Best Color Label Printer – Top 4 Thermal Color Label Printing Machines

Owning a color label printer can be great fun as well as highly convenient. You can use it to print your own labels in-house, according to your own preference and customization. However, there are a lot of options available in the market and you could easily get confused in a bid to choosing the best one. Therefore, it is always helpful to have a little knowledge about, how these work and what are the key features that distinguish one from the other. Since you are going to be investing a fair amount of money into, it is always better to narrow down your choice to find the best color label printer. So consider the following things before making your purchase.

Things to Consider before Buying a Thermal Color Label Printer

• Workload

Different people have different printing requirements and therefore printing workloads. Therefore, be very clear about the amount of prints you are going to need and how frequently you are going to be using the machine. Depending on the workload, printers come in distinctive sizes, functions and features. You are also not going to be printing the same amount every time. So check if the printer is going to comply with your requirements during different periods.

Consumers with low printing volume can do well with a printer that supports 100 prints per day. Such type of printers is more suited to domestic needs that mainly come to use during special occasions, holidays or festive season. Small commerce houses can opt for those with a medium intensity that is around 500 prints per day. Investing in printers that are not suited o your requirements would mean that you are either going to be over utilizing or underutilizing various functions and features.

• Printing speed

Most people would consider printing speed as the total amount of time taken by the printer to print out the labels. However, there are also a number of other things that determine how fast you can get your task completed. This would include loading the printer, processing time, manual/automatic operation as well as maintenance procedures. Summing up, all of these additional factors can play a great role in determining the total time taken for printing a certain volume. The best color label printer reduces the printing speed by optimizing all of these factors that come into play during the production.

• Cost of printing

Cost is another important thing to consider. The smallest of the things can actually make significant differences, if you are printing small volumes, consider the cost per label and if you are printing in bulk, you should take into consideration a wide number of things from the blank labels to printing inks so that the total cost stays as low as possible. If not the exact, you should at least have a rough idea about how much the prints are going to cost you. The best color label printer is one that produces high-quality output at an optimized cost.

• Try them out before buying

Since there are a number of things that can affect the performance of printers, simply checking out the features will not give you a full idea of how well it is going to turn out when you actually start using there. Therefore, it is best to watch in the first person, how well the labels are going to come out. This will give you a better idea about the functioning and if there are any technical shortcomings, you will immediately be able to notice it. The best color label printer offers a smooth performance along with high-quality print and color matching.

• Print utilization

You are going to need a different type of labels at different times. Many printers also have features that allow you to save the names, addresses, and contacts and track the items once they have been sent for delivery. Then comes the different types of prints, all used for different purposes. Check out the layouts offered by the printer and the different sizes and format that it can print. The best color label printer offers a versatile performance, taking care of a majority of your printing requirements.

• Print determination

A print determination is another one of the factors that determine printer optimization. To get the best quality tags, you should be looking at a high print determination. The minimum number of dabs should not be less than 203. Since the thickness of the labels also has a role to play, look for the printers with the highest specks per inch.

• Support and compatibility

When you are looking for the best color label printer, always place a high priority on the support provided by the manufacturer. Learn in detail about the terms and conditions of warranty and the responsiveness of the customer care service. Buying printers are not less than making an investment. You would definitely not like it if the machine slows down after just a couple of use. Therefore, to save all the major disappointments, it is better to gain as much information you need before you take it into your possession.

Also, find out about the compatibility of the printer with various external devices and whether its functions and software are upgradeable or not. The best color label printer can increase your productivity multifold. Even if the printers are not as equipped as they ought to be, make sure that at least they do not pose a hindrance to your productivity.

 

4 Best Commercial Color Label Printers

The Professional Choice: Primera LX2000 Color Label Printer

Features of the Primera LX2000

• This label printer gives water and scratch resistant labels that also do not rub off on coming in contact with synthetic materials.
• It offers a maximum print width of 8.25 inches which is a decent size for labels to be used for various purposes
• The printer has a built-in cutter. This means that you will not have to go around manually cutting each and every label that comes out of the printer. This feature can prove to be highly beneficial especially when you are printing in bulk
• It offers a USB connectivity, as well as wireless and Ethernet
• It can print full-color photos and labels with a very high print resolution
• This is arguably the best color label printer from Primera and the fastest one till date

