Direct thermal labels have a heat-sensitive coating that turns black where the printhead touches it, so the printer needs no ink, toner or ribbon. Thermal transfer labels have no such coating: the printer melts ink from a ribbon onto the label, which costs more to run and gives a print that lasts longer. For courier shipping labels, direct thermal is the normal choice because the label only has to survive the trip to the customer.
This guide explains how each type prints, which one lasts longer and why, which printer each one needs, why shipping labels are direct thermal, and how to tell which label you already have in the cupboard. It then matches our direct thermal label rolls and fanfold stacks to the jobs they suit, and covers what to do if you have no thermal printer at all. We sell direct thermal labels only, and we do not stock thermal transfer labels, ribbons or label printers.
In This Guide
- Quick picks for direct thermal labels
- What is the difference between direct thermal labels and thermal transfer labels?
- Which lasts longer, direct thermal or thermal transfer?
- Which printer does each label type need?
- Why are shipping labels direct thermal?
- How can you tell which label you have?
- Which direct thermal label rolls suit each job?
- How many direct thermal labels should you buy, and what does each label cost?
- Frequently Asked Questions
Quick picks for direct thermal labels
If you already know your printer is direct thermal, these are the three label products most parcel senders choose between.
Best for most direct thermal printers
Thermal Labels on Rolls
Self-adhesive direct thermal labels on rolls, in five sizes from small barcode labels to large courier labels.
- Five sizes, 2 x 1" (50 x 25mm) to 4 x 8" (100 x 210mm)
- 4 x 6" (100 x 150mm) roll holds 500 labels
- No ink, toner or ribbon to buy
From £3.50 ex VAT (£4.20 inc VAT)
Choose sizeView product
Best for long runs of courier labels
Fanfold Thermal Labels 4 x 6" (101.6 x 152.4mm)
4 x 6" (101.6 x 152.4mm) direct thermal shipping labels folded into a stack instead of wound on a roll.
- Stack of 1000 labels
- Perforated between labels
- Sits behind or under the printer
From £12.00 ex VAT (£14.40 inc VAT)
Choose sizeView product
Best if you have no thermal printer
A4 Sheet Labels
Self-adhesive labels on standard A4 sheets for printing on an office printer.
- 10 layouts, 1 to 65 labels per sheet
- Boxes of 500 sheets
- 4 per sheet labels are 99.1 x 139.0mm
From £30.00 ex VAT (£36.00 inc VAT)
Choose sizeView productWhat is the difference between direct thermal labels and thermal transfer labels?
The difference is where the black comes from. On direct thermal labels the colour is already in the label: the face has a coating that darkens when it is heated, and the printhead heats tiny dots of it to form text and barcodes. On thermal transfer labels the colour comes from a ribbon. The printhead heats the back of the ribbon and the ink on the other side melts onto the label and sets there.
Both types are printed by a thermal printhead, both come on rolls or in fanfold stacks, and from a metre away they look the same: a plain white self-adhesive label. People mix them up for that reason, and a roll bought for the wrong printer comes out blank.
| Direct thermal labels | Thermal transfer labels | |
|---|---|---|
| How the print is made | Heat from the printhead darkens a coating on the label itself | Heat from the printhead melts ink from a ribbon onto the label |
| What you buy | Labels only | Labels and ribbons |
| Ink, toner or ribbon | None | A ribbon, replaced as it runs out |
| How long the print lasts | Can fade with heat, sunlight and time | Longer lasting, because the print is ink set on the surface |
| Typical jobs | Courier shipping labels, short-life barcodes, picking and packing labels | Long-life product labels, asset tags, labels stored or used in heat or sunlight |
| Printer needed | Direct thermal printer | Thermal transfer printer with a ribbon fitted |
| Do we stock it? | Yes: rolls and fanfold stacks | No. We do not sell thermal transfer labels or ribbons |
If your labels only need to be read during the next few days, as a parcel label does, direct thermal does the job with less to buy and less to go wrong. If the label has to stay readable for the life of a product or a piece of equipment, thermal transfer is the type made for that, and you will need a specialist label supplier for the labels and ribbons.
For a wider introduction to thermal labels, including storage and the Royal Mail label format, see our guide Thermal Labels Explained: Sizes, Rolls, Storage and Royal Mail Labels.
Which lasts longer, direct thermal or thermal transfer?
