[Nhcoll-l] Desktop thermal printers?

Fri Apr 10 02:19:17 EDT 2026

Just replying to Gali, I must admit I miss something of that antique feel
of old hand written labels. But as you say, not practical. Unless we use
something like this:

https://youtube.com/shorts/RgsEHRWPVvM?si=h9McGR4hPlIlbBTb

😋

On Thu, 09 Apr 2026 at 23:05, Bentley, Andrew Charles <abentley at ku.edu>
wrote:

> This is true of thermal transfer supplies.  We have gone through three
> different iterations of ribbon - SDR to SDR+ to SDR5+ which have all
> provided increasing resistance to alcohols.  They have recently also
> transferred from a glossy spun bound polyester medium to a matte version.
> This matte version has the added benefit of allowing writing in pencil
> directly onto the media for field applications which the glossy version did
> not.
>
> I have had a non-scientific experiment going on the window ledge of my
> office where I have labels in all collection fluids - ethanol, isopropanol,
> formalin and glycerin in various concentrations and using the various
> iterations or ribbon and media.  They have been there for up to 25 years
> and show no signs of fading, cracking, yellowing or any other deleterious
> effects.  I can basically print a brand new label and place it next to any
> of these and you cannot tell the difference.
>
> I still swear by thermal transfer printing as the gold standard for wet
> collection labeling for the above reasons.  We have never had any issue
> with any of these labels across our ichthyology, herpetology, entomology or
> invertebrate zoology collections bar a single instance of an incorrect
> ribbon being sent to us that resulted in text floating off labels but we
> caught it very early and were able to mitigate any effects.
>
> Andy
>
>     A  :             A  :             A  :
>  }<(((_°>.,.,.,.}<(((_°>.,.,.,.}<)))_°>
>     V                V                V
> Andy Bentley
>
> <https://www.google.com/maps/search/1345+Jayhawk+Boulevard+%0D%0A+Lawrence,+KS,+66045-7561+%0D%0A+USA?entry=gmail&source=g>Ichthyology
> Collection Manager
>
> <https://www.google.com/maps/search/1345+Jayhawk+Boulevard+%0D%0A+Lawrence,+KS,+66045-7561+%0D%0A+USA?entry=gmail&source=g>University
> of Kansas
> Biodiversity Institute
>
> Dyche Hall
> *1345 Jayhawk Boulevard
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> *Lawrence, KS, 66045-7561
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> *USA
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>
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>
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> <https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3093-1258>
>
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> <http://ichthyology.biodiversity.ku.edu/>
>
>     A  :             A  :             A  :
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>     V                V                V
>
>
> ------------------------------
> *From:* Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> on behalf of Gali
> Beiner <gali.beiner at mail.huji.ac.il>
> *Sent:* Thursday, April 9, 2026 3:17 PM
> *To:* Ian Engelbrecht <ianicus.za at gmail.com>
> *Cc:* NHCOLL-new <nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu>
>
> *Subject:* Re: [Nhcoll-l] Desktop thermal printers?
>
> Redesigning is already happening: new tech pops in, for example the
> thermal transfer printers are new compared to inkjets, and new substrates
> are also being developed.
>
> One way to deal with inevitable change is to understand the "recipe" as
> much as possible and seek out the "cleaner" products - as in the case of
> "OBA free, acid free, lignin free" etc paper or understanding which types
> of toners are likely to be more permanent. Understanding the technology as
> much as possible and testing what we can may help narrow down choices and
> set clearer standards. The other way is to remain out of it and use
> handwritten labels, but it seems that all of us regard this option mostly
> as a ship that has sailed: too hard to get the workforce to do it.
>
> Gali
>
> Gali Beiner (ACR)
> Conservator, Palaeontology Lab
> National Natural History Collections
> The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
> Berman Building, Edmond J. Safra campus, Givat Ram
> Jerusalem 91904, Israel
> Fax. 972-2-6585785
> *gali.beiner at mail.huji.ac.il <gali.beiner at mail.huji.ac.il>*
>
> *https://nnhc.huji.ac.il/?lang=en <https://nnhc.huji.ac.il/?lang=en> *
>
> בתאריך יום ה׳, 9 באפר׳ 2026, 21:49, מאת Ian Engelbrecht ‏<
> ianicus.za at gmail.com>:
>
> Plus the fact that things change over time. HP printer - toner - paper
> combination might work now, but will it still 30 years from now when
> they’ve redesigned one or three of those components?
>
> Ian
>
> On Thu, 09 Apr 2026 at 18:20, Gali Beiner <gali.beiner at mail.huji.ac.il>
> wrote:
>
