Barcode Printers

Barcode printers are electronic machines that have the ability to print barcodes and other information and graphics on labels and tags.  You might see them referred to as barcode label printers, thermal label printers, label printers, tag printers, or just barcode printers.

Barcode printers have the ability to print barcodes on labels with text and graphics VERY FAST.  That is because the printer actually can calculate the barcode, text, and graphic images internally.  This allows the computer to send very little data to the printer to print very complicated labels.  Every label can be different.  You can print one label at a time.  You can also print thousands of labels at a time.  This feature makes barcode label printers far superior to other type of printers to print variable data on labels or tags.

The most popular resolution of barcode printers is 203 dots per inch.  Most people just round to 200 dpi.  But, you can also find 300, 400, and 600 dpi print heads.  Be careful, a higher resolution does not necessarily mean better.

Barcode printers are usually separated into three categories.  These categories are industrial, desktop, and portable barcode printers.

Industrial Barcode Printers

Industrial barcode printers are generally designed to run high or low volume.  Some of them can run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  Others break easy or have a plastic chassis.  In the barcode printer industry, they are referred to as "industrial" if they hold an 8" roll of thermal labels.  This can be misleading when looking at a specification sheet.

The printer shown on the right is a good example of a 4 inch industrial barcode label printer.  It is a Century Eagle 4.

Typically, industrial barcode printers have printheads that are 4 inches in print width.  A 4 inch printhead can print on a 4 inch wide label.  You can also purchase printers that can print on 5, 6 or even 8 inch wide labels.  Most have flat printheads.  Some have near-edge printheads.

Desktop Barcode Printers

Desktop barcode printers are generally smaller than industrial barcode printers.  They are referred as "desktop" because you might find them on someone's desk.  They hold less labels and are less expensive.

Many "desktop" barcode printers are direct thermal, uses direct thermal labels or tags.  A few are thermal transfer, uses thermal transfer ribbon.  The Toshiba TEC B-SV4D shown on the right is a inexpensive, direct thermal, desktop barcode printer.  It holds a 5 inch roll of labels and is designed for lower volumes.

Most desktop barcode printers have 4 inch printheads.  Some have 3 inch or 2 inch printheads.

Portable Barcode Printers

Portable barcode printers are usually even smaller then desktop barcode printers.  They run on batteries and must be charged in between uses.  You see one every time you see a FEDEX driver.  All FEDEX drivers carry a portable printer build by Toshiba TEC.

On the left is the Toshiba TEC B-415 portable printer.  FEDEX started switching to a printer very similar to this in 2003.  It holds even fewer labels than the printers shown above.