When does a thermal printer need ribbon?

Many friends don’t know much about this question, and rarely see the system’s answer. In fact, mainstream printers on the market can switch freely between thermal and thermal transfer.
Therefore, it is not possible to directly answer: it is necessary or not needed, but it should be stated as: when thermal printers need to use carbon ribbons to print, they need carbon ribbons, and when they do not need to use carbon ribbons, they do not need carbon ribbons.
In fact, there are many printers on the market. Some can only print with thermal paper, some can only print with carbon ribbon, and some can use both. This answer is relatively general and requires some interpretation and explanation:

1. The first thing to introduce is the thermal printer and thermal transfer printer mentioned here.

What is a thermal printer?
It is a printer that uses thermal mode to achieve printing effects, and a printer with thermal mode function can be called a thermal printer.
Similarly, a thermal transfer printer is a printer that uses thermal transfer mode to achieve printing effects, and a printer with thermal transfer function is a thermal transfer printer. In fact, the two printers are only different in the printing mode, and the specific printing principle will not be said much. It should be noted that the thermal transfer printer must use a carbon ribbon to achieve the printing effect, and the thermal mode requires a thermal Only functional special materials or special carbon ribbons can be printed, which is directly related to the demand.

2. Through the analysis of the first point, we know that the same printer can be a thermal printer or a thermal transfer printer. That is to say, thermal printers need carbon ribbons, and they do not need carbon ribbons, depending on the needs. So what needs are carbon ribbons, and what needs do not need carbon ribbons?
It can be analyzed by the different functions of carbon ribbon and thermal paper.
Function analysis of carbon ribbon and thermal paper

*The function of the ribbon

For example, if we want to write an article in the computer now, then we need paper and pen to do it. In fact, the printer is us in this state. It is a robot that specializes in writing words or patterns. It also needs paper and pen to write. In practice, we handed it the pen and paper, helped it put it away, and wrote whatever it was told to write. Then the ribbon is the pen of the printer, the robot.
The function of the pen is to transform and present the information we want to transform on the surface used to display the information; the same is true for the ribbon, which is also the function of the ribbon, but the ribbon is specially designed to transform computer information, and the written test transforms the human brain. informational.

ribbon

*Function of thermal paper

The function of paper is to use its surface to display information, and thermal paper is also paper, and it also uses its surface to display information. But thermal paper has another function, that is, the function of “pen”. That’s why thermal paper is on a par with ribbons here.
Thermal paper will turn black as long as it is heated. Therefore, thermal printing does not require carbon ribbons. The printer will heat the print head during printing, and the heated print head will contact the thermal paper to print a pattern.
Printing with thermal paper is much more convenient than using carbon ribbon, and it also saves space, saves costs, and more. However, thermal paper also has disadvantages. For example, the printed pattern is not stored for a long time, only one color can be printed, etc., while the content printed with carbon ribbon is stored for a relatively long time, and different colors can be printed with color carbon ribbon. The content of the color comes out; the content printed with the carbon ribbon can also be resistant to high temperature, chemical solvent, waterproof, etc., and can be used in the specified harsh environment.

thermal paper

Thermal printers also need ribbons

In fact, there are some colored ribbons that need to be printed in thermal mode. For example, the bright gold and bright silver ribbons of Kellogg Ribbon can only be printed in thermal mode.
In summary, whether the printer needs carbon ribbon or not is completely determined by demand. If it does not need to be stored for a long time (within two months), as long as it prints black content, you can consider using a thermal printer and thermal paper.
If the printed content needs to be stored for a long time, or used in some specific harsh environments (such as high temperature, outdoor, refrigeration, exposure to chemical solvents, etc.), or if you need to print color content, choose a thermal transfer printer , print with ribbon.
If you want to switch freely between the two, you can also buy a printer with two modes, and choose the printing mode and related materials according to your needs.

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Post time: Apr-01-2022