Why We Choose Different Ribbons for Flat-head and Near-edge Printers?

There have two types of print head: “Flat” and “Near-Edge”, so there are two types of thermal ribbon accordingly. To get very acceptable printing effects, you must match your thermal transfer printer with the correct thermal transfer ribbon! For example, all Zebra printers use flat print-heads while other brand printers such as Videojet & Domino use near-edge. Avery Dennison and others produce a range of label printers that use both types, so it is essential to know which head is in your printer to avoid you purchase the wrong ribbon.

Using a flat head ribbon in a near edge printer or vice-versa, which won’t damage the printer but you won’t get acceptable results. After a  time, thermal print heads will wear out eventually for using the wrong ribbons. Printhead replacement is costly, so you should protect this part from damage. Also, unmatched ribbons cause either the printed output to look a mess or worse still, they affect the readability of the barcode.

To extend the life of the print head it is essential to use a good quality ribbon with a low-friction back coating that minimizes wear on the head and to match the correct ribbon to your printer so that you can lower the head power and reduce the pressure applied. We advise that you should clean your print head regularly, the frequency of which is dependent on usage.

Xinxiang Startec provides customers with a wide range of flat head ribbons like general purpose wax ribbons, standard & high-performance wax/resin ribbons, pure resin ribbons, and textile resin ribbons; wax/resin and resin near edge ribbons for specialist applications, all in a wide choice to match lots of printer models. If you’re not sure which ribbon you need, pls contact us directly, we will help identify the correct ribbons that are compatible with your printer.

For more help and advice, call us: Mobile: +86-15560259101(Whatsapp/Wechat)