Printer needed (obviously NF)

[motv8tr]

Hey all, one of my aunts makes chocolates and has progressed to the point where she needs a printer to make labels for her, or even better do the printing right on her boxes. I saw her on the weekend and she was telling me she's having a really hard time finding one that will do the job in 1000 lots. I think it will look more professional and be more cost effective to have the printing done directly on the box, but it is a clear box so I don't know if that's possible. She'll be putting in a proposal to a high end store as soon as she is able to secure a printer for the job. If any of you know of one please let me know either here or by PM

 

Thanks

Maureen

[oldschool]

Maureen,

It is possible to print on the carton, even a clear one. The issue is one of cost. The printer would have to accept the carton dimensions, and whenever that changes then there are additional costs to reflect the new setup. This gets a bit costly as a new business grows because it must change with its market. She may have different carton dimensions or styles requested or required by different markets. It can be a real effort to keep up, not only in cost, but in securing change parts or whatever is required.

 

She should probably find a printer that will do the label, but then she should hand apply those to the cartons. It will be less expensive in the long run, unless she has an automated carton filling operation where an automated sytstem would fit well. I recommend that she finds a printer with good flexibility in styles, colors and business requirements. She may have a requirement to print bar codes on some or all labels. Not all printers have the necessary programming or printing capabilities for that. An example of a company that can handle all of her needs is Zebra. http://www.zebra.com/id/zebra/na/en/index/...es/locator.html This is the page that she needs to find the nearest Zebra supplier. Zebra will print on many kinds and colors of label stock, even cleear. It is by far not the only printing company that will work, but I had several of their printers at my job and they worked very well and produced good quality.

 

Good luck for her. She can always go for a much less expensive printer, such as, those found at local electronics retailers, but just remember that these are for home use primarily and not meant for extended use. Another option is to find a local office supplier. They always have some electronics available and can source something that is more suited to larger quantities. They could even perhaps copy a large number of high quality labels onto stock from a master that your aunt produced on here home PC. I did this with a couple of projects where the needs were immediate and the equipment had yet to arrive.

 

Roy

[shawnf]

Would you be able to supply a snapshot of what the label looks like so we can get a better idea?

 

And oldschool is 100% correct when he mentioned not all printers will bar code properly. Those ink jet printers that everyone has simply won't do the job. Sure, the output looks VERY close, but lots of shipping companies scanner guns can't read it for some reason. The bar coding must be done in a very fine detail.

 

To accomplish this, either a Zebra printer is required (very common for bar coding) which happens to use 'heat' to make the print, or a good laser printer.

 

Maybe start or move this thread to the computer section and post a pic of the label you're trying to reproduce, plus the standard run quantity. Each detail will be very important to get the most bang for your buck.

[Photoz]

Although I know nothing about that type of equipment, I suspect Vistek ( http://www.vistek.ca/ ) in the Queen & River area might be able to help. They have mostly high-end professionally oriented equipment, if they DON'T carry it, they can get it, or tell you where it can be had.

[motv8tr]

thanks guys, I'm pretty sure Bar codes aren't needed, if they are they will be put on by the shop she's hoping to sell the chocoloates to. I will see if she can at least give me dimensions of the labels she's hoping to use...from what I understand they are fairly small which is another reason she is having a difficult time finding a printer.

 

Maureen