Barcode printers use thermal transfer technology — which gives consistent, crisp, clear labels (so barcodes can be read reliably) and print at the equivalent of up to 50 pages a minute. Thermal printers are perfect for barcode printing, particularly with low cost thermal labels or roll labels.
Portable Printers
| Using mobile printers can produce labels, receipts and simple reports on a portable, durable (and in most cases water resistant) printer. Mobile printers reduce wasted time as there's no walking to and from the printer. They increase accuracy as the label you get is stuck straight onto the item and these printers can be used anywhere - ideal for printing parking tickets (I'm sorry to say). Click to view portable printer range.
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Simple Label Printers
| Desktop barcode label printers are generally low cost, plastic cased printers. They can print labels up to 110mm wide and are ideal for low volumes of labels and confined spaces. If you don't need more than a few hundred labels a day - look at these label printers. |
Tough Industrial Printers
| If you need a bar code label printer to work in a dirty warehouse or workshop and soak up the inevitable knocks it will receive, you'll need to consider an industrial printer. These printers can produce labels up to 130mm wide, they're metal cased and print at speeds in excess of 100mm per second.
Click here to see these label printers |
Business Critical Label Printers
| If you need a printer that will keep on going under the most demanding conditions, where the consequence of failure would be catastrophic then you need a high performance printer that is designed for durability. These printers are tough and dependable and designed for critical situations where failure could mean stopping the production line or even the whole factory. For more details on high volume printers, click here. |
Choosing a label or barcode printer
This is what you can do with themal label or barcode printers:
- Print onto plastic
- Print onto fan-folded labels – with fanfolded themal labels you only need to open your printer every few months
- Rewind labels onto rolls or
- Manage your barcode printer remotely
- Plug barcode readers, keyboards and scales directly into your printer
- Print at speed up to 15m (50ft) per minutes
- Print labels from 25mm (1”) up to 200mm (8”) wide
- Print all day every day
- Print a single label on demand
- Print labels with a definition of 600 dpi
- Carry your printer around
Do you need a specialist label or barcode printer?
First, if you don't want to invest in a thermal printer and software look at our label printing service.
11 Critical facts you should know before you buy.
This check list covers everything you need to consider when choosing a label printer. Why not print it, think about it and give us a call on 0800 86 227 263?
 | 1. Label Width. Most barcode printers can cope with 100mm labels, so if that’s the size of label you need; you have a wide choice of printers. Some printers are limited to 50mm but the difference in cost compared to a 100mm printer is quite small and you can always print two 50mm labels at once with a 100mm printer. When you need wider than 110mm the costs go up. Printers tend to come in 150mm (6 inches) or 200mm (8 inches) widths. Don’t forget you can turn labels to print narrow edge leading. |
| 2. Volume of labels. Label printers with a higher speed tend to be more expensive and more durable, the ZM400’s are more than happy printing 4 or 5 hours a day. The Zebra GK420T is better suited to 1 or 2 hours a day whilst ultimately the Zebra Xi4 will push out labels 24 hours a day. |
| 3. Printer speed. Will you be waiting for the labels to print? Speed may be an issue. Label printers range in speed from 50mm per second to over 250mm per second. |
| 4. Direct Thermal or Thermal Transfer. What sort of labels will you need to print? Where they’re going on fresh food or the labels have a limited life (in the case of couriers, just a few days) then a direct thermal printer will do the trick. All printers can work in direct thermal mode, but purely direct thermal printers are delivered without the components needed for ribbons so they cost less. Note: don’t consider direct thermal if your labels will be subject to direct sunlight or heat for more than a few hours, they’ll discolour – so, if you’re presenting your products – perhaps direct thermal isn’t the best for long term appearance. |
| 5. What are you printing onto? What are the labels made from? If they are plastic – you’ll definitely need a thermal transfer printer. If you want to print onto tags, you'll need a thermal printer, lasers will not be suitable. |
| 6. Flexibility. Some printers are more customisable than others. If you buy a label printer today it could shift departments and be doing a completely different job in a few months time. The answer would be to buy one of the Zebra Z range of printers, they can be retro-fitted with a high resolution printhead, an internal re-reeler for printed labels, label cutter, a different face panel and more memory. Add to that, the ability to update the printers ‘firmware’ and you have one of the most flexible printers in the world. Powerful software is also an asset, Zebra's ZBI printer feature is a bonus for integrating printers into different systems. |
| 7. Presentation or identification? Is the label presenting your product or merely identifying it. For identification purposes, a 200 dpi printer is what you need. You’ll get a sharper image from one of the Zebra Z4M/Z6M upgraded to a 300 dpi printhead. Zebra also do a low cost printer (the TLP3742) with 300 dpi printhead. |
| 8. Durability? Where's the label printer going to be located? Nice clean office or dirty, dusty factory? Steel cased printers ensure the printer will be protected from those inevitable knocks it will receive in the factory. |
| 9. Loved or abused? Who’s going to use it? Everyone or an assigned person? Where everyone uses the label printer consider one that’s colour coded and easy to use. Some printers (such as the Zebra S, Z or EPL ranges) are easier to use than others (Zebra XiIII range are a little more tricky to load with labels and ink). |
| 10. Mission critical? Label Printers often become a vital part of the production or sales process. A printer’s down time becomes a factory’s downtime. To avoid this, think about one ultra durable printer (such as Zebra’s XiIII range) linked to the organisation’s computer network – the result will be a printer that never gets sick – and when something does go wrong (for example it runs out of ink) the printer emails (or pages) someone to fix it. Another solution and a more reliable one would be to buy two less expensive printers and employ one in a non-critical situation. If the critical one fails – you have another one to fall back on. Combine the printer with a service contract and you can rest assured your printers will be repaired in hours. |
| 11. Portability. Sometimes the label printer needs to be portable, for example when printing tickets in a warehouse or shelf edge labelling. Zebra’s QL range of printers are designed to connect to handheld computers or even the organisations network. |
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