Thermal Transfer Printer

Thermal-transfer printing is a digital printing method. With thermal transfer printing, the desired print image is created through partial heat generation and transfer of a colored wax / resin mixture from a carrier film, without any major mechanical impact on the printed matter. The resulting print image is very durable and can be used on a wide variety of printing materials. This type of print is easily recognizable by a higher surface gloss than most other printing methods. It contrasts with direct thermal printing, where no ribbon is present in the process.

Thermal transfer is preferred over direct thermal printing on surfaces that are heat-sensitive or when higher durability of printed matter (especially against heat) is desired, like in MDM industry for product packages. Thermal transfer is a popular print process particularly used for the printing of identification labels and also in-line directly onto the packaging material. It is the most widely used printing process in the world for the printing of high-quality 2D & barcodes.