label problems

[Doug Yanega]

Paul Cherubini wrote:

>If you print with a laser printer, there is no need for indelible inks
>because it is my understanding these printers burn the image into the
>paper like a photocopier does.

No, laser writers typically melt letters onto the surface of the paper -
which is why the letters commonly float clean off in alcohol. This would
obviously be impossible if the letters were burned in. Certain paper
surfaces are much better at holding on (I have labels in alcohol that are
10 years old and doing fine), but generally speaking they don't seem to
hold up well.


Doug Yanega        Dept. of Entomology         Entomology Research Museum
Univ. of California - Riverside, Riverside, CA 92521
phone: (909) 787-4315 (standard disclaimer: opinions are mine, not UCR's)
           http://insects.ucr.edu/staff/yanega.html
  "There are some enterprises in which a careful disorderliness
        is the true method" - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chap. 82