Stability of the cash register receipt depending on the thermal paper used

Abstract

The consumption of thermal paper has globally increased due to a wide variety of commercial applications including point-of-sale (POS) receipts, luggage tags, faxes, and labels. This type of paper is specially used for cash register printing paper and therefore its quality directly affects the quality of printing, stability and resistance during storage of receipt printouts. Often such prints end up in the trashcan very quickly after a purchase, but sometimes is an interest in saving them after buying products that have a guaranteed period of 2 years or more. Therefore, in this study, the comparison of two different cash register thermal papers (white and blue) was made based on paper characteristics, while the stability on them printed receipt was determined based on the change in colorimetric values after their exposure to a certain treatment. Three types of stability analysis were done which include sample exposure to light, pressure and water. Since colorimetric changes in the colour of cash register thermal paper and receipt are a visible sign of their quality degradation, the influence of contact with water, pressure and light was observed through ΔE*00. Under the influence of water and light cash register receipt on white thermal paper faded but stayed permanent on blue one. Also, receipts printed on blue thermal paper were more stable to rub and there was less colour transfer. It has been proven that blue cash register thermal paper is more stable than white one, and so are the receipts printed on that type of thermal paper.