Thermal Printer Technology; The Printing Process; Manual Conventions - Printronix SL4M User Manual

Chapter 1

Thermal Printer Technology

Thermal Printer Technology
Quiet and fast, with excellent print quality, your multifunction thermal printer
uses an inline thermal printhead. The thermal printer operates differently from
a line matrix or laser printer, because the thermal printer uses a printhead with
heating elements and special paper or ribbon.

The Printing Process

The thermal printhead allows two modes of operation:
•
Direct Thermal
During direct thermal printing, the thermal printhead selectively heats
small, rectangular thermal dots. When these contact the coated thermal
paper, the dyes and developers in the coating react to the heat and
develop an image. This mode of printing is generally used for short-term
labeling applications.
•
Thermal Transfer
During thermal transfer printing, the heated thermal dots contact a
thermal ribbon. The heat reacts with the ribbon and bonds the image to
the paper. This method is used especially for abrasive, long-storage
applications and for specialized applications, such as in extreme
environmental conditions or where tamper-proofing is required.

Manual Conventions

•
Operator panel keys are often shown by their symbol or icon (located on
the control panel directly below the key).
Example: Press the
•
LCD fault messages display the specific fault in uppercase letters.
A corrective action in upper and lowercase letters displays below the fault
message.
Example: PAPER OUT
•
Key combinations are indicated by the + (plus) symbol.
Example: Press the Up key + Down key at the same time .
14
↵
key for ENTER.
Load Paper