Barcode Printers | Product Labeling Glossary

Types of Barcode Printers

Companies spanning various industries rely on barcode printers to efficiently label their corrugated paperboard cartons and cases for shipping to market. Rather than the costly practice of preprinting packaging with company-specific details like names, addresses, logos, and more, businesses now turn to large character inkjet barcode printers to generate this information on demand.

These industrial barcode label printers excel in producing large character variable data, encompassing barcodes, dates, ingredients, logos, and graphics, all directly on cases and shipping cartons. This approach yields a polished, pre-printed appearance, effectively eliminating the need to maintain costly inventories of preprinted packaging.

Often referred to as industrial printers, these systems boast the ability to print high-resolution alphanumeric characters, barcodes, and graphics onto corrugated surfaces with remarkable clarity, delivering an impressive 180 dpi (dots per inch) resolution. They operate seamlessly at production line speeds, ensuring consistent and reliable throughput. Additionally, most barcode label printers incorporate micro-purge capabilities, allowing them to function in dusty environments without the risk of clogs that might otherwise slow down production. These industrial printer casings are also designed with integrated physical protection, guarding against damage or misalignment caused by impacts from cases traveling along the line.

Typically, large character industrial printers achieve print speeds ranging from 0.3 to 66 meters per minute (1.0 to 216 feet per minute) when printing barcodes exclusively, and up to 132 meters per minute (433 feet per minute) when printing alphanumeric text. The typical print size area for such systems measures 17 mm in height by 2000 mm in length (0.7 inches by 78 inches) at 180 dpi.

Barcode label printers operate via user-friendly software, accessible through touch screen controls on the unit itself, reducing the potential for operator errors. Operators are presented with a limited set of message parameters to choose from, streamlining the process. In larger facilities equipped with multiple industrial printers, multiple print units can be managed from a single lead unit or controlled centrally for enhanced efficiency.