Direct thermal printing does not use a ribbon, however direct thermal printing does require the use of special heat sensitive substrate material. The print head activates the heat sensitive coating on this material forming a black image on the label or tag.

Thermal transfer printing uses a ribbon made from wax or resin from which ink is transferred under heat to the label or tag to form an image.

Thermal Transfer printers can accept a wider varitey of materials and are usually used for permanent or long-lasting labeling applications.  Direct thermal printers are usually used to produce shipping labels, picking/putaway labels, receipts, and other common print jobs.