How can you tell if you’re buying the right receipt paper for your business? Imagine you’re running a restaurant or a retail store, and the paper roll in your printer is almost finished. You need to buy some new rolls, so you open Google and search for “receipt paper suppliers.” However, you find many paper suppliers selling thermal paper, bond paper, or 2-ply, 3-ply paper. You’re confused by the paper types: What’s the difference between them? What type of paper am I using in my store now?
Here in this article, we will help you understand the common types of receipt paper used in POS systems.
1. Thermal Paper
Thermal paper has a chemical coating on its surface. Once it passes over the thermal print head, the coating turns black where the heat is concentrated, producing an image or text.
Thermal paper has two sides: a thermal side and a non-thermal side. You can identify the thermal side by its brightness and smooth, glossy surface. The non-thermal side has no coating and does not change color when exposed to heat.
Pro Tip: You can check if it is thermal paper by scratching both sides of the paper with your fingernail. If there is a black mark, it is thermal paper.
The thermal paper market is a billion-dollar market where the retail, e-commerce, and finance sectors have a significant influence on its growth. It’s economical and convenient to use because establishments don’t need to use cartridges and expensive inks for printing receipts.
2. Bond Paper
Bond paper, also called wood-free paper or non-thermal paper, is a staple at the office. The sizes may vary, depending on what type of documents you print, but the most popular size is the A4 paper. Whether at home or in the office, the bond paper is useful only in traditional printing with the use of ink or cartridges.
If you put bond paper and thermal paper side-by-side, you can notice a significant difference in the surface. Neither side of the bond paper has a coating, resulting in a less bright and smoother surface than thermal paper.
Bond paper relies on ink ribbons to generate printing
Bond paper relies on ink ribbons to transfer color from the ribbons to the paper surface to generate receipt texts, images, or barcodes in impact printers or dot matrix printers. One of the caveats in using bond paper for printing receipts is that it’s not economical. You need to replace ribbon cartridges, which are costly if you’re doing this daily.
3. Carbonless Paper
Another way to print receipts is through the use of carbonless paper. This type of paper usually contains 2-ply or 3-ply; one copy is for the customer, and the others are for the business owner for the record.
Generally, a carbonless paper consists of three layers:
The structure of carbonless paper
- The coated back (CB)
- Coated front and back (CFB)
- The coated front (CF)
Carbonless paper also relies on ink ribbons to print texts and images. The coated back is the one on top and often where the pressure is applied. It has a microencapsulated dye coating on the back of the sheet. When you put pressure on top of the paper to print an image or text, it produces crushed little capsules at the back of the sheet, which release a dye. The dye reacts with the clay and resin of the coated front and back ply’s face and creates a ripple effect in the coated face.
How to Choose the Right Receipt Types for Your Business?
Below is the table comparing the differences between the three common receipt paper types:
| Feature | Thermal Paper | Bond Paper | Carbonless Paper |
| Paper Color | White | White | White/Pink/Canary |
| Coating | Yes | No | Yes |
| Ribbons | Not required | Required | Required |
| Printers | Thermal printers | Impact, dot matrix, laser, inkjet | Impact, dot matrix |
| Print Speed | Fast | Slow | Slower |
| Print Quality | High-resolution | Good quality prints | Medium quality prints |
| Image Life | Short | Long | Medium |
| Overall Cost | Cost-effective | Costly | Most expensive |
Hope you have learned about the common receipt paper types and understood the differences between them. If you want to know how to distinguish the different paper types, you can check out our article on how to identify thermal paper. Are you ready to take your business to the next level with the use of receipt paper? Contact us and let us know if you need any of the receipt paper products we offer, and we can send you a special price for bulk orders.
FAQs on Common Receipt Paper Types
1. Why do receipt printers use that weird thin paper instead of just normal paper?
This weird thin paper is actually thermal paper. Receipt printers use thermal paper because it’s specially coated to react to heat from the printer head, so you don’t need the printing consumables (ink or toner). This makes receipt printing faster, maintenance easier, and the printers themselves more compact.
2. When’s it better to use thermal paper vs. regular paper?
Thermal paper is best for receipts, tickets, labels, and shipping documents, whenever you need affordable and fast printing. Regular paper is better for multi-purpose office use, documents for archiving, or anything needing ink, color, or long-term durability.
3. How do you know if paper is thermal or not?
Here’s an easy test: scratch the surface with a coin or fingernail. If the spot turns black, it’s thermal paper. If nothing happens, it’s regular paper.
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I will like to buy Thermal paper in 20ft container.
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