Direct Thermal Custom Labels

Did you know that there is a wide range of standard and premium products specifically designed for Direct Thermal printing applications? Most product offerings include various facestocks from paper to synthetic. Custom labels also offer a variety of adhesive systems including permanent, removable and freezer grade to fit any application. Direct thermal label media performs well with all popular printers made by Epson, Zebra, Sato, Datamax, Eltron, and more.

Things to consider when using Direct Thermal:

• Ideal for short term labeling (less than 1 year)
• Sensitive to heat and light
• Requires no ribbon for printing
• Durability is fair

Typical applications include:

• Retail weigh scale
• Case ready meats
• Industrial bar code
• Travel bag tags
• Parcel tracking

For more information and proper product selection for your application, give our specialists a call today to help.

Zebra Label: A name to trust

Zebra label is one of the most popular brand names that are trusted by various organizations worldwide. Apart from the Zebra labels, Zebra technologies also manufacture receipt printers, label design or integration software, RFID smart label printer or encoder supplies, card printers and thermal barcode label. This brand also offers a wide range of networking solutions and thermal printer connectivity.

Zebra labels are well-known to the buyers because of its product reliability, effective services and a wide range of items. Zebra label is one of the most famous brand names that offer a wide range of thermal ribbons and barcode labels to its customers. The Zebra label also offers other high quality products that include Zebra ribbon, Zebra barcode printer and Zebra Label to make any application fulfilled.

Why choose Zebra label products

While selecting a Zebra label product, there is no need to worry about the quality and the durability of any item. Zebra barcode and Zebra printers are two products of Zebra label that will definitely provide you the best service while using these items. Zebra label is satisfying its customers’ needs for long years. This is a brand name on which a buyer can depend with closed eyes.

The main reason of the high quality and enormous popularity of Zebra labels is the huge experience of the brand that it has gathered by working a number of years. So if you want to buy a quality product, you need to look no farther than Zebra label.

Zebra Barcode Ribbon Transition

Zebra has been working on improvements to their printers for some time now and just launched their G series barcode ribbon to work in the new GK and GX series desktop printers. The new robust single ribbon strategy allows their ribbon to be used in all of their 4 inch zebra desktop printers. This change reduces the customers confusion when ordering and also helps with inventory management. The new G-series Zebra ribbons are compatible with the new GK and GX-Series printers as well as the 2844, 2824, 38XX and R402 printers along with the older legacy Zebra desktop printers.


Zebra has begun eliminating the 28XX/38XX and universal ribbons, excluding the 5100 series, for 4 inch desktop printers. The 51 series universal ribbon will still be available but only as a made to order item.

Which Barcode Label Printer Is Right For Me?

Just added to the offering is a clear description of barcode label printers stating the differences based on the volume of labels printed in a day. There are many brands of printers, but Zebra is by far the most prevalent in the US. Built to last and supported right in Vernon Hills, IL, Zebra backs its product all the way.

To make a proper selection for a barcode label printer, first determine how many labels you will be printing in a day. Based on this, the selection becomes fairly easy. In most cases, to make custom labels with your printer, especially barcode labels, a 203 dpi printer will work. Although most models come with an option to move up to 300 dpi if need.

OK, here is the breakdown on printers. The entry level will be the tlp2844 model which is about to be replaced with the GK420t. This model is perfect if you are planning on printing 5oo labels per day or less. The printer sits right on the desc and has a very small foot print.

The next step would be to go with the S4M model. The price is still low on this and it contains a lot of plastic, but it is a tough label printer that can do up to 1,500 labels per day in production. This is a table top model which takes up a little more room then the 2844 model, but is ment for more label printing in a day.

If you require a quantity up to 3,000 labels to be printed in a day, then the model for you will be the ZM400 model which is a little beafier and is made to handle big jobs. This printer has both plastic and metal parts and has speeds up to 10 inches per second.

Many customers still require more and for this demanding customer, the 105SL is a good match. This is a fully metal construction that is rated to print up to 5,000 labels per day. Another in the series of industrial printers that sits on a table top and allows for multiple connection interfaces.

The final solution for the most demanding production needs is the 140xiIII Plus printer which is for continuous 24 hour duty cycles. This printer does not need a rest. It can print all day and night non stop. Well, you will have to change the ribbon and add more labels from time to time.

All of these printers have multiple models with cutter attachements, rewind options, and print head dpi options.

Custom Label Conferences

There have been two different conferences in Dubai and Turkey, where label converters debated if they considered themselves to be manufacturers of labels or service providers.

It was very surprising that the result showed over 90 percent of the converters gave their response as 'manufacturers'. This response proves why so many customers shop around to find a custom label manufacturer that cares. If converters want to maintain profitability and grow, this must change.

In today's increasingly competitive environment, the art of producing high-quality custom labels is no longer sufficient to differentiate you from your competitors. The label converter must become a consultant to his customer - the end user - offering expertise and services such as lean manufacturing or environmentally sustainable processes.

There are many label converters in the industry today who are thriving thanks to increasing their focus on service instead of simply manufacturing. It helps them win business and increases their profitability. Viewing yourself as a service provider when making custom labels for customers and not just a manufacturer will help earn and keep business in these trying times.

Many customers do not know exactly what they want when ordering labels. It just takes a few key questions from the converters sales team to uncover these issues and prevent a dissatisfied customer. That is the key to growth in this market.