Heat printer lables

I'm looking at small, portable heat sensitive cable machines that can be used, I think, to make lables the approximate size of square or wide Instax film's back spaces.

Is anyone here doing this already or, have you an opinion on attempting to lable you prints with notes using the sort of materials?

Opinions welcomed.

Sure, I got a whole bunch of (now) mostly useless knowledge about labels and label printers, from small home units to high speed industrial units.

If you anticipate doing smaller or occasional batches of labels, maybe all you need are sheets of labels designed to run through inkjet or laser printers. You can generally find these at office-supply stores. These are paper, so you can write on them normally. Best with printers which have a straight paper path (i.e., no sharp bends, which can cause the labels to peel off inside your printer!)

I have Dymo heat printed paper labels but they require a pc/laptop and desk top for the one with built in key board, plus household current, and are not ideal for on the run lable making.

The unit i just bought is named "Print Pod" and I overpaid for it by buying direct from the makers, rather than Amazon, and I'm hoping it'll fit my needs (read "wants") for an on the go tool.

I hope others can share their experiences in this field, there are so many good tools available in now-a- days, and photographing out of the car does allow for mobile exploring, I hope, for this new year.

Godspeed.

Wow, just checking, I didn't realise that these mini printers - most of which are thermal printers - could be bought so cheaply. And if one is happy with AliExpress, ones are available for about £0.89!!! Yes, 89 pence!!!

Terry Street

tezzasmall said:

ones are available for about £0.89!!! Yes, 89 pence!!!

Click to expand...

No, they're not. I know what you're looking at and those are the media. The device itself can still be ridiculously cheap, around GBP15.
While they're pretty neat, the main distinguishing feature of the prints they produce is that they'll fade even faster than the Instax media OP wants to combine these with - and they won't be able to print on anything self-adhesive either.

eli griggs said:

Opinions welcomed.

Click to expand...

Use a sharpie. No battery required. Fades about as rapidly as the image on the other side. No software compatibility issues, no wonky user interface to contend with.

koraks said:

No, they're not. I know what you're looking at and those are the media. The device itself can still be ridiculously cheap, around GBP15.
While they're pretty neat, the main distinguishing feature of the prints they produce is that they'll fade even faster than the Instax media OP wants to combine these with - and they won't be able to print on anything self-adhesive either.


Use a sharpie. No battery required. Fades about as rapidly as the image on the other side. No software compatibility issues, no wonky user interface to contend with.

Click to expand...

OK, yes you are correct, it's the paper that is cheap. When I moved on an ad it told me that the paper for what I looked at costs £0.74p, with the printer priced at £5.61. But if they fade quickly, they are not such a good buy.

And a second recommendation for a sharpie pen. I use them all the time on various surfaces with no problems, as long as the surface is dry.

Also just checking the Print Pod page, which the OP has bought, they also do sticky labels as well as transparent labels to print on. I can't find if these are thermal printed as well and so may not last very long?:



Terry S

One of the great things about being an artist/photographer is we are free to explore many many methods, materials tools and see what it is we can do with various products in pursuit of our art/craft.

I’ve heat paper recepts that won’t last a year and others that are ten years old, so I need to find long lasting papers to use with this printer.

ie. Dymo labels last if not abused by abrasion, and the larger ones might just work, let’s see.

Thank you for the data folks, let’s see what else can be said about these tools.