Did you know... If you’re not sure if a label is direct thermal or thermal transfer, try the “scratch test.” First, lay the label on a hard surface such as a desktop. Next, run your fingernail or a pen cap quickly back and forth across the label. If it turns black, it’s a direct thermal label. If not, it’s a thermal transfer label.

Thermal transfer labels can be used for more demanding applications such as certification tags, shrink wrap labeling, and warehouse tags and labels.

Thermal products are sorted by repeat depth. Pinfeed are also sorted this way. The repeat depth is the depth of a single label plus the gap between it to the next label.