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Can I Print Thermal Paper in a Regular Printer?
Thermal paper is an interesting product that provides a number of benefits for businesses. When used for paper receipts, it allows for rapid printing with high-quality, precise images and text. Thermal paper is typically used in a thermal printer — but can it be used in a regular printer? Let's take a look.
Difference Between Thermal Printer & Regular Printer
Nearly everyone is familiar with a standard inkjet printer. These use ink cartridges and require a lot of moving parts and components to produce an image on a document.
By comparison, a thermal printer does not use ink at all. Instead, it uses heat. Thermal receipt paper is coated with a special combination of chemicals that change color when exposed to heat. The thermal printer's print head applies highly concentrated, localized heat to create precise images on the paper. This also requires less maintenance and cleaning — an added benefit.
Can I Print Thermal Paper in a Regular Printer?
This ultimately comes down to a question of "should you" rather than "can you." It is possible to feed thermal paper through a regular printer as long as the printer can handle the paper size. However, it's not a good idea.
The chemical coating on thermal paper gives it a slick, slippery surface, and it's much thinner than standard paper. Using it in a traditional ink printer would create a very low-quality output — and could cause feeding and jamming issues. Traditional paper is designed for traditional printers, just like thermal paper is designed for thermal printers.
Final Thoughts
Most customers still appreciate having a physical receipt. When choosing a receipt solution for your business, pairing a thermal printer with quality thermal receipt paper is by far the best option for accuracy, speed, and cost-effectiveness.