Similarities and Differences Between Thermal Labels and Coated Printed Labels

In modern commerce, labels are an indispensable element for carrying product information. Common labels include thermal labels and coated printed labels. Although they all have the ability to print information such as text and images, there are some differences in production materials, printing methods, and usage scenarios.

First of all, thermal labels are made of different materials than coated printed labels. Thermal labels are mainly made of specially coated thermal paper with a certain gloss and smoothness on the surface. The coating printing label adopts copper plate printing technology. The information to be printed is stored in the fine convex and concave patterns on the surface of the copper plate, and the pattern is transferred to the label material through pressure and pigment transfer. Therefore, the material of coated printing labels can be more complex, such as metal, paper, plastic and other options.

Secondly, there are also differences in the printing methods of thermal labels and coated printed labels. The former adopts thermal printing technology, that is, the thermal printing head is heated to cause a chemical reaction on the thermal paper on the surface of the label, thereby generating the required text, pattern and other information. This printing method is fast and suitable for small batch and low-cost label production. Coated printing labels use traditional letterpress printing technology, which requires copper plates and printing machinery and equipment, so the production cost and production cycle are higher than thermal labels.

Finally, the use scenarios of thermal labels and coated printed labels are also different. Thermal labels are mainly used in supermarkets, logistics and other fields. It is necessary to print simple text, QR codes, barcodes and other information, and the requirements for label durability are not too high. Coated printing labels are more used in high-end products, gift packaging and other fields, which need to print exquisite patterns and characters, and have certain anti-counterfeiting functions.

To sum up, although both thermal labels and coated printing labels can print label information, there are some differences in production materials, printing methods, and usage scenarios. When selecting the label type, it should be selected according to actual needs to achieve better use results.