Thermal transfer print lasts longer, because a direct thermal label stays sensitive to heat after it has been printed. The same coating that turned black under the printhead can carry on reacting, so the whole label can darken in a hot place, and the printed image can fade with heat, sunlight and time. A thermal transfer label has no heat-sensitive coating. Its print is a layer of ink from the ribbon, so warmth and daylight do not act on it in the same way.
We cannot put a number of months or years on either type, because it depends on the label, the printer settings and where the label ends up. As a general rule:
- Short life, indoors or in transit: direct thermal is fine. Parcel labels, returns labels, picking labels and barcodes on stock that turns over quickly all fall here.
- Long life, or exposed to heat and sun: use thermal transfer. Examples are labels on goods that sit on a shelf for a long time, labels in a shop window or a vehicle, and tags on equipment.
Storage matters for direct thermal labels before they are printed too. Keep unused rolls and stacks in their box, away from radiators, heaters and windowsills. A roll left in direct sun can pick up a grey tint before it ever reaches the printer, and that tint lowers the contrast a barcode scanner needs.
Keeping a record. If you need to keep proof of postage or a copy of a label for your files, save the PDF or a photo. A direct thermal print kept in a drawer can fade, so do not rely on the paper copy alone.
Which printer does each label type need?
Direct thermal labels need a direct thermal printer, and thermal transfer labels need a thermal transfer printer with a ribbon loaded. A direct thermal printer has no ribbon mechanism at all, so it can only print on labels with a heat-sensitive coating. Put thermal transfer labels through it and they come out blank, because there is nothing on the label for the heat to act on.
Thermal transfer printers are more flexible. Many models can be switched to a direct thermal mode and run without a ribbon, in which case they take direct thermal labels. That depends on the model, so check the manual or the driver settings before you buy labels for it. Running a thermal transfer printer in ribbon mode on direct thermal labels wastes money, because you pay for ribbon you did not need.
Most desktop shipping label printers sold to online sellers are direct thermal, because that is what courier labels are printed on. To check which type you own:
- Open the lid. If there are two extra spindles above the label path for a ribbon to wind from and onto, the printer is thermal transfer. If there is only a space for the labels, the printer is direct thermal.
- Read the model details. The label on the underside, the box or the manual will say direct thermal, thermal transfer, or both.
- Look at what came with it. A printer that was supplied with a ribbon, or asks for one in its setup guide, is thermal transfer.
The printer also has to take standard rolls. Our thermal labels on rolls fit Zebra-style direct thermal printers that take standard rolls. Printers that only accept their own branded rolls will not take them. Roll width, core and printer families are covered in Label Printer Labels: Which Labels Fit Your Printer?.
We do not sell printers. Pack Solution stocks labels, not label printers or ribbons. If you are choosing a printer for parcels, pick a direct thermal model that takes standard 4 x 6 inch rolls or fanfold stacks, then any standard direct thermal label will feed it.
Why are shipping labels direct thermal?
Shipping labels are direct thermal because a parcel label has a short working life and gets printed in large numbers, which is the kind of job direct thermal suits. The label needs to scan at collection, at the depot and on the doorstep. After that it goes in the bin with the packaging, so a ribbon that makes the print last longer would be money wasted.
Direct thermal is also easier to run on the packing bench:
- One consumable. You only ever run out of labels. There is no ribbon to match to the label, run out of mid-shift or wrinkle and spoil a barcode.
- Lower cost per label. You pay for the label and nothing else, so the cost of each parcel label is easy to work out.
- Simple loading. Drop the roll in or feed the stack through the back, close the lid and print. New staff pick it up in a minute.
- Sharp barcodes. Direct thermal print is crisp, so courier barcodes scan cleanly.
The usual UK courier label is 4 x 6 inches. In our range that is the 4 x 6" (100 x 150mm) roll of 500 labels, or the fanfold 4 x 6" (101.6 x 152.4mm) stack of 1000 labels. Both are direct thermal and self-adhesive. If you want the measurements in mm and cm and the printer setup for that size, read our 4x6 thermal labels size guide.
Best for busy packing benches
Fanfold Thermal Labels 4 x 6" (101.6 x 152.4mm)
A flat folded stack of 4 x 6" direct thermal shipping labels that feeds into the printer from behind or underneath.
