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Choosing a Printer

Summary of Recommendations

  • Best Quality: Use a desktop inkjet or laser printer for the sharpest and cleanest sight tapes.
    • Inkjet: Great color and quality, but ink can dry out when not in use. Works well with select weatherproof papers.
    • Laser: Slightly less color quality, but toner lasts long and doesn't dry out. Good for infrequent use. For black and white printing, hard to beat if on a budget.
  • 4x6" Thermal Label Printers: Convenient and weatherproof, but lower resolution (203–300 DPI). Usable, but not as crisp or clear.
  • Handheld Label Printers: Portable, battery-powered, and good for travel. Lower resolution (203-300DPI) and manual scaling required. We provide PNG exports for supported models. Generally not recommended for sight tapes.

Tip

Our overall recommendation for the highest quality sight tapes is a standard desktop printer 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:

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.

Laser

Laser printers are another solid option, especially for black and white prints.

  • Monochrome (black and white) laser printers can be found for around $100.
  • Color laser printers are typically more expensive (often several hundred dollars).

Laser printers usually:

  • Produce slightly less vibrant colors than inkjets.
  • Use toner, which lasts much longer 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 still 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. These can be had for about $110 at Walmart.

Here are some example high-quality desktop sight tape prints:

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 vs. a 1200 DPI desktop printout:

Handheld Label Printers

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

  • Phomemo D30 (0.59” continuous)

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 varies: the Phomemo D30 is 203 DPI, while some Epson models go up to 360–500 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're in the process of adding support for a couple additional handheld label printers models. If you have a recommendation, please let us know!

Here is an example of a D30 printout: