A direct thermal label is chemically treated and heat-sensitive so it blackens under the thermal printhead, to produce your printed label. Direct thermal label printers have no ink, toner, or ribbon. This makes thermal labels durable, easy to use and cost less to produce than inkjet, laser, impact, and thermal transfer printers.

There are two types of Direct thermal labels:

• Economy
• Top coat

Economy thermal labels (standard, uncoated) will have limited resistance to moisture, grease or scuffing and may fade over time. Therefore they are used mainly in short term identification applications but will have an ample lifespan for many common barcode printing applications including:

• Shipping labels / box labels
• Patient / visitor identification
• Ticket printing.
• Product identification
• Description labels