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Thermal Wax

By Jacci Howard Bear, About.com

Definition: Falling somewhere between dye-sublimation and solid ink technologies, thermal wax printing use a wax-coated ribbon and heated pins. As the cyan, magenta, yellow, and black ribbon passes in front of the printhead, heated pins melt the wax onto the paper where it hardens.

Thermal wax printers produce vibrant color but require very smooth or specially-coated paper or transparencies for best output. Thermal wax printing technology works well for businesses that need to produce large quantities of transparencies for colorful business presentations.

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