What is the Best Barcode Label Printer - Laser, Dot Matrix, Ink Jet Or Thermal?

There are many types of label printers available on the market, each unique in their printing mechanisms, functionality, portability, advantages, and disadvantages.

Laser printers work pretty much like photocopiers and can print high-quality text and images quickly. They work by projecting controlled streams of ions onto the surface of a print drum, resulting in a charged image. The charged image attracts toner particles, using pressure to transfer the image unto the paper. This is the type of printer often used for the printing of documents which contain barcodes because of its speed and high resolution image-printing.

Dot matrix printers used to be popular because they were readily-accessible and inexpensive. However, the ribbons used in dot matrix printers require a lot of maintenance and the printer is limited to the dot-size of the matrix and, therefore, cannot print small labels. When used in barcode printing, ink saturation also often causes bleeding and distorts the image of barcodes.

Another common printer found in most households is the ink-jet printer. It is mostly used due to its multi-functionality. Ink-jet printers print very slowly. The printer itself is not durable as it is sensitive to dust, dirt, vibrations, and other external factors.

A common disadvantage of all three printers - laser, dot matrix and ink jet - is the inability to print single, individual labels. These printers print by batch or by sheet which often leads to a waste of extra labels.

For individual label printing, thermal printers are often used. There are two types of thermal printers. One is the transfer thermal printer, which works like the ink-jet and dot matrix printer, only it uses heat to transfer the ink form the ribbon to the paper.

A more convenient type of printer is the direct thermal printer. It basically works by burning the heat-sensitive part of the thermo-paper, which creates the image on the label. The printer sends a current of electricity to the heating resistor on the thermal head. The thermal head then generates a specific pattern and the heat produced activates the layer of the paper which contains dyes that act as ink.

Aside from being able to print single labels, the thermal printers also hold other advantages over other types of printers. One of the most important thermal printer advantages is its compatibility with most high-quality point of sale software. The barcode labels produced from POS software allow for easier and more accurate inventory tracking.

Another advantage of the thermal printer is its ability to process a variety of data without compromising the speed of the printing. Also, thermal printers print with high resolution and density to create high-quality images and text.

Thermal printers can be easily operated. The printer itself may be somewhat more expensive than other types of printers, but the very low supply cost makes up for it. The printer doesn't use ink cartridges, toners, or ribbons; the only printing material that needs to be replenished is the special thermo-sensitive paper. In general, thermal printers are cost-efficient, reliable, and very convenient for any types of business venture.

One of the most popular thermal barcode label printers on the market is the Zebra Eltron 2844. If you'd like more information on this printer, please visit http://www.amberpos.com/point-of-sale-hardware/zebra-eltron-2844/.

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How Modern Businesses Now Use Dot Matrix Printers

Technically, the vast majority of printers, whether ink jet or toner based, are still dot matrix printers. They're printing dots close enough together that the visual acuity of the human eye congeals the dots into characters, strokes and lines. However, the original dot matrix printer - where pins push against a ribbon and deposit ink on a paper - are still in use in a lot of businesses.

This printer technology was really the last generation of 'impact' printers, which are the venerable descendents of Guttenberg's original printing press - ink is put on a transfer agent, and it's then pressed into the page. Dot matrix printers were originally doing this with 9 pins of about 0.5 mm each, and grew out of the original punch card methods of getting data out of computers.

The advantage of dot matrix printers originally was that they could produce graphics other than text; back in the 1980s, it was not uncommon to have a 'graphics' dot matrix printer, and a text 'ball-and press' printer, which used a mechanism similar to an IBM Selectric typewriter to produce 'typewritten' documents. The flexibility, and later speed, of the dot matrix printer eventually relegated the ball and press model to irrelevance, particularly as the 24-pin models came into the market in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

24 pin color dot matrix printers came into the market in the mid 1990s, and were the first real attempt at putting color printing in the hands of consumers. They were quickly supplanted by ink jet printers (which did a better job of mixing colors and getting exact hues and colors out of pigments, and were faster on printing color to boot), and this eventually moved ink jet printers into general consumer products - even though their cost per page for a black and white document was significantly higher (and still is higher) than using an impact printer model with ribbons.