What makes the Primera LX2000 the Best Color Label Printer

• It uses a special combination of synthetic materials and selected ink pigments to produce high-quality prints that are safe from wearing away due to water and UV lights
• The printer uses separate ink cartridges for different colors. This actually helps in minimizing the cost of printing labels
• It prints at a very fast pace. The speed is six inches per second. Therefore, even if you are printing in bulks, you will get your task done in a very short span of time. furthermore, it is an automatic printer and you will not have to wait around to feed in the input every time
• It can print on all different types of materials including synthetic, paper and polyester. Also, it can print labels of all sizes
• Due to its high-quality images and sharp color contrast, it is probably the best printer for labeling food items, medicines, cosmetics, promotional and so on.
• It comes together with a set of starter label rolls and ink cartridges> after that, these supplies are required to be bought separately
• It prints at a resolution of 4800 dpi and can produce up to 16.7 million different colors
• The label size can vary anywhere between 0.5 by 0.5 inches to 8 by 24 inches

Pros

• The labels look clean and fresh
• Produces crisps prints
• Very fast processing
• Economical when it comes to ink consumption
• The print quality remains unaffected on all types of paper

Cons

• The prints may undergo drifting
• You will face alignment issues very frequently
• You will frequently encounter jamming error with the print head

Bang for your Buck: Primera LX500 Color Label Printer

Features of the Primera LX500

• It allows you to print full-color labels with a photo quality
• It is one of the most advanced label printers in the market using the full color compact roll-fed technology.
• You can choose from thousands of different labels options
• It is highly versatile as it allows you to print the labels in more than 20 different materials including paper, polyester, synthetic and clear labels.
• It is perfect for printing medium to small labels for multiple applications such as food packaging, promotional products, product labeling, manufacturing, medical labeling, retail labels and so on.
• The printer comes together with a complement of ink and a starter roll of labels to get you going. These items can also be bought separately with much ease
• The starter roll measures 4 by 3 inches and is made of high gloss tuff coat material
• The printers have the ability to recreate 16.7 million colors
• It offers a print resolution of 4800 by 1200 dpi
• It allows printing over a wide range of label sizes. The smallest ones can measure 0.5 by 0.5 inches while the largest ones can go up to 4” by 24”.
• The printer uses color cartridges based on a single color
• They use the Bar Tnader Ultra Lite Primera Edition design software
• It is compatible with Mac OS X 10.6 to 10.10 or Windows 7/8/10

Strong Points of the Printer

• You also receive a USB 2.0 cable along with the printer
• It comes together with a very detailed instruction manual
• It is available at a highly affordable price. In fact, it comes at a cheaper price than its forerunner, the LX 400. The LX 500 comes at a price of $1295 while the LX 400 was priced at $1495. It offers better print quality than the LX400 and is much faster in task execution
• Due to its tri ink color cartridge and high yielding performance, it is possible to decrease the cost of printing by a large amount
• It has a very high printing speed, thereby allowing you to print a large number of labels within a very short time
• It has a built-in cutter that cuts the labels as they come out of the printer. Hence, you do not have to go around manually cutting up the labels. this can be a huge time saver, especially when you are printing in bulks
• They allow the user to print professional labels. This makes the printer highly ideal for small business and startups
• They can also be used for private labeling and pre-test proofing
• The LX 500 can easily throw a tough challenge to the nationally branded product labels
• They also allow you to print over tag stocks which are then cut by the built-in cutter. This makes it possible to use the printer for preparing meeting badges for visitors during conventions
• it allows you to customize the labels, add QR codes and barcodes to the labels
• It gives perfect prints on both the high gloss as well as matte finish papers

Pros

• It is very easy to use and gives a quick and reliable execution
• It offers great quality prints with a very high printing resolution of 4800 dpi
• Allows you to print over a number of different label sizes
• It can be conveniently used with various printing materials

