[Nhcoll-l] Desktop thermal printers?

Mon Apr 13 02:35:20 EDT 2026

Thanks, Rob!

If anyone would like to contribute their thoughts on what the appropriate
research question(s) should be re:printed labels for fluid collections, or
any other related issue, please let me know off-list.

Cheers,

Gali

On Sun, Apr 12, 2026 at 5:48 PM Robert Waller <rw at protectheritage.com>
wrote:

> Hi Gali,
> You will want to connect with the SPNHC Conservation Committee via the
> Chair Fran Ritchie.
> If a task group would be the way to go then Fran would be the one to help
> get that set up.
> Connecting with IPI would seem to be a good idea. Jennifer Jae Gutierrez
> would probably be the best first contact. Both Fran's and Jennifer's emails
> are available on the SPNHC or IPI websites.
> Good luck,
> Rob
>
>
> ------------------------------
> *From:* Gali Beiner <gali.beiner at mail.huji.ac.il>
> *Sent:* Sunday, April 12, 2026 2:06 AM
> *To:* Robert Waller <rw at protectheritage.com>
> *Cc:* NHCOLL-new <nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu>
> *Subject:* Re: [Nhcoll-l] Desktop thermal printers?
>
> Hi Rob and all,
>
> I'm not familiar with task groups in SPNHC, so somebody who already works
> with one will have to explain to me how that works, but generally speaking
> - the main problem here is formulating the right kind of question to answer
> in a scientific research. In fact, it crosses my mind that if anybody here
> has a contact within the Image Permanence Institute, I'd be happy to get in
> touch (IPI, according to its own vision, is "dedicated to supporting the
> preservation of cultural heritage collections in libraries, archives, and
> museums around the world").
>
> Possibly the study question should be about finding the most permanent
> printer-ink-substrate combo (for ethanol?) in each category (laser, inkjet,
> thermal transfer), and then comparing categories. This would involve
> thinking about *the best ways to test permanence for labels in fluids* -
> for example, in my own published paper I presented a form of accelerated
> aging as a testing method. What would be the best way for testing, other
> than waiting 50-100 years? Maybe discussing this with people at the Image
> Permanence Institute could help.
>
> Gali
>
>
>
> On Fri, Apr 10, 2026 at 5:18 PM Robert Waller <rw at protectheritage.com>
> wrote:
>
> Hi Gali,
> Your suggestion "to understand the "recipe" as much as possible" seems a
> very good idea.
> If you or someone else decides to initiate a task group within SPNHC to
> take that on, I suggest you reach out to archives and paper conservators
> through their discussion groups as they may already have useful information
> available. Perhaps the subject could be suggested as a good research
> project for a conservation student. That is, a compilation of information
> combined with some experimentation for validation.
> Rob
>
> ------------------------------
> *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 09, 2026 4:17 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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> NHCOLL-L is brought to you by the Society for the Preservation of
> Natural History Collections (SPNHC), an international society whose
> mission is to improve the preservation, conservation and management of
> natural history collections to ensure their continuing value to
> society. See http://www.spnhc.org for membership information.
> Advertising on NH-COLL-L is inappropriate.
>
>
>
> --
> 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>
>

-- 
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>*
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