When deciding how to print a barcode many will decide in favor of a laserjet or inkjet printer for their familiarity and ease of use. But that is where the benefits of laserjet / inkjet end over true barcode printers. The reasons are not so obvious:
The cost of supplies is less for the barcode label printers. Weighing out the cost of custom labels and toner for the Laserjet and Inkjet printers vs. the cost of stock labels and ribbons is difficult, to say the least, but it is generally in favor of using barcode label printers.
Barcode label printers produce true barcodes. They are built into the design and firmware of the printer. Laserjet / Inkjet printers mostly depend on barcode fonts which, as an interpreter, build the barcode dot by dot and distort the printing of the barcode causing it to be out of spec.
Barcode label printers are designed for label stock. Yes, you can run label stock through laserjets and inkjets but their media transport systems are not accessible to remove the label adhesive buildup and coatings that are characteristic of printing on label stock. Label printers are easier to maintain and clean. And, printing labels on sheets is clumsy at best since each label must be removed from the liner by the user to apply to a pallet, box or product.
Barcode printer are, hands down, faster. When printing on demand or in batches, a barcode printer builds the label format faster (requiring less bandwidth) and retains that format for the duration of the print job.
Certainly, laserjets and inkjets have their place in the SOHO environment if a barcode needs to be printed for UPS, Fedx or USPS but these are one-off applications and cannot compare to the use intended for barcode label printers.
Thunderbird Technical Services, Inc. is a service provider for barcode label printers, impact printer and laser jet/inkjet printers. Along with providing these services comes the knowledge of various types of supplies, applications, host computer systems and communications. Thunderbird works with it’s customers (from SOHO to Enterprise-wide) to help them determine their best printing solution.
Comments are closed.