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Direct thermal labels are an economical type of label made with a direct thermal printer. During the direct thermal printing process, a thermal print head is used to heat specific areas of the thermal paper. The paper runs over the thermal print head and turns black where it is heated, producing the desired image, font, text, etc. It is possible to produce two colors with a direct thermal printer. Two-color direct thermal printing can create both red and black images. Heat is applied to the paper at different temperatures, producing the two different colors. The direct thermal printing process uses no ink, toner or ribbon. The chemically treated, heat-sensitive materials is what produces the color during the print process.
Direct thermal labels have long been used in the food and dietary industry, mainly for meat, poultry and dairy products. Because of improvements to direct thermal printers and paper, these labels are now well suited for many other markets and products today. Some common applications include:
Direct thermal labels print on continuous sheets and are highly cost effective for creating large quantities of simple labels. Because no thermal ribbons are used, they’re also more environmentally friendly than thermal transfer labels. The thermal transfer printing process uses ribbons made partially from crude oil products. Direct thermal printers usually cost less to operate than an inkjet, laser or thermal transfer printer. Other benefits of direct thermal printing include:
While direct thermal labels offer many advantages, there are some things you should keep in mind when using them. Direct thermal labels are not ideal if the label must remain legible for a long period of time, or will be exposed to harsh environments (rain, sun, etc). Direct thermal materials are very sensitive to light, heat and heavy contact. This makes them very susceptible to fading, especially in the long term. If you are looking to print a label that needs to last a long time, you should be considering the thermal transfer printing process.
Nev’s Ink provides many labeling solutions for the direct thermal printing process including Dymo and Zebra compatible labels. Click here to shop all of our direct thermal labels. If you are not finding what you are looking for, Contact us today and we can help you build your perfect direct thermal labeling solution.