Thermal Transfer Labels Guide

Archive for the ‘Types’ Category

Overlaminates are used to protect materials from UV rays, weather, fingerprints, grease, and dirt, as well as form tampering. They are also used to guarantee a smooth and even finish, reduce glare, or change the textural appearance of the material. In fact, overlaminates serve various functions including protecting vehicle graphics, safety markings, and decals, they are also used on traffic, and safety signage and other exterior signage to protect them form the weather. Some overlaminates have additives to protect against graffiti and vandalism. In addition, all dye sublimation printed images must have an overlay panel or an overlaminate applied to helps prevent images from premature wear and fading caused by ultraviolet rays.

There are three categories of overlaminates, pressure-sensitive film laminates, thermal transfer overlaminates, and liquid. Pressure-sensitive laminates are applied at room temperature and can be applied without any special machinery or processes. Thermal transfer overlaminates are dived into two categories, low temperature and high temperature overlaminates. Low temperature overlaminates are best applied at temperatures between 185-210F (85?99C), whereas high temperature overlaminates need to be applied at temperatures between 210-275F (99?135C).

There are several types of machines used to apply lamination to items. Some laminators apply the film to the item, and then press it into place. Other laminators apply low or high heat to activate the process. The most common types of laminates are pouch laminates. They are called this the laminate is a pre-made film pouch that the item is slid into then placed in the roll laminator. Pouch laminates are made for thermal transfer and, pressure-sensitive versions.

Overlaminates are available in several finishes: textured, luster, matte, satin, and glossy. There are also textured overlaminates that resemble canvas, which are applied to prints to give them the appearance of being rendered on canvas. There are also other special texture overlaminates, which prove various options for enhancing the appearance of portraits and prints including overlaminates that give the appearance of brush strokes.

There are two distinctive types of printing each with their own advantages and disadvantages. Each system uses a heat process when imprinted an image, information, or idea onto a label.

The first type of thermal printing is known as direct thermal printing. This method does not use a ribbon to create an image. The label or paper is made of a special heat sensitive material, which changes color, normally to black, when heat is applied. The heated print head comes in contact with the direct thermal label stock creating a chemical reaction and producing the desired image.

Direct thermal labels are produced either on rolls or in a continuous fanfolded so that the labels can easily be feed through the thermal label printer. Direct thermal printers require the use of special direct thermal label stock.

Some of the advantages of direct thermal printing include the fact that the printers produce high quality on printing, provide exceptional density for bar code labels and the overall process is cost efficient. In addition, direct thermal printers have proven to be more suitable for industrial environments than any other form of printer.

However, direct thermal printers and labels do have some significant disadvantages. The main problem is that a special direct thermal label stock is required. In addition, the labels themselves have a very short life. Because they are heat sensitive, they are also susceptible to sunlight and ultraviolet light, meaning that they tend to darken over time, even when stored in a cool dark place. Another disadvantage is that the printer heads tend to wear out faster due to their contact with the direct thermal stock. The ability to print in multiply colors is not an option at this time.

The next type of thermal printing is thermal transfer printing. This method uses a ribbon, which moves over the label material, then together are pass between a metal plate and a heated print head. The print head is lowered onto the ribbon, causing the waxy coating on the ribbon to be transferred to the label material, producing the desired image.

As with direct thermal printing, thermal transfer labels are produced either on rolls or as a continuous fanfolded so that the labels can easily be feed into the printer. Thermal transfer labels do not require any special stock paper. The only requirement is that the labels meet the weight, finish, and size requirements of the particular thermal printer, which is being used.

This printing process has several advantages in including that it produces high quality on demand printing as well as high density for printing bar code labels. Other advantages include less expensive print media, larger variety of label stocks, inexpensive print equipment, and maintenance costs. Labels will not fade or darken with age and the thermal printer is more suited to industrial environments than laser, or ink jet printers.

The main disadvantages with thermal transfer printing are the print speeds are limited. This is due to the fact that the printing head has to heat and cool. Another disadvantage is that the images of some thermal transfer ribbons can easily be scratched or smudged if the image is not protected with an over lay.

Businesses, schools, teams, clubs, organizations, and political campaigns can all benefit from the use of custom printed labels and stickers, which are available in a variety of shapes, sizes, colors, as well as materials.

Before placing your order for custom printed stickers and labels, you have to decide on the type of sticker or label as well as the size needed. You can order stickers, which are self-adhesive, or adhere with static cling. Self-adhesive stickers adhere to the inside of the window, facing outside. These stickers are not permanent, so that they can easily be moved from one window to another, or repositioned without damaging the sticker or leaving any residue on the window.

Another use of custom printed stickers and labels are as promotional items, lending increased visibility of businesses, non-profit, or organization logos. Workplaces can also use custom printed stickers and labels as warning labels to clearly mark any and all hazardous materials and areas. In addition, custom printed labels and stickers can also be used security badges, nametags and tamper-resistant labels and decals.

Once you’ve decided on the type, size, number, of stickers you want, the vender will also need to know how many colors will be incorporated into the design of your custom printed stickers and whether you will be submitting original artwork, such as your company’s logo. Several quality online print business who specialize in custom printed stickers will have online order forms on their websites, which you can completed, then submitted in only a few minutes. For special designs, it is normal for online print companies to require a minimum run, however, there are several small operators who will produce single custom printed stickers.

Screen-printing is a familiar print application and is used for creating images on t-shirts and other textiles such as hats, umbrellas, tote bags, etc. Screen-printing is also known as silkscreen. However, screen-printing is the process used to print CD (compact discs). With this technique, a thick layer of ink is dispensed onto a stencil. The excess amount of ink is scraped off. This scraping of the excess ink forces the remaining ink through holes in a stencil and creates the desired image on the CD surface.

There are several factors that can affect the screen-printing image including:

1.For screen-printing the standard line for images on disc is between 85 lpi (lines per inch) to approximately 100 lpi, this can result in a loss of image detail.

2.Because the ink that is used in screen-printing is extremely thick, it can make fine details including lines, and small type vanish.

3.The color surface of CD is not white, but silver therefore for white backgrounds you have to add additional color to your design.

4.For screen-printing, spot color instead of CMYK (four color printing, cyan, magenta, yellow, black), is used. CMYK printing can be done on CDs and DVDs however the results are not ideal.

5.It is nearly impossible to match spot color ink to CMYK colors produced on printers. In addition, the same ink color will appear differently on different areas of the CD.

6. Designs that gradually fade from one color to another can be difficult to reproduce due to the process that makes colors darker.

However, the benefit of screen printing is the vivid and rich colors the process provides, producing wonderful designs on CDs and DVDs. In addition, because the design is part of the CD and not a label that can be removed it provides a way of distinguishing authenticity.