Precautions for laser printing self-adhesive labels
Self-adhesive labels are one of the main consumables for product packaging identification. Laser printing applications for self-adhesive labels are used in industries such as daily necessities, chemicals, coatings, and medicine. With the development of laser printing technology and environmental protection requirements, in order to meet the needs of various industries, there are self-adhesive labels for laser printing on the market. Adhesive products, but due to technical reasons, most of the labels produced by this technology on the market are paper surface materials, and their water resistance and clarity of printed graphics cannot meet the needs of self-adhesive labels based on plastic films, they do not match very well with most of the laser printers on the market.
The problem of laser printing self-adhesive materials may be caused by many reasons.
The first common problem is that the machine is stuck when printing. This problem is mainly due to: the paper feeding method of the printer, the flatness of the self-adhesive material, the peeling force of the surface and bottom of the self-adhesive material, and the temperature resistance of the self-adhesive material.
1. Regarding the paper feeding method of the printer, most laser printers use "C" type paper feeding or "Z" type paper feeding. The material needs to be turned over by the machine during printing, and the self-adhesive material has a glue layer. It is easy to bend when heated, which has high requirements on the material. In order to further reduce the situation of paper jams, you can choose a laser printer with no bending paper feeding. Most laser printers can feed paper sideways. The curl of the material will be smaller when the paper feeds. It is recommended to combine the side feed printing test and then choose the appropriate paper feed method.
2. When the printer is feeding paper, the pickup roller of the laser printer will rub the paper to achieve the effect of paper feeding. The rubbing will cause the self-adhesive material to be layered, and even the material will stick to the pickup roller, causing damage to the material and the machine , the material used also needs to have a moderate surface-to-bottom peeling force. If the surface-to-bottom peeling force is too low, the top and bottom layers will stick to the inside of the machine during printing, causing damage to the machine and materials.
3. If the temperature-resistant material is printed by the printer, the material will deform or even melt, causing the machine to jam. Therefore, it is very important to choose temperature-resistant materials for printing. The base material of the material needs to be a temperature-resistant material, and the coating also needs to use a temperature-resistant coating.
4. The flatness of the material will also affect the printing of the printer. For example, if the material is warped, when printing, the material will warp in the machine and cause the machine to jam.
The second problem is that the printed pattern is not firm. After laser printing, the toner will fall off the surface of the material, resulting in unclear patterns or missing content. The printing principle of the laser printer is to absorb the toner on the surface of the material through laser discharge, and then solidify the toner on the surface of the material when heated at a high temperature. The surface coating of many product materials, especially film materials, is not good or even has no coating. There is no way for the toner to solidify on the surface of the material. In addition, if the fixing device of the printer is seriously aged, the fixing temperature will not reach a high enough temperature, so that the toner cannot be solidified on the surface of the material.
In order to make laser printing materials have better performance:
1. The laser printer needs to be set up according to the material before printing. The printer software interface has roughly applicable weight and material type of different materials. If the printing material does not match the printer settings, the material may be deformed if the printing temperature is too high, or the toner is not fully cured due to insufficient printing temperature, so that the toner is not strong enough and the pattern is missing.
2. Generally, the higher the material weight is, the higher the printing and fixing temperature will be. Under the premise of ensuring the toner is firm, the printing temperature should not be too high as much as possible to avoid high-temperature deformation and curling of the material. If the material is deformed and curled, it needs to be reset. Set the print media to a lower setting to lower the fusing temperature. The printing setting interface of different brands of printers has certain differences, and the setting operation needs to be carried out in conjunction with the printer manual. If necessary, you can contact the printer manufacturer for support.
3. Try to use the original toner. The fusing temperature program of most brand printers matches the temperature of the corresponding toner. Different brands of toner will match different brands of machines differently.
4. To use products with professional laser printing coating, the color of the laser printing coating with stable performance will not change after contacting with the high temperature of the printer's fuser, which makes the pattern color appear bright. The firmness of the product coating is also very important, and the firmness of the coating can avoid the loss of the printed pattern. If the coating of the material is not strong enough, the coating peels off and the printed pattern falls off.
The above is all about laser printing self-adhesive label precautions, we have been in this industry for more than 20 years, the product exports to more than 100 countries and regions. If you have any questions about this, please feel free to contact us.
