If you’ve ever been to this blog before, you know I like to print things. This website has over 500 printables on it, and I have personally printed every single one (someone has to make sure they work and look as cute on paper as on the blog!). All that to say, I know my way around a printer. Today I’m branching out, though, to share an inkless thermal printer that can take the place of a bigger, traditional printer for all kinds of print jobs. We’re going to talk about home uses for a thermal printer.
Munbyn sent me a portable printer to play with and try out. I have put it to good use, and I am going to share all the reasons you’re going to want an inkless printer below. This particular printer is the Munbyn Portable Thermal Printer. It’s wireless, inkless, and super compact (also, it’s pink and completely adorable).
What is a thermal printer, anyway?
A thermal printer uses heat to produce images on paper, eliminating the need for ink or toner. It uses thermal paper, which is coated with a heat-sensitive chemical that changes color when exposed to heat.
Thermal printers are low maintenance, as they do not require ink cartridges or toner, and they print quickly and quietly. This particular thermal printer comes with a roll of paper which is stored inside the printer. There is no need to feed it paper from a paper tray, as it prints from the roll. You rip the page off the roll using the serrated edge on the printer.
The Munbyn thermal printer works with a roll of A4 thermal paper. A4 is the standard paper size around most of the world, North America being the only place that decided to get weird and go with 8.5”x11” paper as the norm. For comparison, A4 paper is 8.27” by 11.69”. If you need to print US Letter, though, Munbyn also has 8.5”x11” thermal paper designed to work with this machine.
Heat or direct light can make your thermal prints fade, so these printers are usually better for quick print jobs that don’t need to stand the test of time. Munbyn’s thermal paper will hold an image for three years.
What are the benefits of using a thermal printer?
We used a thermal label printer for years when we were selling products and shipping items. They are quick, quiet, and efficient. And because they don’t use ink, they are a more affordable option when you’re printing tons of things all day long. (I just spent $100 replacing the four ink cartridges in my home printer, boooooo!). Because the paper is rolled up inside the machine, you don’t need to cart paper around with you – you just load it into the printer and you’re good to go. And it’s so little and light and easy to carry around! You can easily take this with you when you have the need.
Ways to use a thermal printer
There are so many uses for a portable printer. At first, I thought I would just use it at home for quick printing jobs (grocery lists, recipes off websites, to-do lists, etc.). But I quickly realized there are a lot of things I can do with this printer. Let me share some ideas with you.
Meal Plan: You can design your meal plan for the week in the app, and then quickly print it out and stick it on your fridge so your family knows what they’re having each night.
Grocery List: Same! You can write out your grocery list in the app and print it. This is useful if you keep a running list of things you need at the store in your phone’s notes or another app. Just transfer to the Munbyn printer app and print – you can take your list to the store with you and not have to keep opening your phone to see what you need.
Print Receipts: A thermal printer is ideal for small businesses or pop-up shops to provide customers with receipts.
Create Labels: It’s perfect for organizing and labeling items at home or in the office. You can buy label stickers for this purpose.
Print To-Do Lists: Generate to-do lists on the go to stay organized. If you have a running to-do list on your phone, transfer to the app and print from your phone. So handy!
Print Notes: Quickly print notes or reminders for yourself or others.
Make Shipping Labels: A thermal printer is a convenient and economical way for online sellers to print shipping labels. Shipping costs are so expensive. This was by far the least expensive method we found for printing shipping labels.
Fundraisers: Next time you have a fundraiser, bring your portable printer! You can easily print QR codes, receipts, last-minute signage, etc. We just had a large gala and I would have loved to have this printer with me to print more QR codes for our volunteers who were running around collecting donations.
Print Photos: Print small, instant photos for memories or fun. Just remember they have a three-ish year shelf life (and only print black and white).
Print Study Aids: Make flashcards or study notes. Again, you can easily transfer information on your phone to the app for quick printing.
Print Travel Itineraries: An inkless printer is handy for organizing travel plans and itineraries. If you’re road-tripping or live an RV lifestyle, it could be a convenient tool to have around. You can also use it to print out maps or directions.
Print Menus: An inkless printer is perfect for small cafes or restaurants that change their menus daily, or want to add a daily special to the menu.
Planner Pages: I used mine to print out a to-do list and a habit tracker. I cut the habit tracker to fit in my planner but just folded the to-do list up and put it in the back pocket. I can easily make a new one for each month.
After using the Munbyn portable inkless printer for a while, I think that I will probably use it the most at events. We do a lot of fundraising events and there is *always* something that I forgot to print (QR codes, attendance list for check-in, etc.). This will solve that problem for me!
(and just for fun…here’s Snoopy photo bombing this photo shoot. I had to edit him and Teddy out of most of the photos!)
