Brother Colour Label Printer VC-500W

Brother VC-500W - The Full Colour Label/Sticker Printer, you didn’t know you needed – I kid you not. I am sure I have found perfection. I wanted a way to print my own, self created, usually one-off labels/stickers for different purposes. Presenting the Brother VC-500W Colour Label Printer, which conveniently prints onto stickers. I was intrigued, then I saw what this little wonder can do. **Insert dramatic technology music here… Read more

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Using ‘cutting edge Zink technology’, produce full colour labels. Well, I call them stickers, cause that’s what you print on to a sticker material.

Now this is the latest in technology, as the ink is already inside the paper. Take that in, the printing media, which incidentally comes as a 5 metre roll, in widths of 9mm - 50mm. No more running out of inkjet colours part way through, no more paying for those pesky replacement ink cartridges. The ink is already in the paper. This is next level

The ink is already in the paper, you send your image, it replicates it in full colour. I will say here, darker colours are to me much darker, so really bright photos are great, dark ones, might want a slight lightening.

And yes, I said photos. The Brother VC-500W prints clear, crisp full colour images, straight from your mobile device. I connect my Samsung Z Fold 4, BAM printed, my iPad, BAM printed.

I use it mostly for labelling labelling around my R/C vehicles. I am able to print anything I can create using a wide variety of clip art built in to the apps. Photos, no problem. I now label my R/C controllers with a photo of it usually in action. Makes controller ID much easier when you have a large collection.

The tape cartridges are relatively affordable, around $40-50, with bulk discounts. With 5 metres on each roll, you have plenty of label to create. The 50mm is ideal for near bumper sticker size ~ 120-130mm, so you will get a more than a few out of each roll. Smaller widths include 9mm, 12mm, 19mm, 25mm, so you can create a label for all occasions. The app even provides an estimate of how long a sticker/label you can print. So you won’t get 3/4 of the way through and suddenly that great sticker is no more.

Home, Office, Small business, craft, sticker making. This unit is perfect.

All this in a device to sit off to the side of your desk, taking a miserly 114mm x 117mm x 96mm high. The cartridge sticks out some, depending on size, but it isn’t out of place.

Now this magical Zink, which stands for Zero Ink! I can’t explain it, so here are their words “ Powered by ZINK® Zero-Ink® Printing Technology, the secret’s hidden in the label rolls. Colour crystals in the paper are activated by heat to create full colour labels with no need for ink”. How cool is that?

The apps both Android and IOS are very good. It is easy to work out how to create a sticker/label. Text, images, photos. If you can have a picture of it, you can print it.

Imagine birthday parties. Print out full colour photos, there and then for those special memories. The device is truly portable.

Better still, it doesn’t smudge, when you touch it. It’s printed. Done. Dried. Done. Yes, you can even wipe your finger over it. Nothing! The ink is in the paper, so you won’t be getting any on your fingers.

Changing cartridges is easy, with a press on the cartridge symbol then wait for it to go out, gently remove cartridge, put on different size. So one minute you can be making a ‘Cellos are Cool’ bumper sticker, the next a small label for your ‘School Captain badge collection’, without mucking around realigning things, getting the media just right. Just slip the chosen cartridge into the middle, it will guide itself in.

Connect through it local WIFI Hotspot. And for once, someone got their WI-FI Hotspot right. I leave mine on, chose cartridge size, insert cartridge, then connect to its WIFI Hotspot, finally open the app and print.

Supports Apple AirPrint, so you can print photos direct from your camera roll.

No mess. No fuss. It even provides automatic cut-off, and a tab to make it easier to peel the sticker itself off.

Now you can print that little ‘No Door Knockers’ sticker for the front door, the office can create their own ID passes, photo ID done easy. You have your template image, fill in the data, add a photo, photo ID. Want to label those files or draws, done. Not just white on black or black on white, full colour images, photos text, everything, in all 5 sizes to chose from. Making preserves, canning goods? Full colour photos on labels. Kids name labels on school supplies.

This is the label maker you always wanted, the sticker maker your kids want, the creation tool that has endless possibilities.

In the box, VC-500W Label Printer, CZ-1004 25mm x 5m cassette roll, CK-1000 50mm x 2m cleaning cassette roll, documentation, etc. The cleaning cassette roll is 2M but I’ve only used it once in one and a bit rolls of 50mm and some 25mm.

This is the ideal, dare I say perfect small run, one-off, bespoke sticker or label printer. Yes, I dare.

I expected good, I got great. This is one of those Brother products that will stand out as a game changer. Printing with no outside ink.

This is a product, that from my experience in using it over a 2 week period, printing a number of rolls of paper through the printer, is the absolute best of it’s class, possibly because it is possibly in a class of it’s own. I would highly recommend this product. If you want/need to print full colour stickers/labels, have complete control on what goes on said label or sticker. If it is small runs, one-off, bespoke usage, this is ideal. Office, School, Home, Small Business. This is the sticker printer you didn’t know you needed.