A printer is a peripheral device that makes the human-readable persistent representation of text or graphics on paper. There are various types of printers such as card printers, inkjet printers, dot matrix printers and much more. The commonly used printers are the receipt printers and the label printers.
Label Printer
A label printer differs from an ordinary printer as it requires ‘special feeding’ mechanism for handling the rolled stock, fan fold stock and much more. They are widely used for supply chain management, retail price marking, blood, and laboratory specimen and for the management of the fixed assets.
The Different Types of Label Printers Based on the Printing Mechanism
Various printing mechanisms are involved in the label printers such as thermal, laser or impact printing mechanisms. Some of the commonly used label printers are desktop, industrial, personal label printers or RFID readers. The most common type of receipt printer is the desktop or the card printer.
- Direct Thermal: The ‘direct thermal’ label printers use the ‘heat-sensitive’ paper and are used as shipping labels. These labels fade within 6 months to a year when they are exposed to a chemical vapour, direct sunlight, and heat.
- Thermal Transfer: The ‘thermal transfer’ label printers use heat for the transfer of ink from ‘ribbon’ to the labels for the purpose of permanent printing.
Receipt Printer
The receipt printers are an integral part of the Point of Sale System. These printers are widely used for printing the customer receipts and the credit card slips. These printers are used in the restaurants as well for printing the orders in the bar and kitchen.
The Different Types of Receipt Printers
- Dot Matrix Printers: The impact printers or the dot matrix printers are reliable, cheap and involve reduced operating costs. They can print graphics and often print in dual colours such as red and black.
- Thermal Printers: The thermal printers are expensive than the dot matrix printers. They are widely used for their faster speed, quality printing, and silent function. These ‘printers’ print by the direct contact between the thermal paper and the ‘thermal head’. These printers do not need toner or ink and help in making up for the greater initial cost.
- Inkjet Printers: The inkjet printers are used for printing high-quality prints, coupons, coloured logos and much more.
With a good knowledge of the various types of printers, choosing the right one for your business would not be a difficult task.
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