Manufacturing units use different designer labels to name their products. The type and design of labels is not only crucial for product identification, but also works well to grab consumer’s attention. The importance of labeling a product can be understood by looking at the amount businesses invest in labeling their product.
Over the period of time, labeling and printing industry has changed a lot with introduction of advanced technology as well as witnessed great demands.
Thermal Labels:
Thermal labels are one of those types of labels, which are used on huge bases by the labeling industry. As the name suggests, these labels need heat to be printed on. A specific type of printer known as thermal printer is used for printing these types of labels.
The Importance and Types of Thermal Labels
Thermal labels play a vital role in everyone’s day to day life. It is used in packaging, diskettes, part bins, VHS tapes, and such other purposes. The best part is these labels are very easy to use and are available in several sizes. Moreover, now with rise in competition you can get discount thermal labels too.
Thermal labels are generally available in two types. One is direct thermal labels and the other is transfer thermal labels. These two types of thermal labels differ on the basis of how printing is done on them, and their basic components. However, heat is essential to print with both the type of thermal labels.
Direct Thermal Labels
This type of thermal labels is coated with wax and resin chemicals. As this label is exposed to heat, the chemicals used in its coating reacts with each other. This chemical reaction, which occurs in the labels while heating, changes the label color once it has cooled down. The image and characters also becomes visible once the label is cooled down.
The quality of printing on direct thermal labels totally depends on the quality of its quoting. For instance, the ones coated using resin are better than those coated with wax. Also, some of the labels come with extra quoting, which enhances its features and quality. Some of these features are scratch and water resistant.
A different type of thermal printer is used for direct thermal labels. The printer comes with a thermal print head that heats the labels and causes chemical reaction, which ultimately aids the printing process.
Thermal Transfer Label:
This is the second type of thermal labels. Unlike the direct thermal labels, these are not coated with any chemical. However, the printer used to print this label comes with a thermal transfer ribbon. This ribbon is coated with wax and resin chemicals.
For printing, the printer heats this ribbon and the chemical process takes place. The wax and resins are then transferred on the label and thus images appear once the labels cool down.
On the basis of quality, one must choose thermal transfer label instead of direct thermal label. However, the later is most preferable because it is comparatively cheaper. The good thing is not matter what thermal label type you select both labels need only seconds to get ready.