When trying to maximize your company’s reputation every detail matters. This includes everything from the quality of your product to the quality of the packaging itself. One often overlooked feature of good product packaging is custom-printed labels. In order to offer the best customer experience, you will need to print clearly visible custom labels. To do that, it is necessary to invest in a good label printer.
However, it is important to find the best printer for your needs, as they come with several different features. You want to save money and optimize your printing by using only the most efficient and reliable printer. Here is everything you need to know when choosing a label printer for your business.
In order to optimize your printing process and deliver the best results to your clients you will have to make sure that you are using the right printer. This will largely depend on the purpose of printing. For instance, direct thermal label printers are best used for address and barcode labels, receipts, and food packaging.
You can also use them when shipping your products. It is designed to imprint a label onto a label stock by burning the text on the surface. The advantage is that these labels can last for a very long time, however, they are heat-sensitive so it is important to keep them in low-light environments. On the other hand, if your business uses backend assets you will want to find a laminated label printer which is an excellent choice for printing shelf labels, name badges, office equipment, file labels, etc.
Although these labels are not as compact, their print can last a very long time and is resistant to outside elements such as water, heat, or cold. Modern solutions like these can boost your business growth significantly.
When buying a printer make sure that it supports a good resolution as this will make your labels easy to scan and read. Not only will they be functional, but they will also look a lot more professional. No matter how good your product looks on the shelf, you will want to back it up with clearly printed information on the label.
This can only be achieved with high-resolution printers. Lower resolutions will produce visible pixelation, which looks off-putting and renders the information on the label useless. When buying a new label printer make sure to look at the details in the specification. There you will be able to see the maximal printing resolution of the device.
Apart from improving the way your labels look, make sure to find a printer that has a good cost per print. If you are using inefficient printers that use more power and resources than truly necessary you will be losing money for every label printed. However, it is important to distinguish between what is cost-effective and cheap. A highly efficient label printer will deliver superior results and the total price for the resources used will be low relative to the total volume at the end of the month.
When trying to minimize costs make sure that your printer is also compatible with all of your assets. Not every product packaging is going to have the same shape. For instance, if some of your products have a cylindrical shape you will need special printing tools such as bottle label applicators, roll unwinders, or roll rewinders. That is why you should find a printer that can work with all these different printing attachments as well.
Once a label is printed the job is not done. You have to make sure that the label stays in good shape during shipping and transportation. There are many outside factors that will affect your products during this process. Ideally, your labels should be resistant to water, UV light, and various abrasions. The latest printers will have special finishes that ensure maximal label protection.
These features should be clearly indicated in the specification. So, make sure to keep an eye out for that when browsing the market. Before you commence your search, you can find many reviews online that will give you a better idea of what to expect and allow you to form potential questions. Get in touch with the manufacturers to find out any remaining details.
Once you get familiar with all the particular details, you can also consider the total work capacity that your new printer should have. There are two major categories that make up the total working capacity: printing speed and volume. These two will depend on your business’s overall requirements.
If time is of the essence, you will need a fast printer, especially if you are dealing with a lot of products. This feature will be categorized as inches/labels per second in the printer’s documentation. You also want to consider the total volume that you have to print. If you have a lot of labels to print make sure that your printer can work for an extended period of time using auto-cut functionality.
Getting a high-quality printer will allow a business to provide the best product packaging. However, there are several things to consider when buying one: determine the type, optimal resolution, cost per label, durability, as well as speed, and volume.
