Electronics – need better barcode quality?

By John Burke – Are you having trouble with poor quality bar codes on your Kapton® (DuPont™ Kapton® polyimide film) labels? You are not alone, but – good news – there is a solution! Kapton® labels are commonly used in harsh environment labeling applications, including printed circuit board (PCB) labeling. High temperatures common in PCB processing requires the high performance of Kapton® material. However, not all Kapton® labels are entirely the same.
Various adhesives and topcoats (ink receptive coatings) are made available on the base Kapton® material and should be used in certain applications.

In particular, matching the appropriate topcoat with the printing method is crucial to ensuring high quality bar codes. When using high performance printers that deliver 300, 400, and even 600 dpi (dots per inch) resolution we recommend careful selection of the most appropriate Kapton® label. We often find that traditional Kapton® labels used in the past are not well suited for today’s high resolution bar code printing.

So, while you may be tempted to tweak your printer, blame the printer manufacturer, or call your service provider, consider if you have the right Kapton® label. some of the new Kapton labels are specially designed for use on these high resolution printers and the improvement in print quality can be dramatic. For more information, or for help selecting the right bar code label for your application call me at 800-325-5260 ext 257, or email to john@labelingnews.com.

DuPont™ and Kapton® are trademarks or registered trademarks of E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company.