How to Select Thermal Transfer Overprinting (Near-Edge Printing) Ribbon by Printing Speed, High Speed or Regular Speed?

Do I need to care about print need when purchasing thermal transfer ribbon?

Normally when selecting a thermal transfer ribbon, all you need to worry about is the width, length, coating side and formulation.  You usually don't need to think about the print speed. With the thermal transfer mobile printers averaging at a print speed of about 3 inch per second (ips), desktop thermal printers 4 or 5 inche per second (ips) and industrial printer no more than 15 inch per second (ips), by default the ribbon you purchase would be capable of printing at such speeds. So the answer is "No, you don't need to worry about print speed" with mobile, desktop and industrial thermal transfer printers.  

But if you are purchasing thermal transfer ribbons for a corner edge or near edge printer, the print speed definitely needs to be dialed into the play early on. Otherwise you might end up purchasing the wrong ribobn and would have to go through the return/replacement hassel and waste value time. 

Wolfbarco's high speed and regular speed near-edge eibbon

For thermal transfer ribbons used on corner edge and near edge printers, Wolfbarco carry two types of ribbons. One is for Standard Wax/Resin Ribbon capable of print speed up to 20 inch per second (ips). Another one is Premium Wax/Resin Near Edge Ribbon for high speed printing, up to 40 inch per second (ips).

Our premium wax/resin formulation uses a 4.0 micron PET carrier film as the base.  This thinner film technology improves productivity through longer length ribbon and reduce printer downtime related to ribbon changeovers.  This structure is specifically designed for usage on a TTO (Thermal Transfer Overprinter) in-line/near edge printers. Together with a properitary formulation and coating method, Wolfbarco's premium wax/resin ribbon support print speed up to 40 ips. 

Popular near-edge printers by speed

There are a number of thermal transfer overprinter (near-edge printer) manufacturers. The popular brands are Markem, Bell-Mark, Videojet, Domino, Toshiba TES etc.  High speed thermal transfer printers include Markem SmartDate X65, Videojet Dataflex 6420, Domino V320i etc. 

Near-edge printer speed and thermal transfer ribbon matrix

Here put together a matrix for the popular models of corner-edge or near-edge in-line printers, their print speed and the proper ribbons to be used with these printers. 

Low speed near-edge printer and their thermal transfer ribbons

High speed near-edge printer and their thermal transfer ribbons