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Printers for Sight Tapes

Printer Recommendations

  • Best Quality, Least Hassle: Desktop Laser Printers

    • Use a desktop laser printer for sharp, clean, and reliably-sized sight tapes.
    • Laser printers are fantastic for infrequent use, as they do not dry out or clog like inkjet printers.
    • Black and White: It's hard to beat the Brother HL-L2420DW for around $120. Clean, reliable black and white prints at a good price!
    • Color: We like the Brother HL-L3220CDW for around $250. Solid color prints, and a good price for a color laser printer!

  • Color on a Budget: Desktop Inkjet Printers

    • Inkjet printers are a great option for high-quality color printing and reliable sight tape scaling.
    • Solid options can be had for around $100-$200.
    • Inkjet printers struggle with infrequent use, as ink cartridges tend to dry out and clog if not used regularly.

  • Portable, Convenient, Reliable: 4x6" Thermal Label Printers

    • Convenient and weatherproof
    • Lower resolution (200–300 DPI).
    • Usable, but sight tapes will not be as crisp or clear.
    • Sight tape scaling is generally robust.

  • Emergency, In-the-Field Backup: Handheld Label Printers

    • Portable, battery-powered, and good for travel.
    • Lower resolution (200-360DPI)
    • We provide PNG exports for select models (see below).
    • Sight tape scaling can be finicky and unreliable.
    • Generally not recommended for sight tapes due to scaling robustness.

Paper Recommendations

We've tried a ton of different types of paper for sight tapes, and we keep coming back to one in particular:

SheetLabels Matte Inkjet Weatherproof

We use this paper with both laser and inkjet printers. It's weatherproof, adhesive, sticks well, and is very easy to work with.

Tip

Our overall recommendation for the highest quality sight tapes is a standard desktop printer like the Brother HL-L2420DW and weatherproof, adhesive label paper like SheetLabels Matte Inkjet Weatherproof.

Desktop Printers

A standard desktop printer remains our overall favorite option for printing sight tapes. They offer high resolution, handle sight tape scaling well, and are widely available. As a bonus, they’re also useful for other everyday printing needs.

There are two main types of desktop printers:

Laser

Laser printers are probably the overall best option for most people, especially for black and white prints.

  • Monochrome (black and white) laser printers can be found for around $100. The Brother HL-L2420DW is very hard to beat for the money.
  • Color laser printers are typically more expensive, but they're great if you really want color sight tapes. The Brother HL-L3220CDW is a great option at a reasonable price.

Laser printers usually:

  • Produce slightly less vibrant colors than inkjets.
  • Use toner, which lasts much longer than ink and doesn’t dry out — ideal for infrequent use.
  • Work well with a variety of weatherproof label materials, including vinyl.

While our personal favorite label paper is SheetLabels Matte Inkjet Weatherproof (even for laser printers), there are plenty of laser-compatible adhesive label options available. Avery is another solid weatherproof option that can be found at most office supply stores.

Note

Founder Tristan's personal sight tape printer is a Brother HL-L2420DW laser printer.

Inkjet

Inkjet printers are the most common and usually the least expensive upfront. They typically produce more vivid and clear colors than similarly priced laser printers, making them a good option if color matters to you.

However, they have some downsides:

  • Ink can dry up or clog if the printer isn’t used regularly.
  • Ink cartridges tend to run out quickly and can be costly to replace.
  • Weatherproof paper that works well with inkjet ink is slightly less common.

That said, we’ve had good results with SheetLabels Matte Inkjet Weatherproof paper — it's compatible with inkjet printers and holds up very well, especially with clear packaging tape over the top.

Example Sight Tapes

4x6” Thermal Label Printers

We support a 4x6” PDF export format specifically for thermal label printers. These printers are compact and print directly onto adhesive, weatherproof shipping labels — making them very convenient.

Scaling has been solid with these sort of printers, as they also print from PDF documents. (As long as you print with a custom scale of 100%, you should be all set!)

However, there’s one major tradeoff: resolution.

  • Most thermal printers are 203 DPI (dots per inch).
  • Some higher-end models support 300 DPI.

In comparison, standard desktop printers typically offer 600–1200+ DPI. The result is that thermal-printed sight tapes are usable, but not nearly as crisp. Fine detail, small numbers, or tight marks may look fuzzy or pixelated.

We recommend this sort of printer for quick and easy tape testing before printing a high-end tape from a desktop printer, or as an emergency backup for traveling.

Here is an example of a 203 DPI thermal printout (with this printer from Amazon) vs. a 1200 DPI desktop printout:

Tip

Most thermal shipping label printers have a speed setting. Turning this down all the way seems to significantly improve the quality of the printout with most of these shipping label printers.

Handheld Label Printers

We also support PNG image exports for a the following handheld label printer:

These printers are:

  • Portable and battery-powered — great for use at the range or while traveling.
  • Useful as a backup printing option.

But keep in mind:

  • They only support images, not PDFs, so precise scaling must be done manually in the printer’s app.
    • This has proved to be not very robust or user friendly to get the scaling just right.
  • Resolution is limited: the Phomemo D30 is 203 DPI, while the Epson LW-C610PX is 360 DPI.

We provide pre-scaled PNG images to help minimize user error, but it’s important to size the image properly in the app, and check print scaling after printing.

Note

We always have our eyes open for new handheld label printer options. If you have a recommendation that has worked well for you, please let us know!

Here is an example of a D30 printout (left) vs. a desktop printer (right):

Here is an example of a Epson LW-C610PX printout (right) vs. a desktop printer (left):