Digital Thermal Transfer Printing
No films, no dies, no "make ready," no clean up. It's quick, safe and easy.

This technology offers you a great way to satisfy the "on demand" printing needs of your in-house applications or the fast turnaround needs of your customers.

Thermal Transfer printing (see animation above by clicking the "next" button) uses thin polyester film coated with a resin, resin/wax, or wax based carrier that is saturated with color pigment.

This film and ink combination, called a ribbon or foil, is brought into contact with a substrate such as vinyl or polyester via a thermal printhead. The pigment is then fused into the material where required in either a dot pattern or solid color. It is a dry process that produces no out-gassing or odor.

Thermal is best used for very short runs such as prototypes up to medium runs. Of course a "medium run" is relative to what you define as a medium run. A short run can be 1 piece. Thermal Transfer technology fits into the printing industry because it is fast to the press. In comparison to traditional screen printing, offset, or flexo printing, there is no make-ready.

Make ready in traditional printing methods includes processes like making film, screens, and/or plates for the press. It also includes mixing specific colors, inking up the press, and running press proofs. Because thermal transfer is also digital, there is no traditional make-ready.

The threshold for defining a "medium run" is decided in part on the true costs of a run. If you compare apples to apples, you have to consider make ready, dies, clean up, and finishing processes. Since the first three items are virtually non-existent in the digital thermal transfer process, most of the calculation boils down to the cost of materials, and operator labor.

Wet vs. Dry Process: Costs of materials are similar to other processes with the exception of the ribbons/foils. There is a trade off here. Ink is wet, messy, stinks, and requires chemicals, time, and sometimes recovery processes to clean up. In comparison, the thermal transfer process is dry, safe, there is no odor, recovery process, or clean up.

Thermal ribbons come in a roll and therefore are easy to calculate usage. If you are using 50 ft. of vinyl to print your black and red label, chances are you will use 50 ft. of black and red ribbon too.

If you are considering ink jet technology to produce labels, see our inkjet vs. thermal commentary

Liquid ink is cheap in comparison to thermal transfer ribbons. But the make ready and clean up processes are not. Therefore to accurately determine which process is most cost effective for a job of lets say 5,000 pieces, you need to know how many linear feet of material are required for the job, and if the job entails a special cut shape that will require a die. Obviously a run of 5K 4" x 7" labels will consume a lot more material than 5K, 3/4" x 1.5" labels.

Dies: Dies or special finishing processes also play a big part in price. Traditional dies are like cookie cutters... they stamp out the same pattern (usually the perimeter label shape) over and over again. Dies can run from $50 for a simple steel rule flat die to $3,000 for a complex rotary die for a flexo press. Many times the die costs are amortized over the "per piece" price.

Therefore, if there are costs such as dies associated with the job, the minimum a printer is likely to require may be higher than you need or want. Dies also delay jobs for as much as a couple of weeks. This makes prototypes and short runs expensive and deadline unfriendly.

Cutting Digitally: Cutting your labels digitally gives you the ability to take advantage of the fast printing method called thermal transfer printing. Remember, there are no dies or delays associated with cutting your labels. And the shapes or sizes can be modified in an instant, with the click of a mouse. The results are instant and bare no costs except for operator labor.

Built for Speed: When you have digital art, which is the way most art is prepared these days, there is virtually no set up time required to run a job on a thermal press.

As we have mentioned, there are no screens, plates or dies required. Without all that STUFF in your way, you can print direct from your computer to the printer. And once it is printed (without inks and associated odors), your labels can be laminated immediately if needed, and then digitally cut on an integrated cutter.

Thermal Printing offers so many benefits, it is hard to mention or explain them all:

• Exceptional outdoor durability without lamination in most applications
• High abrasion resistance
• Prints on the widest range of substrates
• Outstanding color range and expanded application capabilities via seven specialized foil series, including spot, process, white metallics, and other specialty foils
• Shop-friendly: low maintenance, no odor, no ventilation, no drying, no mess. small footprint
• Increased productivity on labor intense jobs
• Create opportunities with by producing products that can't be easily produced any other way.

Call us today for free consultation.