Lexmark 22L0176 - C 770dn Color Laser Printer Manual page 21

Label design guidelines
Vinyl and polyester labels
Vinyl labels work well within specified design parameters. Vinyls are heat-sensitive, so the liners need to be thick enough to
absorb excess heat and prevent melting. A total strip matrix may cause adhesive contamination. Thin liners or weak pull
strength may lead to labels peeling off the form inside the printer, which will require printer servicing. See Figure 3 on
page 18 for an illustration of a vinyl label design for Optra plus printers and Figure 4 on page 19 for Optra S, Optra T, and
Lexmark T printers.
As illustrated on page 19, a leading and trailing edge stripped area is recommended to be a maximum of 3 mm. This area
is recommended to prevent adhesive being close to the edge, which can contaminate your printer. Certain materials used
in label construction, which have liner face melt temperatures lower than the fuser temperature, may require the leading
and trailing edge stripped areas to be 1.6 mm maximum due to feeding problems. It is preferred that the liner face be
constructed with material that can withstand our fuser temperatures, which eliminates the need for changing the stripped
areas from 3 mm to 1.6 mm. If a 1.6 mm stripped area is used, it is very important that the 1.6 mm tolerance be held tightly.
With a stripped area of less than 1.6 mm, it is highly possible that adhesive contamination will occur.
Vinyls are non-absorbing, which leads to toner build-up in the fuser that requires special maintenance. See "maintenance
procedures" in the index for specific information about maintaining your printer. Vinyls may require a topcoat to ensure good
toner adhesion.
Polyester labels are less heat-sensitive but are also non-absorbing. Backings for polyester labels can be thinner, but
requirements for coatings and cleaning are similar to vinyl labels.
It is recommended that when you run vinyl labels, you install a special oil fuser cleaner, P/N 99A0725 or 40X2665. When
you order a new cartridge, be sure to order the cartridge that will include the correct fuser cleaner.
Integrated forms
To create integrated forms, the converter uses hot melt adhesives to apply the label adhesive and liner to a base material
(generally paper). Oil bleed, recognizable by a discolored face sheet, can be a problem with these forms. Oil may also
migrate from the top of the liner to the back surface of the liner while it is on the roll, before the conversion process takes
place. The forms created from this material may then be slick, and the pick mechanism of your printer may be unable to
successfully move all the sheets from the tray into the printer. Jamming and misfeeds increase when oil is present on the
back of the liner.
The adhesive on these forms is commonly patterned on two or four sides (that is, the forms have a non-adhesive border on
either two or four edges). We recommend designing a 1 mm (0.04 in.) non-adhesive border (zone coated) on all four sides.
When printing on integrated forms with a long grain base material, orient the form in the tray so the paper portion of the
form feeds into the printer first. Orient the pressure-sensitive portion of the form toward the portrait left edge. For integrated
forms with a short grain base material, orient the form in the tray so the pressure-sensitive portion feeds into the printer first.
Due to the unique construction of integrated forms, you may experience stacking problems in the output bin. Test some
forms before purchasing large quantities. Contact your Lexmark marketing representative if you experience stacking
problems with these forms.
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