Order a sample roll to check the quality and also request certificates if product tracing is important for your production process.
Thermal transfer printers have a print head comprising semi-conductors that heat up and cool down rapidly to transfer the pigment from the thermal transfer ribbon to the product.
When it comes to choosing the right thermal transfer ribbon for your product, you must consider a number of factors:
- What type of print head is installed in your printer? Is it a near-edge (angled print head with heating elements situated at the edge) or a flat-head (horizontal print heat with centred heating elements)?
- How is your printer configured? Should the foil pigment be placed on the outer or inner side of the roll (ink-in or ink-out)?
- What kind of production environment do you have? Does the print need to withstand condensation, frost, water, wear or chemicals?
- What type of substrate do you need to print on? Is it a synthetic substance, coated material, coarse paper or something completely different, and does the product have a smooth or coarse surface?
- How fast do you want to print and to what extent do you want to protect the print head?
Ribbon qualities:
As a general rule, thermal transfer ribbon is scratch-proof and smudge-proof, but the ingredients of wax and resin play a crucial role in the respective ribbon qualities:
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Wax
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High wax content is ideal if you want a deep colour, if you need to print on coated paper or if you want an anti-static print.
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Resin
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High resin content is good if you want high distinctness, if you need to print on synthetic materials, if you work in a harsh production environment, if you want resilience to chemicals or if you want fluorescent labelling that must only be readable in ultraviolet light.
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Wax/resin
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This mixture is ideal if you want efficiency and are therefore printing at high speed, printing on synthetic materials, on coarse or coated paper or if you need a print that withstands wear.
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Leave it to us to find the right quality for your product.
There are many factors to consider when choosing a thermal transfer ribbon, and you are very welcome to entrust us with the task of finding the right one. We just ask a number of questions and then possibly make a sample print on your products. We are happy to send sample rolls so you can test them yourself in your production system.
The ribbons are available in a wide variety of colours and for all types of thermal transfer printers – both desktop and inline printers – and we deliver ribbon rolls of different widths and lengths.
If your brand has a custom colour, we can produce special colours, and we can also accommodate if you need ribbon for special solutions, such as including a UV watermark with labelling DNA to avoid forgeries or with anti-static properties in terms of RFID.
We are happy to issue MSDS and CoC certificates if traceability is essential for your production process.
Our recommendation:
The service life of your print head will be prolonged by wiping the print head with a cleansing tissue every time you replace a transfer ribbon.
