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Printing labels and stickers
Posted in: Tips & Tricks, blog by CW on 8 July 2010
Printing labels and stickers on either a laserjet or inkjet printer is, for the most part, a rather straightforward process. However, one aspect of the process can cause irritation for you and potentially expensive damage to your printer if not taken into consideration.
Printing out your own address labels, identifying labels and art stickers has become very popular. Microsoft Word makes the process even easier by including many preset templates for labels and stickers from major companies like Avery. You don’t have to worry about setting margins or dimensions yourself. Just select the item number of the label sheet you’re using and the printer will make all the adjustments for you.
The part of the process that is rarely considered but frequently causes problems is obvious once you conceptualize the printing process on both types of printer.
On an inkjet printer the paper typically feeds in from either a slot on top of the printer or a tray on the lower front. It travels in one direction through the printer past the printheads then makes a sharp turn to finish the paper path and exit. When it makes that sharp turn labels have a tendency to peal off the paper backing and stick to the feed rollers or interior of the printer.
Labels present a different problem when being printed on a laser printer.
See that green square labeled “fuser” that the paper passes right after the toner is deposited? That is essentially a heating element. It’s a hot roller that bonds the toner to the paper. Heat and adhesive don’t usually get along well together. If you’re printing a sheet of labels they tend to curl up when passing the fuser roller. At that point they can easily stick to the fuser. Once they stick to the fuser they are nearly impossible to remove without causing damage to the fuser roller. Either way, once coated with labels the fuser roller is useless. Replacing the fuser assembly can cost $150 or more and often requires a technician to disassemble and reassemble the printer. Because the medium being imprinted must pass the fuser roller in order for the toner to be completely sealed onto it, we don’t generally recommend printing labels or stickers on a laserjet printer.
There’s no heat involved in inkjet printing, so the only issue we need to resolve is that hard turn inside the printer. Thankfully the majority of printer manufacturers have provided a way to print labels and stickers, as well as heavy card stock, without the needing to make the medium you’re using commit that sharp turn.
Look on the back side of your printer and locate a removable panel similar to the ones in these images.
With this panel removed the card stock or label sheet will stay flat passing the printheads and be expelled out the back of the printer. Since it eliminates the need for the paper to make a sharp turn it also eliminates the risk of labels coming loose from the backing sheet. This pass-through also allows you to print on heavy stock without bending it.
To print in this manner doesn’t require any special settings in the printer or computer. All it requires is sufficient space behind your printer for the printed page of labels to feed out the back. Remember, there’s no paper catcher back there, so you’ll need to grab each sheet as it feeds through by hand. A small price to pay for not having to peel stickers off your printer’s rollers or fuser.
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