Choosing The Right Printer To Print Your Certified Mail Labels

by Edward Tain

Certified mail labels allow you to track documents, packages, and payments. If you’re a busy merchant regularly sending out packets, it's handy to be able to print such labels yourself.

Certified mail includes a 20 digit number that's trackable via usps.com. This is just one of many examples where your warehouse might use a label printer. You may also use such a printer to label items for receiving and putaway, picking, shipping, or inventory control.

It’s essential to choose a printer designed for the task it's meant to complete. So, in this article, we'll take a look at how to choose the right printer for your certified mail labels.

Let's dive in!

Choosing the Right Size

There are different sizes and models of printer available that can come in handy at various points. In terms of dimensions, there are portable label printers, desktop printers, and industrial printers.

It should be easy to determine whether you need a portable label printer. These can be carried over the shoulder or clipped to a belt and are perfect for shelf edge labeling.

Desktop printers are a good choice if you're limited for space. However, they're less durable than industrial printers as they're often fashioned from plastic.

Also, you need to refill the printer with labels and thermal ribbons more regularly. Plus, overall, they're easy to use and cost less.

For example, The Zebra GK420d is a compact desktop thermal label printer that might suit your needs to save space.

Industrial printers are generally metal cased and fast. They can keep up with printing for more extended periods before you need to change ribbons or labels. Usually, industrial printers are capable of printing 24 hours a day, all year.

Before you buy a label printer, you should also check which width of certified mail labels you'll commonly print. Most printers will print 100mm wide labels, but if you need wider or narrower labels, you should consider this in your purchase.

Choosing a Durable Printer

How much you use your printer will determine how durable a model you'll need. For the occasional printing job, a cheaper printer might suffice. However, if you are printing hundreds or thousands of labels a day, an industrial printer is likely a must.

Check How Your Printer Will Receive Orders

Depending on your set up, different printers might be better equipped to receive orders with your existing technology.

Printers can be connected in various ways. USB is usual. However, there are also options for ethernet, Bluetooth, wi-fi, memory card, or NFC (near field communication) connections.

Ethernet can be a useful asset to have, as this often allows you to download software from the printer manufacturer that will enable you to manage your printer fleet. For this, a network connection is often a requirement.

Management software will be able to alert you remotely if your label printer is out of ink, out of labels, or jammed.

The print method is an important consideration to ensure the quality of your certified mail labels and barcodes. There are three common types of thermal barcode label printing technology: direct thermal, thermal transfer, and inkjet.

Direct thermal printing applies heat to the specially coated label to activate the ink on it. This produces the image, usually in black. There is no need for ink, toner, or ribbons, making this a cost-effective method.

Thermal transfer printing applies heat from the print head to the transfer ribbon. This is coated in wax or resin and transfers the image to the paper. The results are highly durable prints in a full range of colors.

Thermal transfer is more expensive but provides longer-lasting labels for a greater variety of uses. These can withstand exposure to UV light, moisture, chemicals, scratching and smudging, and temperature.

Check out the cab A8+ Thermal Label printer for an industrial printer that can meet your varied printing needs.

Inkjet printing puts dots of ink onto paper. The more dots per inch, the higher the resolution. The jets can clog, and the ink can bleed on specific media, so it's not the best for barcode printing.

Check whether the material of your certified mail label is suited to inkjet before you buy this type of printer.

Printer Resolution

The sharpness of your print is determined by the Dots per Inch (Dpi). The higher this figure, the sharper the text. Most printers offer a minimum of 203 Dpi. This is fine for address labels and product labels where presentation is not too important.

However, for a slight boost in price, you can find printers that offer 300 or even 600 dpi. This comes in handy when your labels are small.

For example, if the text on your labels is below a 10 pt size, high resolution is essential for ensuring small writing comes out crisp and clean. A high resolution is also recommended if you are printing dense barcodes.

Know What to Look for When Choosing the Right Printer for Your Certified Mail Labels

Manually creating certified mail labels is one of our top five shipping mistakes that might cost you down the line. A label printer is going to save you tons of time and can speed up the process significantly.

Keep these factors in mind when you choose a thermal label printer and try to predict your requirements before you buy them.

For more info on the shipping process and how we can help you, please feel free to contact us today!