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What Are Thermal Labels?

Labels Zoo Limited News and PR from Labels Zoo Limited - Published 17 August 2020 Thermal label printers use heat to create to an image. There are two main types of thermal printing techniques: direct thermal and thermal transfer.
Direct Thermal:
The label surface is coated with a heat reactive layer which turns black when in contact with the heat from the print head. This heat reactive surface will effectively cause the print to fade when exposed to sunlight, strong artificial light or indeed friction (cartons rubbing together in transit for instance) with the speed of fading dependent upon the intensity of the light or friction. For this reason, direct thermal labels tend to be used for short shelf life products such as fresh food. Although there are no ribbon costs associated with direct thermal labels, there are other cost implications as without the ribbon acting as a protective insulator between the print head and the label, the print head will wear more quickly requiring more frequent replacement.

Direct thermal synthetics are a good choice for carton and retail pack labeling in the chilled and frozen food sectors where the labels are exposed to high levels of moisture and rough handling during transportation

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The label surface is coated with a heat reactive layer which turns black when in contact with the heat from the print head

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