Not only will high volume automation equipment be able to keep up with demand, but your employees will have more time to focus on the tasks that bring the most value to your company’s mission.

If your facility is in this situation you might also want to consider implementing an automation strategy. Proper engineering is necessary to ensure printers can keep up with higher demands, which is why lower volume printers tend to be lower in up-front costs than larger, higher demand printers.įacilities printing tens or hundreds of thousands of labels per day will likely be willing to pay a premium to ensure their printer can keep up with necessary demand. For the average barcode printing application in the lab, 203-300 dpi should be perfectly fine-however if you require particularly small labels (for example, those placed on tube caps) you might want to consider a printer capable of 600 dpi resolution.

While image resolution is important, you need to keep your application in mind. Typically, a thermal transfer printer will allow for 203 dpi, 300 dpi or 600 dpi printing, inkjet printers range from around 180-720 dpi and laser printers can provide up to 2,400 dpi!

Resolution capabilities will have an impact on the overall cost of your printer-generally the higher the dpi (dots-per-inch) capability, the higher the cost. Not all print technologies are capable of performing in the same way or offer the same features-leading to greater or lesser variations in cost between print technologies. Over time you will find a higher return on your investment through thermal transfer or inkjet printing, even if that means purchasing a second printer.Īll of the factors we discuss throughout this article will impact the cost of different printers in different ways. We generally don’t recommend your standard laser printer for label printing-even if you already have one in your facility! Not only are laser printers themselves generally higher in cost but so are the consumables. While this should give you a general idea of what you can expect, it’s not quite that simple. In general, thermal transfer is the least costly option, while laser label printers tend to be on the higher end in terms of price-leaving inkjet printers somewhere in the middle. These print technologies differ in their features and application, which leads them to vary in cost-even if they share similar features. Label printers are typically available in one of three print technologies. Instead of focusing directly on cost, here we will look at the eight major cost determining factors of label printers. Barcode printers can cost anywhere from a hundred dollars to several thousand dollars. While it is possible to determine the cost of an individual barcode label printer, due to the great variation in available options it’s difficult to find a specific answer for label printers in general. Cost is an important deciding factor in any purchase-but it’s not always the best way to determine the value your barcode label printer will offer you.

Barcode x cost