- 1000 labels per stack
- 4 x 6" (101.6 x 152.4mm), the standard courier label size
- Each label tears off cleanly at the perforation
From £12.00 ex VAT (£14.40 inc VAT)
Choose sizeView productThere is one case where a parcel label should not be direct thermal: goods that will sit in strong heat or sun with the label still needing to be read at the end, such as stock labelled now and held in a hot container or a sunny yard for a long stretch. For that, ask a specialist for thermal transfer labels. For the normal run of parcels going out through Royal Mail or a courier this week, direct thermal is the right pick.
How can you tell which label you have?
Scratch the label hard with a fingernail or the edge of a coin. If a dark grey or black mark appears, the label is direct thermal, because the friction heats the coating and sets it off the same way a printhead does. If the label stays white, the label is thermal transfer or plain paper and will need a ribbon or an ink printer.
The scratch test takes a few seconds and costs you one label. If you have an unmarked roll from a previous job, a second-hand printer bundle or a box with the outer label torn off, work through these steps:
- Read the box or the core. Look for the words direct thermal, DT, thermal transfer or TT on the packaging or printed inside the cardboard core. If the box says no ribbon needed, the labels are direct thermal.
- Do the scratch test. Peel one label off, lay it on a hard surface and drag a fingernail quickly across the face with firm pressure. A dark line means direct thermal. No mark means the label has no heat-sensitive coating.
- Check the printed labels you already have. If old printed labels from the same roll have gone grey or faded where they sat in the sun, they are direct thermal.
- Look in the printer. If the printer the roll came out of has no ribbon fitted and it was printing properly, the labels are direct thermal.
- Print a test label. Load the roll in a direct thermal printer and print one label. Clear black print confirms direct thermal. A blank label confirms the roll needs a ribbon.
A blank print does not always mean the wrong label type. Direct thermal labels are coated on one side only, so a roll loaded upside down will also feed through blank. Before you write the roll off, check the labels are facing the printhead and run the scratch test on the face.
Mixed stock. If you keep both types in the same building, write DT or TT on the end of each roll with a marker as soon as it comes out of the box. The two types are almost impossible to tell apart by eye once the packaging has gone.
Which direct thermal label rolls suit each job?
Pick the label by what is being printed on it: 4 x 6 inch for courier labels, smaller rolls for barcodes and product labels, and the 4 x 8 inch roll when you want a packing slip on the same label. All five sizes of our direct thermal label rolls are self-adhesive and sold one roll at a time. Prices run from £3.50 ex VAT (£4.20 inc VAT) to £9.50 ex VAT (£11.40 inc VAT) per roll depending on the size, and the price for each size is on the product page.
| Job | Direct thermal label to use | Labels per roll or stack |
|---|---|---|
| Barcodes, stock codes and price labels | 2 x 1" (50 x 25mm) roll | 1000 |
| Product, shelf and bin labels | 3 x 2" (76 x 51mm) roll | 1000 |
| Small parcels, warehouse and pallet ID | 4 x 4" (101.6 x 101.6mm) roll | 750 |
| Royal Mail, Evri, DPD and other courier labels | 4 x 6" (100 x 150mm) roll | 500 |
| Courier labels printed all day | 4 x 6" (101.6 x 152.4mm) fanfold stack | 1000 |
| Address and packing slip on one label | 4 x 8" (100 x 210mm) roll | 200 |
Think about the life of the label when you choose the smaller sizes. A 2 x 1 inch barcode on stock that will be picked and posted within a few weeks is a good use of direct thermal. The same barcode on an item that will sit on a bright shop shelf for a long time is a job for thermal transfer, which we do not sell. Shelf and bin labels in a warehouse sit somewhere in between: indoors and away from heat they hold up well, and reprinting one costs very little.
Rolls or fanfold is a separate choice from direct thermal or thermal transfer, since our rolls and our fanfold stack are both direct thermal. Rolls suit printers that hold the labels inside the cover and benches with little space. A fanfold stack suits long print runs, because 1000 labels means fewer reloads. The full comparison, including A4 sheets, is in Thermal Label Rolls, Fanfold or A4 Sheets? Choosing Shipping Labels for Your Printer.
Shop direct thermal label rolls
If you have no thermal printer, you do not need either type. A4 sheet labels are self-adhesive labels on standard A4 sheets, made for printing on an office printer. They come in 10 layouts in boxes of 500 sheets, from £30.00 ex VAT (£36.00 inc VAT) per box. The 4 per sheet layout gives a 99.1 x 139.0mm label, close to a courier label in size, and the 2 per sheet layout gives 199.6 x 143.5mm for larger address labels. Our guide to printing Royal Mail labels at home walks through both routes.
