Handheld label printer

What is a Handheld label printer?

A handheld label printer or handheld labeling device is often understood to be a small label printer the size of a calculator.

Colloquially called a handheld label maker, it can only print letters, numbers and a few special characters on self-adhesive labels of a given height. The print information can be entered directly on the device and printed at the push of a button. The labels are also stored in a small roll directly in the device. The strip-shaped labels can be cut automatically or manually after printing. Then, the backing paper has to be removed from the adhesive side.

So-called embossing label makers or simply embossers are particularly inexpensive and work without electricity or batteries. The embossing tape is labelled using a twisting and clicking mechanism. These devices are popular for home use, for example for labelling storage containers.

For business use in the office or for labelling goods, there are portable, battery-powered labelling devices that offer a few more design options and an electronic display. The labels can be labelled using thermal transfer printing.

Label printers are also used in industrial product labelling. The choice of labelling device depends on the product to be labelled and other factors such as the production environment.

Industrialmarking and labeling Devices

A distinction is made between direct and indirect marking devices.

In the case of direct marking, products are labelled directly using ink or a laser. In addition to labelling lasers, there are various printing methods for inkjet systems, which are also referred to as inkjet printers: so-called drop-on-demand printers are particularly suitable for high-resolution and flexible printing on cardboard boxes. Continuous inkjet printers, on the other hand, mark materials such as plastic, glass and metal particularly quickly.

An indirect marking system or labelling system does not mark the product directly, but instead uses labels. Label printers are used to create individual labels. If the pre-printed labels are to be automatically stuck onto products or packaging at a later stage, suitable labelling machines are required. These can be divided into two variants: Label dispensers only dispense pre-printed labels, while print-apply-systems have an integrated printing module that prints labels with variable data (e.g. best-before date, batch number, etc.) during the labelling process.