You may be surprised to know any black & white printer can come to be a barcode printer. All you need are some barcode labels and barcode software to print barcodes. It is best to use a laser printer for this type of print job because it requires barcode print accuracy in order for the barcode scanner to read correctly.

However, it does wish some technical knowledge to set up. Also, it is not favorable for large barcode printing jobs. If you do not want the fuss with setting up and testing barcodes, I would propose getting a standalone, dedicated barcode printer. All the considerable software and hardware are in place and is designed to print barcodes right out of the box.

Printers

There are generally three categories of barcode printers currently ready on the market.

1) Small Office/Soho barcode printers

These types of printers are cheap but do not have large barcode printing capability. It is mostly beneficial if you need to print barcodes occasionally.

2) Large Batch Printing Barcode Printers

These type of printers are dedicated barcode printing powerhouses. They are high-priced but able to print large amounts of barcode very quickly. It is mostly used in factories, large sell outlets and hospitals where speed and reliability is important.

3) transported Barcode Printers

Most transported barcode printers cannot print in large quantities. They are ordinarily used to print receipts, forms at the spot as required. Most transported barcode printers uses wireless or bluetooth for communications

I would propose getting a dedicated barcode printer as cost wise it is more productive than trying to cobble together a barcode printing ideas using your existing document printer.

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Choosing the right barcode printer for your needs can be a bit overwhelming. There are a few questions you must ask yourself before buying a printer. The first is what are you printing? Most habitancy use a thermal barcode printer to print labels or tags. The paper that runs through these printers isn't thorough laser paper. Depending on what printer you buy, it may wish a sure type of paper. Smaller, desktop printers are great for running small batches of labels or tags. These printers are typically direct thermal only; meaning they use a heat sensitive paper. Direct thermal labels are fine for shipping labels or something that isn't going to be colse to for a long period of time. Direct thermal paper changes color with exposure to heat or sunlight. selecting a printer with a thermal change choice will give you more range in the materials that you can print on. Thermal change paper is a coated paper label or tag stock that bonds well with a thermal change ribbon. The benefit of thermal change is longer life to the image on the label. Direct thermal labels are typically more expensive, but you have to factor in purchasing a ribbon with a thermal change label. Thermal change printers will give you more versatility. For instance; you may need to print shipping labels and also print a synthetic rack label for your warehouse. There are more thermal change label material options on the market, so if you think you'll be printing more than just shipping labels, then thermal tranfer might be a best option. Most of the larger printers can switch in the middle of direct thermal and thermal change with just a setting on the front panel of the printer. Using thermal tranfer labels will wish that you change a ribbon after every 2 to 3 rolls of labels. In a manufacturing setting like a seafood distributor, they don't want the downtime of changing out a ribbon. A direct thermal shipping label can get printed rather fast and is only on the goods the time of transit. A health care facility printing outpatient file labels may want to go with a thermal change barcode printer because the label will be colse to for the life of the patient.

If you are just printing a handful of shipping labels every month because a retailer requires you to, reconsider purchasing some sheet fed laser labels for your laser printer. Seagull Scientific makes a great label develop software box called Bartender that allows users to create labels on the fly and integrate barcodes and text on one label. Bartender will work with your laser printer and most thermal printers, should you conclude to upgrade down the road.

Printers

If you are needing to print thousands of labels at a time, tying up your laser printer no ifs ands or buts doesn't make sense. Toner is expensive and it's not fun printing any sheets of labels at a time. A thermal printer will give you the speed and functionality you need. I would go with a printer that has a 4" print width and the capacity to hold an 8 inch roll diameter of labels. Your options are more diverse for distinct size labels than smaller, contract rolls. A printer will run in the middle of 0 and 00. Plan on additonal money if you need faster speed, added memory, higher resolution (Dpi) or a wider print width. These printers can accomodate a range of distinct label stocks from papers to polyesters. Print rack labels, asset labels and shipping labels on the same printer.

Rule of thumb is that if you are printing just text and a barcode on the label, a printer with a 203 Dpi resolution is just fine. If you want a nice finding logo, have it preprinted on the labels and use the thermal printer to print just the variable data on the label. This will give you a expert look to your labels without breaking the bank.