If you post a handful of parcels a month, you may not need to buy labels at all. Printing the label on plain paper and fixing it under clear tape works. Labels start to pay for themselves once taping paper to parcels is eating into your packing time.
For parcels that need a handling message next to the address label, our warning labels come pre-printed on rolls: Fragile at 89 x 32mm with 1000 per roll, and Caution Heavy at 148 x 50mm with 500 per roll, from £10.00 ex VAT (£12.00 inc VAT). They are ready to peel and stick, so no printer is involved.
How many direct thermal labels should you buy, and what does each label cost?
Buy enough to cover a few weeks of parcels and work out the cost per label by dividing the pack price by the number of labels in it. A fanfold stack is £12.00 ex VAT (£14.40 inc VAT) for 1000 labels, which is 1.2p ex VAT per 4 x 6 inch label at the single stack price. Rolls are priced per roll, from £3.50 ex VAT (£4.20 inc VAT), and the minimum order is one roll or one stack.
A simple way to size the order is to count the parcels you send in a normal week and compare that with the pack:
- Up to about 100 parcels a week: one 4 x 6 inch roll of 500 lasts several weeks, and it fits inside most desktop printers.
- A few hundred parcels a week or more: fanfold stacks of 1000 mean fewer reloads, and buying several at once brings the price per stack down.
- Barcodes and product labels: rolls of 1000 in the 2 x 1 inch and 3 x 2 inch sizes go a long way, so one or two rolls is a sensible first order.
Volume pricing applies across the label range. The price per roll, per stack and per box of A4 sheets falls as you buy more, and the tiers are shown on each product page. Because direct thermal labels are sensitive to heat and light, do not stock up further ahead than you can store properly: keep spare rolls boxed, in a cool dry place, and use the oldest first. Our post on how many thermal label rolls to buy goes into reorder points in more detail.
Royal Mail Tracked 48 delivery is free on every order with no minimum, and orders placed by 2pm Monday to Friday leave our Manchester unit the same working day. If you are nearby, click and collect in Manchester is free and usually ready within 2 hours, and we run same-day van delivery within 10 miles of Cheetham Hill. A VAT invoice comes with every order.
Regular buyers can apply for a trade account. Most people ordering labels need something to stick them on as well, so it is worth adding mailing bags, cardboard boxes or packing tape to the same order and getting it all in one delivery. The whole label range is in our labels collection.
If you are not sure whether your printer is direct thermal, or whether it takes standard rolls, call us on 0161 706 1246 or use the contact page with the printer make and model, and we will tell you whether our labels are likely to fit before you order.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do direct thermal labels need ink or a ribbon?
Direct thermal labels need no ink, toner or ribbon. The label has a heat-sensitive coating, and the printhead darkens that coating to form the text and barcode. The only consumable a direct thermal printer uses is the labels themselves.
Can I use thermal transfer labels in a direct thermal printer?
Thermal transfer labels will not print in a direct thermal printer. A direct thermal printer has no ribbon, and thermal transfer labels have no heat-sensitive coating, so the labels feed through blank. Use direct thermal labels in a direct thermal printer.
Do direct thermal labels fade?
Direct thermal labels can fade or darken with heat, sunlight and time, because the coating stays sensitive to heat after printing. That is why direct thermal labels suit short-life jobs such as shipping labels. For labels that must stay readable for a long time, thermal transfer labels printed with a ribbon are the better choice.
How do I know if my labels are direct thermal?
Scratch the face of the label firmly with a fingernail or a coin. Direct thermal labels show a dark mark where you scratched, because friction heats the coating. Labels that stay white are thermal transfer or plain paper labels and need a ribbon or an ink printer.
Are Royal Mail and courier shipping labels direct thermal or thermal transfer?
Royal Mail and courier shipping labels are normally printed on direct thermal labels, most often in the 4 x 6 inch size. A shipping label only has to stay readable until the parcel is delivered, so the longer life of thermal transfer print is not needed. Direct thermal labels also keep costs down because there is no ribbon to buy.
Does Pack Solution sell thermal transfer labels or ribbons?
Pack Solution sells direct thermal labels only, on rolls in five sizes and in 4 x 6 inch fanfold stacks of 1000. Pack Solution does not sell thermal transfer labels, thermal transfer ribbons or label printers. For printing without a thermal printer, Pack Solution stocks A4 sheet labels in boxes of 500 sheets.
