my profile | my password | search | faq & rules | forum home

» Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE   » Community   » Film-Yak   » Label Maker Question

Author Topic: Label Maker Question Steve Kraus Film God Posts: 4094 From: Chicago, IL, USA Registered: May 2000 posted 03-12-2004 10:47 PM                    I picked up a Dymo QX50 labelmaker the other day. This is handheld unit with a tiny QWERTY keyboard that spits out labels on a paper tape. Does anyone know what printing technology this uses? The paper tape moves past a simple stationary printhead so it seems like it would be thermal but the labels don't blacken when heated unless it maybe takes a greater temperature than the old thermal fax paper. I'm just wondering. Anyone know?  |  IP: Logged Daryl C. W. O'Shea Film God Posts: 3977 From: Midland Ontario Canada (where Panavision & IMAX lenses come from) Registered: Jun 2002 posted 03-13-2004 01:12 AM                        It uses direct thermal transfer, so heating it later won't affect it since it's a two part system.  |  IP: Logged Steve Kraus Film God Posts: 4094 From: Chicago, IL, USA Registered: May 2000 posted 03-13-2004 01:30 AM                    Wouldn't thermal transfer require a ribbon of some sort? There is none.  |  IP: Logged Daryl C. W. O'Shea Film God Posts: 3977 From: Midland Ontario Canada (where Panavision & IMAX lenses come from) Registered: Jun 2002 posted 03-13-2004 01:58 AM                        I believe that there is actually a ribbon inside the cartridge that winds back into the cartridge as it prints. I know for sure that they are thermal transfer though. We use those types of labels in some aircraft and had to prove that they aren't affected by heat exposure.  |  IP: Logged Bobby Henderson "Ask me about Trajan." Posts: 10973 From: Lawton, OK, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 03-13-2004 11:16 AM                     With the label maker having a ribbon does that mean its actually a thermal resin based product? I would be somewhat surprised if that's the case, particularly since a number of full size thermal resin printers sold on the market for years are all pretty expensive. The Fargo printer was one of the first popular thermal resin printers, and it carried a price tag of $5000, all just for printing stuff on normal 8½" X 11" sheets. Summa Technology, Roland and Gerber all sell thermal resin based printers for large format output. The Gerber EDGE is the most popular. It uses a four color foil set and you can use other foils in addition to the CMYK set for Pantone spot color matches or even metallic ink effects. The EDGE carries a $20,000 price tag though. Ouch. Well, in big printing circles prices often know no bounds. Electrostatic-based 3M Scotchprint graphic makers can hit the $250,000 mark. Grand format billboard printers start around the $500,000 level. Kinda nifty if a little Dymo label maker can incorporate some of that method in a low cost consumer product.  |  IP: Logged Manny Knowles "What are these things and WHY are they BLUE???" Posts: 4247 From: Bloomington, IN, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 03-13-2004 03:20 PM                     I'm not familiar with the Dymo product but I have used label makers by Brother (P-Touch) and Casio. The cartridges for Casio and Brother contain an "ink" ribbon and the plastic (not paper) label base. In addition, I think there is also a clear overlay; the labels are laminated when they come out. P-Touch labels are available in a variety of configurations of label width, print color and label base color. I would imagine the other brands are similar.  |  IP: Logged Daryl C. W. O'Shea Film God Posts: 3977 From: Midland Ontario Canada (where Panavision & IMAX lenses come from) Registered: Jun 2002 posted 03-13-2004 09:44 PM                        Yes, it is a thermal resin. Everyone has their own variety of colours and sizes. Although nobody sells white on clear, a combination that would be extremely handy.  |  IP: Logged Jon Miller Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 973 From: San Diego, CA, USA Registered: Sep 1999 posted 03-13-2004 11:13 PM                     The Brother "P-touch" printers print on the back of the clear overlay, which is then mated to the backing tape through a capstan-and-pinch-roller assembly (sort of like a tape recorder). If the overlay skews for any reason, the printing will become off-center. BTW, Daryl, Brother does indeed offer white-on-clear cartridges.  |  IP: Logged Daryl C. W. O'Shea Film God Posts: 3977 From: Midland Ontario Canada (where Panavision & IMAX lenses come from) Registered: Jun 2002 posted 03-13-2004 11:16 PM                        Staples told me that the white on clear Brother labels aren't available in Canada. So I guess I should have said that nobody makes them available to me.  |  IP: Logged Jon Miller Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 973 From: San Diego, CA, USA Registered: Sep 1999 posted 03-13-2004 11:27 PM                     Even online? Could there be some obscure Canadian law against the importation of white-on-clear tape?  |  IP: Logged Daryl C. W. O'Shea Film God Posts: 3977 From: Midland Ontario Canada (where Panavision & IMAX lenses come from) Registered: Jun 2002 posted 03-13-2004 11:35 PM                        I hadn't checked online in about six months. It now appears that they now have white on clear in 3/8" only available. About an 1/8" too big for use on instrument panels. Maybe they'll let me order some 1/4" tape now though. Thanks Jon.  |  IP: Logged Steve Kraus Film God Posts: 4094 From: Chicago, IL, USA Registered: May 2000 posted 03-14-2004 11:02 AM                    I can confirm that the Dymo unit is a thermal system since I used up the cartridge and placed a strip of ordinary thermal paper in it. With the paper aligned so the thermal surface faces the printhead the printing comes out mirror image so that infers that the real thing is printing through the back (I forgot to notice which way the real tape faced before it ran out and the store is out of cartridges). Interesting if they are printing through the peelable backing--for one thing the backing is split down the middle and you'd think that would create an anomoly in the middle of the printing. No ribbon in the cartridge; just a roll of the tape itself.  |  IP: Logged

All times are Central (GMT -6:00)

Printer-friendly view of this topic

Hop To: Select a Forum: Category: Operations -------------------- Digital Cinema Forum Film Handlers' Forum Large Format Forum Ground Level Feature Info, Trailer Attachments & REAL Credit Offsets Category: Community -------------------- Film-Yak Film Handlers' Movie Reviews The Afterlife Bob Maar's Joke-A-Thon Category: Classified -------------------- Equipment and Supplies Wanted/For Sale Help Wanted/Seeking Employment Category: System -------------------- Software Beta Testing Forum

The Film-Tech Forums are designed for various members related to the cinema industry to express their opinions, viewpoints and testimonials on various products, services and events based upon speculation, personal knowledge and factual information through use, therefore all views represented here allow no liability upon the publishers of this web site and the owners of said views assume no liability for any ill will resulting from these postings. The posts made here are for educational as well as entertainment purposes and as such anyone viewing this portion of the website must accept these views as statements of the author of that opinion and agrees to release the authors from any and all liability.