The real killer of the consumer dot matrix printer was the laser printer, which have experienced a hundredfold decrease in their costs and a significant increase in their capabilities. Once laser printers started to plummet in cost, the dot matrix printers were supplanted in turn; what was once a ubiquitous piece of office equipment is now regarded as a charming and quaint apparatus seen only in 'period pieces' about the Cold War...until you encounter them in a modern business.

Most modern businesses aren't holding on to these printers out of nostalgia. They're holding on to them at increasing expense because these types of printers work best for multi-part forms, where the impact of the print head creates the page handed to a customer and also the 'carbon copy' or duplicate for their own mechanical record system. These forms are still required in many cases by regulations and legislation dating back to the 1970s and 1980s - there are a surprising number of sectors of business where digital forms management is flat out not allowed, including working for the NHS in some cases.

Another realm where dot matrix printers reign supreme is on routine check generation. Many of the forms that print out checks to send to people have to have those checks printed on dot matrix printers, largely because segmented, large run forms with pre-perforations, are orders of magnitude cheaper than the alternatives.

Which leads to a problem for those businesses that have dot matrix printers - there aren't many companies making them any longer, and while the machines are durable, they're still mechanical devices and subject to wear and tear, and finding companies that make spare parts - or even ribbons - can be a challenge. But they are out there, they are still manufactured and can be found - it just takes a little extra effort to get what you need.

Derek Rogers is a freelance writer who writes for a number of UK businesses. For a wide range of printers and products by brand, he recommends Printware Ltd, a leading provider of Dot Matrix Printers.

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How to Choose: Laser Printers, Inkjet Printers, Dot Matrix Printers

Man is always in constant search for knowledge which he

makes use to create innovations that will make his life

better. Among the varied inventions of man is a

computer printer. The first computer printer can be

traced back in the year 1953 which was developed by

Remington-Rand as a match for Univac computer. Laser

printers were evolved from the dry printing process or

Xerox invented by Chester Carlson in 1938. 1971

witnessed the birth of the first laser printer which

was then named as EARS. The next years are period of

experiments and added inventions which paved the way to

the first IBM printer. The IBM 3800 Printing System was

considered as the first high-speed laser printer with a

speed of more than 100 impressions-per-minute.

Nowadays, a computer printer is of vital importance in

the different areas of human activities. It goes hand

in hand with a computer as a component that generates

the hard copy or a readable text from the stored data

on the computer's system. Several printer technologies

are available today but it can be categorized into two

types - namely the impact and the non-impact

technologies. A computer printer that uses the impact

technology is equipped with a system that requires

contact with the paper or whatever material that can be

used to produce the readable text.

Dot Matrix and Character Printers are the two major

classifications of Impact printer technology. A

character printer is a computerized typewriter made up

of a group of bars which serve as the platform for

letters and numbers. Like a typewriter, the right

characters are hit or struck to touch the ink ribbons

which in turn pass on the characters to the paper. It

can be used with speed but has limited uses. Computer

printers with Dot matrix technology have a group of

small pins needed to strike the ink coated ribbon to

pass on the image to the paper.

A printer using the Non-Impact technology does not need

contact with the paper to produce the desired image.

An example of this is the commonly used Inkjet painters

and Laser printers. An inkjet printer directly sprays

drop of inks into the paper while a laser printer is

equipped with a toner, heat and static electricity to

produce the image. Inkjet printers are used in almost

all offices, business, café and many other

establishments. The printed image coming from an

inkjet printer has tiny dots that usually have a

diameter of 50-60 microns.

Print head assembly, paper feed assembly, power supply,

control circuitry and interface ports are the parts

making up a typical inkjet printer. The quality of the

produced image in an inkjet printer is also dependent

on the type of paper used. Brightness and absorption

are the main factors that determine the quality of the

printed image. The brightness is determined by the

smoothness of the paper's surface. Smooth surface

reflect more light which makes the image brighter.

Absorption refers to the ability of the paper to take

in the ink. Papers with good absorption capacity have

images that will stay tight while poor absorption

capacity can result in blotting.

Monochromatic and multi-colored images can be produced

depending on the type of printer. Monochrome printer is

only capable of generating images with only one color,

commonly black, while a color printer can produce

colored images. A printer can transform a group of

characters, a vector image and a bitmapped image into a

printed version. Other printers however cannot process

all of these types. By examining your needs, you can

choose the optimum printer for you.

David Arnold Livingston is a successful entrepreneur and shares his knowledge of computer printer resources at: [http://www.ravenprinter.com]

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