Best Printer For Product Labels

[lyns7505]

Hi Guys

I am starting a new business which is a skincare line, I am wanting waterproof clear labels. what is the best printer for me to achieve this.
Having them printed for me is not an option as I have min 33 products all different labels just cost to much.
any advice much appreciated.

 

[Nuno]

I believe that brand name Epson inkjet inks are water durable if not fully waterproof. I'd imagine this is the same for other big brand printer makers' inks.
Better would be a colour laser printer.

 

[Page]

Well there are some options - all will work depending what you want

There are some full colour label printers out there

This firm specialise - Primera

And you can find their stuff on ebay

The technology inside is I believe just a normal inkjet printer

So what you also do is buy a sheet of A4 photo stick on labels and use a normal inkjet

Or another option is to get some labels printed with the brand etc in colour and then you print onto these with a single colour - typically black but it does not have to be
You will get a very sharp print if you use a zebra printer with a ribbon option - some are thermal printers only and these no good you need to use a ribbon

Or ditto A4 sheets pre printed and then you can print full colour

So now you have options you partly need to work out what image you want to project and how much you want to spend
(You may even prefer a different image - rubber stamp onto some material and then stick on - for example)

I would start with the A4 with photo or similar labels
You can buy these on Amazon - so then you can try and see what you think and at very low cost in terms of getting going

 

[MikePNV]

Dymo 4XL is very good. Thermal = no ink costs, ever, you just pay for labels, which are available online in bulk for a few cents a piece.

 

[lyns7505]

Thanks guys..... Sorry for late reply didn't realise anyone had answered! Nice surprise! going to try the laser printer I think, although page I like your idea with the stamp and material hmmm

 

[Batgirl]

Check out the Lotus Labels website and give us a call or e-mail (FAO Rachel) if you'd like - we sell printers in house, and would be happy to advise if you would like!

 

[amac]

Dymo 4XL is very good. Thermal = no ink costs, ever, you just pay for labels, which are available online in bulk for a few cents a piece.

Yeah, use this printer for shipping my products. Can recommend thermal both cost and quality wise.

 

[James Readability]

Direct thermal labels are not suitable for product labels. The image will fade.

You could use thermal transfer printing for all the variations, but this would mean a dull label as colour thermal transfer ribbons are expensive so black is the only option.

It's the label as much as the inks you need to be concerned about, clear PP for a colour inkjet printer such as the Epson C3500 or C7500 both have inks capable of full immersion. If the label is applied to a clean dry surface standard adhesive would then be capable of achieving what you want for skincare product to survive in the bathroom cupboard, under a shower may require a specialist waterproof adhesive.

All the options here are can cope with variable data I would go with the last option, as it will allow so much more freedom in your designs, with no overprinting.

 

[talksalot81]

James,

What do you suggest as clear label stock for the c3500? I didnt know epson did one. We use the epson pp white and boting much else seems to work. For products which might get wet, the other epson labels are useless.

I should note that the c3500 is great within certain limits. It is wasteful on labels, given the short rolls and best practice of feeding/calibrating on start up. Its nowhere near as fast as our zebra (unsurprisingly) and is miles more exprnsive per print (at least triple the thermal transfer and thats assuming low ink coverage). Id also suggest that the adhesive on stock labels is not the strongest - the ink might be chemical resistant but a bit of dust or moisture and those labels might not stick for long!

We use the zt230 or 105sl zebra for anything possible. We only go to the c3500 if we really must have more than 2 colours (we do two passes with the zebra for haz labels, which need red for the haz symbols - its not cost effocient to do this on the epson).

 

[James Readability]

Hi Pip Chemicals/Talksalot81,

Thanks for the feedback on the Epson stock labels. We make our own labels for the Epson C3500 and the C7500 series printers, which are often compatible with other inkjet colour label printers.

With regards to clear labels, we are have done some testing with a Gloss Clear PP (polypropylene) which has been very positive.

We have some A4 sample sheet labels of this material that we could send for trialling in your working environment, making sure the adhesion is suitable for you. Then we can have labels made up with the quantity you want on the roll, either the max OD or you could use a label unwinder rewinder to minimise roll changes.