One of the most common and costly mistakes in POS supply ordering is loading the wrong paper type into a printer. Thermal paper in a bond printer produces nothing. Bond paper in a thermal printer jams the mechanism. And thermal paper near a kitchen heat source turns completely black.

How Thermal Paper Works

Thermal paper has a heat-sensitive coating on one side. When a thermal printhead applies heat in precise patterns, the coating darkens to form text and images. No ink, no ribbon, no toner required. The paper itself is the printing medium. This is also why thermal receipts fade over time when exposed to heat, sunlight, or certain chemicals.

How Bond (Impact) Paper Works

Bond paper works with an impact printer that physically strikes an ink ribbon against the paper to transfer the image. Bond paper requires an ink ribbon to print — without the ribbon, nothing appears on the paper. This is why bond printers are sometimes called impact printers or dot matrix printers.

How to Tell Which Type Your Printer Uses

The Fingernail Test: Scratch your current paper firmly with your fingernail. If a dark mark appears, it's thermal paper. If nothing happens, it's bond paper.

Look for a Ribbon: Open your printer. If there's a ribbon cartridge inside the paper compartment, it's an impact/bond printer. Thermal printers have no ribbon.

Check the Model: Use our Find My Paper tool to confirm the exact paper type for your printer model.

Common Printers by Type

Thermal printers: Epson TM-T88 series, Star Micronics TSP100, Clover Station, Square Register, Verifone Vx520, Ingenico iCT250, PAX A920.

Impact/Bond printers: Epson TM-U220, Epson TM-U230, Star SP700, Star SP742, NCR kitchen printers. These require 3" 2-ply bond paper AND an ink ribbon.

The Kitchen Printer Problem

The most common source of confusion is restaurant kitchen printers. Front-of-house receipt printers are almost always thermal. But kitchen printers — near the grill or fryer — are almost always impact/bond printers. Thermal paper exposed to kitchen heat turns completely black within minutes, making tickets unreadable. Bond paper is heat-resistant and remains legible in hot kitchen environments.

The Rule of Thumb for Restaurants

Front of house = thermal paper. Kitchen = bond paper + ribbon. Order both types separately — they are not interchangeable. Setting up separate reorder reminders for each will prevent the most common restaurant paper ordering mistake.

Not sure what your printer needs? Use our Find My Paper tool or request a B2B account and call us — we'll confirm your spec in under a minute.