A barcode label printer is essential for modern day manufacturers and retailers, but they don’t always appear to be user friendly. For the first time buyer, or even the seasoned professional, the ominous pricing scales and the constant updating in technology can make it a grind finding the most cost effective printer for your business.
With all business asset buying you need to know the equipment is going to fit the requirement. So how do you do that with barcode label printers? The main issue is being aware from the outset what size of barcode label you will be wanting to create.
Barcode label printhead resolution
The size of barcode label the printer creates is determined by the printhead resolution. You will find that models come in 203 and 300 dots per inch versions, others might add 400 or 600 dots per inch. The higher the resolution the more expensive the printer is going to be. For instance a 203 dpi (dots per inch – and this is low resolution) is great for printing average size shipping labels. If you need become smaller barcode labels and font sizes you will need one of the higher resolution models.
How barcode labels are expressed
The barcode sizes are expressed in two different ways. The size for linear or 1D codes is reflected by highlighting the of the smallest bar in the x-dimension. 2D codes on the other hand are sized by the tiny squares that appear within the Datamatrix. The sizes are usually expressed in 1,000ths of an inch or mils. A 10 mil barcode for example would have a small bar size of 0.010 inches.
Therefore when buying a printer be on the lookout for the table that clearly states the amount of dpi versus the size of the code it is going to create and make your purchase accordingly.
At Tanto labels we supply everything to do with barcode labels and barcode label printers. To view all our products and services view our menu on the left or visit our main site.
