Network Label Printers

Network label printers are used in medium to large-scale companies as central printing devices that process printing orders received from any computing device present in the LAN or WAN network. This helps in reducing costs as a single printer takes care of all the printing needs of the organization. Network label printers may be an inkjet, thermal, or laser printer depending on the quality and number of prints required by the company.

Some network label printers use direct thermal technology to print on heat sensitive paper. Direct thermal prints usually start fading after six to twelve months, which make them ideal for short duration applications such as printing address labels. Other factors that can affect thermal prints include direct exposure to sunlight and chemical vapors.

Other network label printers use thermal transfer technology in which heat is used to transfer ink from ribbons onto labels for getting permanent prints. Different grades of ribbons are used in network label printers to print on a variety of substrates. Wax ribbons are used to print on matte and semi-gloss paper labels that have average smudge resistance qualities. Resin based ribbons offer scratch and chemical resistant prints and are used to print on synthetic labels.

Some network label printers can print at 400-dpi resolution and use advanced print technology to provide label-to-label image registration with a tolerance limit of xb10.030 inches (.762 mm). Apart from printing on standard paper labels, it can also print on a variety of substrates such as Kapton or ultra-smooth polyesters and synthetic labels. This feature has increased its usage in electronics and healthcare industry. The printer can be connected to a LAN (local area network) for network management without the complexity, space requirement, and vulnerability of external print servers.

Software used in these printers includes different applications such as label design and print package and Printer Network Manager (PNM) for administration of network connected printers. It also supports different character sets such as Code page 850, French, German, ISO 256 character, Italian, Kanji/Katakana (optional), Norwegian/Danish, Spanish, Swedish/ Finnish, Swiss, UK, ASCII, and USA ASCII.

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