> Doug is pointing out the heart of the problem - the variety of printing
> combinations which makes comparisons difficult.
>
> In fact, the variations in the way printer-ink-subsrate (paper or other)
> combinations work is the main reason why manufacturers recommend using
> their own brand for all three parts of the combo. In other words, the
> manufacturers say HP printers are supposed to yield better, more permanent
> results with original HP toners and HP specialized paper. The same goes for
> Canon, Epson or any other brand. Testing according to conservation
> parameters can work with that - or at least look very carefully into what,
> exactly is chosen for use (eg paper - OBA free, lignin free etc etc).
>
> The way things stand now - with endless possible variations and
> combinations - basically means it is up to us to try and set the criteria
> of choice and monitor whether that works. Not easy, but possibly we can
> try.
>
> Gali
>
>
>
> Gali Beiner (ACR)
> Conservator, Palaeontology Lab
> National Natural History Collections
> The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
> Berman Building, Edmond J. Safra campus, Givat Ram
> Jerusalem 91904, Israel
> Fax. 972-2-6585785
> *gali.beiner at mail.huji.ac.il <gali.beiner at mail.huji.ac.il>*
>
> *https://nnhc.huji.ac.il/?lang=en <https://nnhc.huji.ac.il/?lang=en> *
>
> בתאריך יום ה׳, 9 באפר׳ 2026, 18:46, מאת Douglas Yanega ‏<dyanega at gmail.com
> >:
>
> On 4/8/26 11:38 PM, Gali Beiner wrote:
>
> Other than that, I think that maybe we could use this forum to up the
> level of testing a bit - after all we have a pool of collection
> professionals here, all with the same problem to solve re:labels for wet
> collections (mainly alcohol but also other). Why shouldn't we gather
> ourselves into a group of say 5 to 10 people in different collections and
> agree on some sort of protocol for different labels in each collection (or
> maybe sets of different labels to be tested in all collections, we could
> consider the details)  - and have this followed both in the short and long
> terms? That would be more interesting than any individual test. Dear
> readers in this forum, how does this sound to you?
>
> Compilation of different people's experiences have been done here and
> elsewhere with some regularity, and one thing that is a universal
> impediment to generating a coherent picture is the variability of the
> medium that is being printed on. Comparisons of different printers are
> nearly meaningless if the "tests" are on different paper stock.
>
> The most dramatic example I can offer is one from personal experience:
> back in 1990, we obtained a Laserjet, a fairly new technology at that time,
> and printed thousands of labels for both dry and ethanol specimens. The
> first several months everything worked flawlessly, and to this day, almost
> 40 years on, those original labels are perfectly fine, even the ones stored
> in ethanol. Then one day we ran out of the existing stock of paper, bought
> a new ream, and loaded it into the printer without changing anything else.
> The lettering on those labels chipped, flaked, and rubbed off the dry
> labels, and when we tried to put them into ethanol, the letters floated
> off. No alteration of settings was involved, and nothing we did made the
> labels viable. That is, until we checked the packaging on the original
> ream; we found it was not the exact same thing that we had switched to, so
> we bought something IDENTICAL, and the resulting labels were just fine
> again. The problem had literally nothing to do with the printer, and
> everything to do with the paper.
>
> Again, any "test" that does not control for the medium will not be a fair
> and objective test of the merits of a printer.
>
> We presently use an HP Laser printer, and yes, we have had to try
> different types of paper to find paper stocks that work well with this
> printer. Not all do. Even worse, when we use "replacement" toner cartridges
> (not the official HP brand), sometimes *but not always*, the printing is
> slightly flaky and easily abraded. That means there are at least THREE
> parameters that need to be controlled: the printer, the medium, and the
> toner. Variation in any one of those three can lead to variation in the
> quality of the results. This makes objective assessment and testing *very*
> difficult, and ultimately it's just a litany of anecdotes.
>
> Peace,
>
> --
> Doug Yanega      Dept. of Entomology       Entomology Research Museum
> Univ. of California, Riverside, CA 92521-0314    phone: 951-827-4315
> FaceBook: Doug Yanega (disclaimer: opinions are mine, not UCR's)
>              https://faculty.ucr.edu/~heraty/yanega.html
>   "There are some enterprises in which a careful disorderliness
>         is the true method" - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chap. 82
>
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