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Barcode Printer
Choosing a barcode printer can be a challenging task because the market is flooded with a wide variety of models having varied features and price ranges. Choice of a printer depends on factors like purpose of use, material on which printing is done and nature of the industry.
Converting General Purpose Printers into Barcode Printers
The general purpose printers like inkjet and laser jet printers need add ons like a flash card to enable them to print barcodes. The barcode printers produced by converting general printers are able to support only limited symbologies. They may be chosen for simple tasks.
Desktop printers
They are durable and easy to install and operate. They can be used in offices, schools and homes. They do not require post processing equipment and are extremely cost efficient. They have high build speed and high performance.
Thermal Printers
They support many symbologies. They may be used in ATMs, petrol pumps etc. You can choose a thermal printer using the thermal transfer method for printing bar codes. This method uses a ribbon and a print head to print barcodes. The ribbon undergoes heating and the image is printed by the print head on the specified area. Thermal bar code printers that make use of the Direct Thermal method print the barcode straight on the label. The thermal transfer printer enables printing barcodes continuously on a greater variety of materials than direct thermal method. However the ribbon has to be changed frequently.
Direct thermal printers are more suitable for a manufacturing environment and for hospitals because they are quite fast and very effective when barcode printing is not continuous.
Mobile Printers
Mobile printers are small in size and possess rugged designs. They use sophisticated technology. They are user friendly and are damage resistant. They are suitable for stores and billing shops.
RFID Printers
The latest technological breakthrough is the printer that can print barcodes and labels containing RFID (Radio Frequency Identification Devices) tags. This is a security measure to prevent fake coding. It serves as a symbol of authenticity. These printers have features like smart label printing and an interpreter for translating foreign data. These printers are very useful in sensitive industries, for parcel delivery, library book or video checkout, tracking sensitive documents, supply chain management and ticketing in concerts, sports and ski lifts.
While choosing a barcode printer you must make sure that it can easily feature in very high resolutions.
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