All the products and services available in the world have a name, a maker and a user, all of which add up to an identity that has to be recorded. If we replace the words recorded and identity by label and barcode, we find ourselves in the world of Thermal Transfer.

Printing by Thermal Transfer consists of applying thermo fusible ink onto a receptor – Paper, Polyester or Tags, using a heat source ( Thermal Head ) emitted by the printer.
The flexibility of TT is its capacity to meet very high demands of print quality and to provide a technical solution in keeping with user expectations. There are many variables of Thermal Transfer Ribbons whether from the point of view of the type of ink chosen, the nature of the printing media and finally the choice of printer technology. Each of these elements will have a big influence on the print result.

This is why to properly understand how printing by Thermal Transfer works, it is important to separate each of the elements involved in the process.
A Thermal Transfer ribbon is the consumable which contains the ink required for printing. Of virtually identical exterior appearance, TT ribbons differ through the properties of the inked ribbon (backcoating, polyester film, ink layer(s)) but also through all the components which make up the roll (core, trailer of ribbon end and leader of ribbon start).