Thermal Printers vs Inkjet Printers

Thermal printers and Inkjet printers are both used worldwide. While they're both useful machines, the one that's best for you would depend on what kind of project you're using it for. Each has its own unique benefits that it brings to the table that the other printer may not be able to do as well. It all depends on what you need to use it for.

Here are some of the capabilities of each printer -- and some things each one doesn't do as well -- so you can decide which printer is the right printer for the job.

There are two types of thermal printers: Direct thermal printers and thermal transfer printers.

Instead of using ink, a direct thermal printer uses a type of chemically-treated paper that darkens when it comes into contact with the heat from a thermal print head.

A thermal transfer printer uses solid ink from a ribbon made from wax, resin or both to make a print using heat and pressure.

Thermal printers are often used to make labels and barcodes.

Thermal printers don't break down or require repair very often and can produce durable and versatile images or text, that can last a long time.

Even a lower-end thermal printer is quite a bit more expensive than an inkjet printer and it doesn't have the capability to produce photos because of the limited color and application choices.

An inkjet printer contains a print head that has thousands of tiny holes. As it moves across the page, thousands of tiny droplets of ink, smaller than the diameter of a strand of human hair, are sprayed through the holes and onto the page. The ink droplets are cyan, magenta, and yellow, and combine to make new colors and complete your image or text.

You can check your printer for the dots per inch (DPI) measurement. A higher DPI measurement means it uses smaller droplets, which can make your image sharper than a printer with a lower DPI can.

You might choose an inkjet printer because all of the components are widely available, which also keeps the cost low. Even inkjet printers that have a lower DPI can produce images that are close to photo quality so everything you produce using one will be good quality.

Since the print head constantly moves across the page, there are many opportunities for it to break down and require repair. After a successful print, the ink is still wet so you have to be careful not to smudge the ink across the page until it tries. It is also prone to tearing some materials in the process of printing on them.

If you have highly technical printing needs, you can use a company like Adhesif, but if you're doing it yourself around the office, you want to choose the right printer for the job.

Thermal printers and inkjet printers are both good for different things. Thermal printers are the better choice if you need to print durable labels and signs, or if you need to print barcodes since inkjet printers might smudge.

Inkjet printers are the better choice for office documents, temporary signs or printing good quality photos.