Barcode Label Solutions Blog

Barcodes are everywhere—and for good reason. We’re deep in the Information Age and automated data collection is king of this universe. Barcoding is an easy way to achieve a wide range of goals for your business—from inventory and asset management to security and access control to market research. With barcoding software and printers for building barcode labels, you can keep better track of the comings and goings—from who is entering restricted areas to where your products are going. You can even keep track of what happens when they get there because your products are scanned when they are entered into inventory and scanned again when sold to your ultimate consumer.

As long as a printer can output black and white, it can print a decent barcode, right?

If you’re printing barcode labels on a regular basis, you are most likely using a thermal printer (as opposed to laser, inkjet, or dot matrix, which are not optimized to produce high or lasting label printing quality). Thermal printers, engineered to produce crisp, clear, high quality barcodes, use one of two printing technologies: direct thermal or thermal transfer.
Although the two printing methods are both used to produce barcodes, there’s a big difference between them and the labels that should be used with them.

So you’re going to start using barcodes in your business, and you’re trying to decide whether or not your current inkjet or laser printer will do the job. It may be tempting to try to make the machine you have work as a barcode label printer. However, before making any decisions, it’s important to consider the benefits of using a dedicated thermal system.