Details About Different Types of Thermal Paper

If you are in retail, food service or the hospitality industry, chances are that you are using at least one machine that uses thermal paper. Whether the machine is a credit card processor, a cash register, a fax machine or a complete point of sale system, you will find that there is a wide difference in the quality of the thermal paper available for use with them.

What is thermal paper?

Thermal paper is paper that is impregnated with heat sensitive chemicals, often with a top coat or sealer. The pigmented chemicals darken when exposed to heat, as when they are passed over a heated printer head. While thermal paper used to be expensive, the prices have come down considerably in recent years as the use of thermal printing systems and thermal paper has increased. The increased competition and better technology has made thermal paper for receipts, credit card receipts and food service tickets the state of the art for point of sale technologies.

How to choose thermal paper for your business

There are a number of factors to consider when choosing thermal paper that is right for your business. Those factors range from the size your machines require to the quality of the paper to the price per roll. Here is a look at things you should consider when trying to determine which type of thermal paper is right for your business.

What point of sale machines do you have?

The most obvious requirement for your thermal paper is that it fits your machines. Thermal paper is available in a wide range of widths and lengths. Most machine manuals recommend using a specific size and some may recommend a specific brand of thermal paper to use for best results. If you use the wrong size or type of paper in your machines, you could invalidate your equipment’s warranty. Even using paper that is too small for your machine can have an impact on your bottom line. Using POS thermal paper that is the highest diameter and width accepted by your machine will increase the number of receipts that you will get from each roll and decrease the amount of time you will have to spend changing the rolls.

Why is the paper important to quality?

There are two major factors in the print quality of the receipts and information printed out by your POS, FAX and other systems that use thermal paper. The first, of course, is the quality of the printer used. The second is the quality of the paper, and it has a surprisingly large effect on the quality of the print. This is true even with standard printers, but it is all the more true when the ‘ink’ is actually part of the paper as it is with thermal paper.

One important factor in choosing the right thermal paper for your business is how important and how enduring the print quality is with a specific paper. The pigment in many lower quality thermal papers is subject to fading within a short time of printing. If you rely on printed receipts for your record-keeping, then it will be important for you to choose a thermal paper that will stand up to time. This is not as important if you use a point of sale system that stores all transactions. Your customers, however, will very likely appreciate the extra attention to quality when they find themselves trying to balance a checkbook or credit card invoice using receipts that they can actually read.

What’s the significance of A-grade when applied to thermal paper?

While there are many different kinds of thermal paper, there are two grades of paper that are most commonly used with POS systems - "A" grade and "TMP" economy grade. The biggest difference between the two is the brightness of the paper. A grade thermal paper is much brighter white than economy paper, which means higher contrast and better legibility of the printing. "A" grade thermal paper is more expensive than economy grade, as might be expected, but it will give your business a much more professional image. You will have to decide yourself whether the additional cost is worth it.

There is one other reason you might consider using higher quality thermal paper with your POS equipment. Lower quality paper gives off more dust when going through the printer, which can contribute to machine breakdown and paper jams. The investment in higher quality paper could pay off in time saved doing maintenance on your point of sale system.

How about the cost?

There are many ways that you can save on the cost of your point of sale replies without sacrificing quality. One of the best is to shop online with a supplier of POS thermal paper and other POS supplies. By shopping online, you can compare prices and find the best deals on quality point of sale paper rolls and thermal paper.