TTO or TIJ for GS1 2D Barcodes

Is your company looking to move to the new GS1 2D barcodes, GS1 Datamatrix or Digital Link?

If so, you’ll probably be thinking about the best way to print these onto your packaging since, unlike the UPC barcodes, they often contain production information that can’t be pre-printed.

If you currently use continuous inkjet (CIJ) printers for your package date coding, might need to look at changing to a printer with a higher resolution in order to print the 2D barcodes to the required quality standards.

 Two print technologies often enter the conversation when adding these barcodes and other information to flexible packaging, such as labels, films, and foils: Thermal Transfer Overprinter (TTO) and Thermal Inkjet (TIJ).

Both technologies are well proven, can produce an excellent print image

Which is best? The answer, of course, is, it depends! Let’s take a look at how the two contenders stack up in some key areas:

Print Quality

Print Area

Speed

Print Durability

Ease of Installation, Use and Maintenance

Costs

Which Would I Buy?

OK, let’s get started:

Print Quality

I’d rate this one a tie. Both technologies can produce excellent-quality prints and are great for 2D barcodes. TTO printers use a 300dpi printhead, and while TIJ printheads can operate at up to 600dpi, in my experience, most applications are set to 300. 

Both TTO and TIJ printers can produce a printed image that is practically indistinguishable from the pre-printed copy on the label or package.

Regardless of the printer, choosing the optimum consumable (ribbon for TTO and ink for TIJ) is essential to get the best quality printing. Fortunately, both technologies have a wide selection of consumables to ensure a wide range of substrates can be succssfully printed.

Your printer vendor should be prepared to carry out print testing on your materials to ensure a good match.

TTO 1 : TIJ 1

Print Area

Both types of printer can produce messages that are longer than anyone usually needs, but TTO has a major advantage in in print width.

While TIJ printheads are usually 12mm (or around 1/2″) wide, TTOs can be specified up to 5 inches wide. Yes, I know there are now wider TIJ heads, but they are generally for porous materials only, and I don’t like stitching multiple heads together – although if set up with care, stitching can certainly work.

Note that new, wider TIJ options using HP and Funai technology will likely be released in 2025. We’ll cover these developments as details become available.

With the amount of data that a GS1 Digital Link QR code might need to encode, the printed symbol can easily be over 12mm square, a problem for TIJ printheads.

In addition, if the direction of the print is across the web, it often means a TIJ printer needs to be traversed across the packaging machine, whereas a TTO printer can be stationary. The wide printhead version of TTOs can also print much more data, including Nutritional panels and ingredient and allergy information.

The example above used a TTO printer to print this Tyson bacon package. A single traversing TTO printer was able to print all the information you see here and would have moved across the packaging film to print the other 3 or 4 packages in the row on the thermoforming machine.

The image shows several missing pixels in the printhead when the package was printed.

The print area is an easy win for TTO.

TTO – 2 : TIJ – 1

Speed

The print speed of any packaging printer is hugely dependent on the application, so it can vary a lot from what the OEMs list in their marketing materials.

Let’s take a look at a couple of popular manufacturer specs:

Weber’s Markoprint thermal inkjet printers can print up to 90 meters per minute if you buy the Pro version. Here’s the published info for the X1 Jet printer with HP:

For thermal transfer, Domino’s latest model claims up to 72 meters per minute in continuous mode if you buy the enhanced pack:

Personally, I don’t think I’d want to buy either system to operate all the time at those speeds, but I would be confident that either of them would handle the requirements of almost all flexible packaging applications, apart from maybe the fastest flowrappers.

Note that the GS1 2D implementation guide suggests about 60 m/min as a maximum for both technologies to get the best barcode quality, so I’m going to call this one a tie.

TTO – 3 : TIJ – 2

Print Durability

This is another win for TTO. While TIJ inks have made massive progress over the last few years, particularly with the introduction of solvent-based inks for non-porous materials, the resin ribbons for TTO printers can produce a print that can survive a wide range of harsh environments. 

Also, the print from a TTO printer dries almost instantly; the ink from a thermal inkjet head might need a few seconds to dry. This sometimes means adding rollers to extend the web path on the parent machine to allow for the extra time required.

TTO – 4 : TIJ – 2

Ease of Installation, Use & Maintenance

 An easy win for thermal inkjet in this category. The small size of the TIJ printheads makes them simple to install and set up.

Since many printers will be retrofitted in the field as businesses move to 2D barcoding, *******

Changing the ink cartridge on a TIJ printer is easier and faster for the operators than removing the cassette and adding a new ribbon roll on a TTO.

Another plus for thermal inkjet is that changing the ink cartridge (and despite what the label might say, they nearly all use HP or Funeii inkjet technology) effectively changes the complete printer, so minimal maintenance is needed.

TTO – 4 : TIJ – 3

Costs

This final category has to be a win for thermal inkjet. With lower capital cost, faster installation, less downtime for consumable changes and maintenance, and similar per-print consumable costs, the overall costs of TIJ make a lot of sense.

It should also be noted that the thermal printhead used in a TTO printer is a consumable item that needs to be replaced periodically.

The Final Score is, therefore, TTO – 4: TIJ – 4, an honorable draw!

Which Would I Buy?

For More Information

The GS1 Implementation Guide is packed with helpful information on moving to 2D barcodes.

GS1 Solution Partners for barcode printing.