Zebra Barcode Printers designed for medium volume labelling requirements

Printing a few hundred labels per day or a few thousand a week is an average printing requirement and there are quite a few Zebra label printers capable of meeting this demand and exceeding it.

Typical examples are the need to label products for retailers such as shoes and kitchenware. They might require you to apply a sticky label that has their SKU code and an RRP price including GST.

Other examples are printing the use by date or best before date on a label for food items before you ship them out to your customer.

The Zebra label printers that are suitable for these applications are:

• LP/TLP-2844-Z series
• GK & GX series
• S4M
• ZM400

Which Zebra label printer will suit you best?

Well that depends on a few things.

1. Do you want to print with a ribbon or without? (thermal transfer vs direct thermal)

Generally, if you are printing a price sticker for a retailer such as David Jones, a direct thermal label will do since it should not have to last for more than a year and it is inside a store away from direct sunlight.

If you need to print a use by date for a food product a thermal transfer label will last indefinitely and be a safer choice.

Also, if you want to print on synthetic label stocks such as mylar, primax or polyprop and use a scratch resistant ribbon then you must buy a thermal transfer label printer. For best results on these materials we recommend the ZM400.

Please note that the S4M comes in a direct thermal model. You cannot buy this model and upgrade it later to a thermal transfer version.

2. Do you print 5 or 10 labels at a time or 1000?

If you want a rewind unit so that the printed labels are wound back onto a core then you will have to invest in the Zebra ZM400 since a rewind unit can be fitted at time or purchase or later on.

Any desktop printer such as the LP, GK and GX series will mean you will have to wind all labels by hand onto a core unless you buy fanfold stock.

3. Consider the cost of label stock and the variety of sizes and materials available for each style of label printer.

Generally speaking, there are hundreds of labels off the shelf for the larger model printers such as the S4M and ZM400. The labels come on cores of 76mm.

For the desktop range there is less choice readily available off the shelf. The price per 1000 will always be a little higher for these labels since there is more labour involved to prepare them.

Related Information:

Looking for off the shelf labels to suit these Zebra desktop printers?

Labels, Tags, Ribbons

Need labels and ribbons for the ZM400?

Labels, Tags, Ribbons

Labels by print method, and thermal transfer ribbons

Direct Thermal Labels              Thermal Transfer Labels                Ribbons