How to choose a barcode printer

We call bar code printers in the industry. There are many types of bar code printers, label printers, tag printers and coders. Bar code printer printing methods generally have thermal and thermal transfer printing methods, and general printers support two methods. barcode printers use dedicated labels and ribbons. Barcode printing is a printing device that is designed to quickly print a large number of self-adhesive labels, tickets, tags, washed cloth, and the like. barcode printers have been widely used in all aspects of production and life, such as: supermarket stores, manufacturing, logistics, ticket printing and so on. Since the general labels are continuous in the form of a roll, the printing speed is faster than that of a general printer, and it is not necessary to manually change papers, which is suitable for high-efficiency printing.

Selecting a barcode printer generally considers several aspects:

1. Number of prints: If you need to print less than 1000 labels per day, we recommended that you purchase a normal desktop barcode printer. The paper size and ribbon capacity of the desktop are small. The small size of the product makes its ideal for office use. If you need to print more than 1000 labels per day, you need an industrial-grade bar code printer with a solid metal casing. Industrial-grade printers have a long service life and can accommodate large paper rolls and length ribbons. They also have excellent performance in harsh environments and are suitable for large factories.

2. Width of the label: The print width refers to the maximum width range that the barcode printer can print. The large width can print small labels, but a small width is definitely not able to print large labels. The longer width, the higher price. A typical bar code printer has a 4-inch print range, which is 10.4 cm wide, and is 5 inches, 6 inches, and 8 inches wide. So if your label is less than 10cm wide, choose 4-inch printer.

3. the label printing quality: The print resolution of the barcode machine is generally divided into 203dpi, 300dpi, 600dpi; the larger the dpi value, the better the printing result. The highest printing accuracy is 600dpi, and 203dpi or 300dpi can meet the industry daily needs. The higher the accuracy of the printer, the higher the price. Like Jewelry, mobile phones, and PCB versions are required to be printed on smaller labels. It is recommended that you use a barcode printer of 300DPI or higher. For other general labels, use 200DPI.
4. the printing speed: different models have different printing speeds, the general speed is 2 inches - 6 inches per second, and the higher can 8 inches - 12 inches per second.If you need Printing a large number of labels in a short period of time, high-speed printers are more suitable.

5. software application environment printers have their own machine language, the vast majority of bar code printers on the market can only use one printing language, such as zebra is ZPL, Datamax is DPL, Intermec is IPL or FingerPrint, etc. Only use their own print order. If you have used brand bar code printer before, and the printing method is to use machine language to print, then it is best to use the original brand model.

6. the external environment If in a harsh production environment, such as temperature, humidity, dust, etc., you must buy a high-tech bar code printer.

7. print interface: Bar code printers generally have parallel,  serial , USB and ethernet port. But not all printers have these 4 interfaces, generally only 2-3. If your printing method is to print via a specified interface, then a printer with this interface is required.

8. the higher the price of the industrial grade, the more expensive, have the wider printing width and the higher printing accuracy.Brand will more expensive than the domestic and Taiwanese, but the quality is indeed better.
9. Other considerations If the printing material is special, then choose the appropriate model according to the material, such as the label is particularly thick or the surface is extremely rough. In addition, in order to meet the user requirements, all manufacturers have designed many optional accessories: cutters, strippers, paper holders, etc., However not all models support these accessories, according to their own needs, such as automatically label cut. Then you need to buy a model with a cutter. Finally, try to choose brand model with a high market share. Select suppliers should also pay attention to the choice of experienced, technology-accumulated companies, rather than moving bricks, because the bar code printer use process will encounter problems, service is essential.