print technologies. One of the most popular methods is called thermal transfer printing which uses materials that are treated with a coating to accept the ink.  This technology requires heat from the print head to transfer a printed image.  Thermal Transfer printers may also print via Direct Thermal which does not use an ink ribbon.  The printer may be able to do either Thermal Transfer or Direct Thermal through changes made in the software and/or on the printers settings.

With the popularity of variable printing and the need for durable labels, the number of thermal printer manufacturers has grown as have the number of printer models. They range from small desktop units to heavy-duty industrial systems.  Thermal Transfer requires an ink ribbon.  Some printer manufacturers designed their printers to use unique cores. Some require extra take-up cores, while others have special notches to lock the cores into their printers correctly. Ribbons are typically on cardboard cores, but plastic ones are also available which are useful in clean room environments.  Different printer brands require specific leader strips to feed into the printer while others have special trailers at the end of a roll to alert a printer’s sensors that you are about to run out of ribbon. Thermal ribbons are wound coated side out or wound coated side in based on brand of printer.

Let Eagle Wright help you with choosing the correct printer and supplies, we have a wide variety of paper and film label materials, thermal ribbons, and Printers available.