Cons

• No tray to hold the printed labels

The Cheaper Alternative: Epson TM-C3400 Inkjet Printer

Features of the Epson TM-C3400

• Its one of the very first printers that are designed to address the label printing requirements of healthcare organizations.
• The printer can reproduce more than a thousand different colors thereby perfectly taking care of whatever has been demanded of it
• It can print on large number of label sizes with the width of the media varying from 1.2 to 4.4 inches
• The user can select the resolution of the print. It offers the highest resolution of 720 dpi
• The Epson TM-C3400 supports all the different types of barcode formats
• It comes together with a USB 2.0 and can also be connected to Ethernet interfaces so as to establish a connection with the available system of information
• Since Epson has been wringing closely with all the leading partners in the industry, they have a great deal of knowledge about the stringent regulations for label printing concerning health care organization and meet to all their challenges
• It uses media material and label that are approved for SecurColor

What makes the Epson TM-C3400 Unique

• Apart from printing the hospital labels, it can also be used for printing the wristbands and meal tickets for patients
• It prints using the Proven Epson Inkjet Technology
• The printer is made using very fine quality materials and gives a good lasting
• It offers a very high printing speed of 3.7“ per second, which allows you to get much done within a very short time
• The selectable print resolutions are 360 by 180 dpi, 360 by 360 dpi and 720 by 360 dpi
• It features an automatic nozzle checking technology that allows you to check if the color accuracy has been maintained in the prints
• The labels, as well as the cartridges, are loaded from the front, which helps in increasing the ease of operation
• It has a very small footprint and can easily fit over narrow tables, desks, and shelves
• It uses a color on demand Secure inkjet Printer which allows the user to print custom colors over the labels
• The software used by the printer is capable of efficiently assigning the right color code which reduces the risk that could have been caused through human effort
• The media rolls are very easy to drop in and come out already, cut into just the right size by the printer’s built-in auto cutter. Apart from the auto cutter, it also has other inbuilt features such as black mark sensors and gap sensors so that the product coming out is entirely free of error

Pros

• It is capable of printing crisp and easy to read graphics
• It does not require thermal transfer ribbons for printing on any type of media, thereby preventing the messiness
• Offers a high reliability in execution
• Helps in saving the cost of printing

Cons

• Gives rise to a jamming issue
• It can be difficult to repair once spoiled

The Classic: Primera LX400 Color Label Printer

Features of the Primera LX400

• It is capable of printing full-color photo quality images over the labels
• It is capable of printing all the different types of barcodes
• The medium used for printing the label is of high quality and resistant to both the water as well as scratches
• It has a very high printing resolution of 48oo dpi which goes on to make very clear and attractive labels
• The width of the label printer can vary from a narrow 0.75” to a wide 4”.
• The LX400 can print labels as long as 24.”
• It uses the inkjet technology for printing and gives a smooth and clean operation with no extra mess
• It offers support for the USB 2.0 interface

A Classic, Powerful Thermal Printer

• It gives a professional finish on the labels and can be used as a commercial printer for printing high volumes on a very frequent basis
• The high-quality prints offered by it can be really effective at building a highly reliable brand value and create a lasting impression on the customers.
• Can print large volumes without overstraining the machine
• Allows you to print labels at a highly reduced cost
• Comes at a very affordable price
• It has a high printing speed
• Allows you to customize the labels that can come useful when you are trying to offer personalized products to the customers. You can add texts, graphics, photos, logos, illustrations, barcodes and more into your labels
• There is no restriction to the number of labels you can print at a given time

Pros

• Can print over labels of all different sizes and materials
• Reduces the amount of printing waste
• Easy to get started with
• Comes together with ink, blank label rolls, and software at the time of delivery

Cons

• Bad customer service
• May come with faulty alignments
• May skip labels during printing

The Best Color Label Printer – Primera LX2000

So, as you can see, there are more than enough printers available in the market which can be put to good use. Depending on your need and requirement, you might want to choose a specific printer, but to be frank, it is really impossible to pick just one color label printer. All of these printers are good in their criteria and features. But still, if you want to make up your mind and buy one out of these top 4 printers, then we recommend the Primera LX2000 color label printer.

So, what makes the Primera LX2000 the best color label printer?

With a built-in cutter, high-resolution graphics printing and scratch and water resistant print, this printer is way far than the other ones. And if you think prince wise, this printer also comes in your budget. Of course, depending on your need requirements you might want to choose another printer, but if you think overall, this is the printer that you can term to be as the best amongst the top printers available in the market and is by far advanced. So, what are you waiting for? Research a bit, make up your mind, and go for the label printer that you think will be sufficient to serve your purpose.