Thermal transfer printing refers to the method of printing variable information using a thermal transfer ribbon. It is used to create variable information labels requiring a durable print quality that can withstand difficult conditions and environments such as product identification, asset marking, warehousing, logistics and track and trace.
Most of the materials we manufacture our labels from can be printed using a ribbon, but some are specifically better than others. Different materials and different brands and types of ribbon will yield many different results.
There are three main types of ribbon and as a rough guide you should use the following:
Wax Ribbon – Used for economical printing of uncoated and coated papers.
Wax/Resin Ribbon – Used for a high quality and more resilient print on coated papers and synthetic film materials, such as vinyl, polyester and polypropylene. They can be used on uncoated papers also to give a very resilient print.
Resin Ribbon – Used for a very durable high quality print in very demanding applications. These ribbons have a very high resistance to solvents heat and abrasion and are usually printed onto synthetic film materials such as vinyl, polyester and polypropylene.
We can manufacture these labels in any size, colour or design. Please let us know what the requirements and usages of your intended label are and we will work with you to create the perfect product.