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After you have created your Barcodes, you can then print them using many
different printing technologies, including Flexographic, Lithographic and
thermal transfer/direct thermal.
Artwork - Label
Software/Thermal
Printing from Origination Artwork
Printing presses such as Flexographic and Lithographic tend to be operated
by dedicated printing departments perhaps printing packaging, or periodicals and
sometimes labels. When printing plates are used care must be taken to
ensure the plates are produced accurately, and allowances made for bars
spreading due to variations in plate pressure and quantity of ink applied. It is normal for a certain amount of Bar Width Adjustment to
be built into the origination artwork to compensate for the anticipated spreading that occurs
in the printing process, and your printer should be able to advise on this.
As printing plates are reused there will be an inevitable decline in the
quality of the print. Appropriate quality control equipment should be used
to ensure that printing plates are replaced before the quality drops to an
unacceptable level.
Printing From Label Design Packages
The thermal transfer and direct thermal printers tend to be used for label
printing and can be purchased quite economically. The DPI or Dots Per Inch is an important factor in determining the
choice of barcode sizes you will be able to print accurately. It is
important to obtain a good match of ribbon to media in Thermal Transfer printing
to avoid printing barcodes with defects or smudges. Your supplier should be able
to advise you on this.
With most printing technologies it is preferable to print picket fence format
(from the bottom of the barcode to the top) as opposed to ladder format (from
one side to the other), to encourage even print quality.
Labels
Usually a random bar code number is suitable for tracking and tracing,
preferably sequentially numbered so that blocks of numbers could be allocated
where necessary to particular depots, regions or factories. Bar code labels on
self-adhesive backing are ideal for putting on to documents and items that need
to be tracked or traced. These can either be purchased pre-printed or can be
generated by the use of a software package and a suitable printer.
Although it is possible to use very cheap packages for producing bar codes and
use conventional ink jet printers or laser printers, a word of caution should be
given in that these cheap software packages do not always meet the specifications
that are required to ensure satisfactory reading. Also the use of the wrong
type of printer or material means the bar code on the label can easily be washed
off or destroyed, whereas long life is usually important in asset control.
Purchase of the correct printer and software package will always be the most
economic in the long run. Remember that the poor quality is remembered
long after the cheap price has been forgotten. Alternatively labels can be easily obtained
pre-printed.
Click for Information on Axicon's
Printer Range
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