All label printers from brands such as Zebra, Honeywell, and Sato have a thermal printhead. This creates a print, usually a barcode and text, through heating.

Direct thermal printers use special thermal paper, allowing the printhead to make a print by heating the paper, thus without the use of a ribbon.

Thermal transfer printers use a ribbon. No special paper is needed for this. In thermal transfer, the printhead is not in direct contact with the paper. This makes the printhead last much longer. The ribbon is a much smoother surface than paper. This results in less friction and wear.

A printhead from a good brand lasts a long time, but eventually, the quality of the prints will deteriorate. This is often the time to replace the printhead.

We have printheads in stock for almost all brands so that we can deliver them quickly. From desktop to industrial printers, including near-edge TTO printheads from brands like Videojet and Markem.

For many brands, we also have an alternative printhead. These are more affordably priced and sometimes also quicker to deliver.