Label printers are essential in the business world for purposes such as product branding, marketing, regulation requirements adherence and best practices. From brand image from bottling companies that require labels for their products, to parcel delivery companies that need labels to track their deliveries, to wholesale stores that need labels to list the nutritional facts and ingredients in their items.

Here at ForeFront Label Solutions, we offer the 3 primary label printer technologies that are used in the label printer industry; inkjet, laser, or thermal each with their own advantages. While we will describe the details of each printer type and its benefits separately, the breakdown at-a-glance is that thermal printers are very affordable printers that can print black and white or single-color labels at high speeds. Inkjet printers are well-balanced printers that can print high-quality images and are specialized in printing high-resolution images with wide color range and depth. Laser printers are advanced printers that print high volume with a high degree of efficiency and consistency.

Although the quantity and quality of print jobs will vary depending on the exact printer and design of the label, below is a sample average of the types of print quality and print quantity to be expected with each label printer technology.

Print Quantity:

Inkjet Printers
Print Quality / Resolution: avg. 360 – 4,800 dpi
Print Speed: up to 12 inches (304.8 mm) per second
Print Width: up to 8.5 inches (216 mm)
Print Volume: up to 100,000+ per month

Laser Printers
Print Quality / Resolution: avg. 600 – 1,600 dpi
Print Speed: up to 6 inches (152.4 mm) per second
Print Width: up to 12.6 inches (320 mm)
Print Volume: up to 1,000,000+ per month

Thermal Printers
Print Quality / Resolution: up to 600 dpi
Print Speed: up to 14 inches (355.6 mm) per second
Print Width: up to 8 inches (203.2 mm)
Print Volume: up to 2,000,000+ per month