The trend toward legalizing marijuana for medical and recreational purposes alike has slowly been taking hold across the United States with at least 29 states and D.C. allowing medical marijuana and 9 having legalized recreational marijuana. Additional states allow the legal use of CBD, which is a non-psychoactive marijuana extract. With legalization comes opportunity for businesses seeking to serve the cannabis market.

Though various forms of marijuana may now be legally obtained, distributed, and sold in some jurisdictions, each state has its own requirements. Among the many requirements are medical and recreational marijuana labeling requirements covering everything from font types and sizes to universal symbols, concentrations, potency, registration numbers, medical grade, and various warnings.

To produce your own medical marijuana and custom cannabis labels, you’ll want to be sure you’re familiar with the specific regulations covering the state or states you serve. You’ll also need a marijuana label printer that can help you comply with these regulations as well as produce the type of custom cannabis labels you have in mind.

Both Afinia Label and Epson have several great cannabis label printers to consider. Whether you run a small medical marijuana dispensary or are a large wholesaler, DuraFast Label Company can help you select the most appropriate label printer based on your volume requirements and other variables.

Leading Epson Cannabis Label Printers

Entry-level — none.

Mid-range — Epson TM-C3500 — This ColorWorks label printer is best suited for printing small and mid-sized batches of medical and recreational marijuana labels. It prints full color labels at 720dpi and can handle labels up to 4 inches wide. It has a built-in label cutter, so it can use either continuous or pre-die cut label rolls. With its pigment inks and compatibility with synthetic and chemical label stock, the Epson TM-C3500 prints oil-resistant labels. Thus, it can print oil-resistant CBD oil labels with ease.

High speed — Epson ColorWorks C7500 Series — This family of color label printers comes in three models: a matte label printer, a gloss label printer, and a “Graphics Edition” of the gloss label printer. All three models are popular high speed, high volume cannabis label printers that print 1200dpi labels in full color at just under 12 inches per second. These medical marijuana label printers print up to 4-inch-wide labels. The differences are discussed below:

Epson TM-C7500 (matte) — Works with matte chemical label media and Epson DURABrite® Ultra pigment inks. The Epson TM-C7500 matte label printer offers the best UV protection and extreme label durability. It’s ideal for cannabis greenhouse labels, edible marijuana products, CBD oil, cartons, bags, and other packaging.

Epson TM-C7500G (gloss) — Works with glossy label media and Epson UltraChrome DL pigment inks. The Epson TM-C7500G gloss label printer is a good choice for marijuana product labels where a shiny look is desired.

Epson TM-C7500GE (Graphics Edition) — The graphics edition includes the Epson TM-C7500G gloss label printer, Wasatch SoftRIP Label Edition software, and one year of Epson’s onsite warranty service. This bundle delivers all of the benefits of the ColorWorks C7500G with better color management options and the peace of mind that onsite warranty service brings.

DuraFast Label Company also has blank label media for each of the recommended Epson label printers as well as replacement ink cartridges and accessories.

Leading Afinia Cannabis Label Printers

Entry-level — Afinia L301 — The Afinia Label L301 is an great cannabis label printer for small dispensaries, producers, and shops that want to print beautiful full color custom marijuana labels at up to 4800dpi and up to 6 inches wide. With an affordable price and exceptional print quality, the Afinia L301 is ideal for small batch custom cannabis label printing. It’s intended for low volume label printing.

Mid-range — Afinia L501 Dye and Afinia L501 Pigment — These two printers are an excellent choice for printing larger quantities of custom cannabis labels, and they are quite flexible. Both feature Duo Ink Technology and can be set up to print two different types of ink. They both print labels up to 8 inches wide, have resolution that comes close to the L301’s 4800dpi but at a much faster speed.

Afinia L501 Dye — Comes with a dye printhead to use dye-based inks, which are best for printing vibrant colors and product labels. If your needs change, you can later add a pigment printhead and pigment inks (both sold separately) and use this label printer to print more durable industrial-type labels.

Afinia L501 Pigment — Comes with a pigment printhead to use pigment-based inks, which can produce the most durable labels available such as GHS BS5609-compliant chemical labels. Like its sibling, the Afinia L501 Pigment can be upgraded with the optional dye printhead and then used with dye inks to produce more eye-catching product labels.

High Speed — Afinia L801 and the new Afinia L901 — If your medical or recreational marijuana business requires high speed or high volume custom cannabis label production, both of these two color label printers are worthy contenders. They both use Memjet technology to print 1600dpi custom cannabis labels at up to 60 feet per minute and at up to 8 inches in width. They both lead the industry with their low total cost of ownership. The biggest operational savings come from their low ink costs, with the ink cost savings alone helping to deliver the best ROI in a short time period for businesses that print 3,000 or more labels in a month.

Afinia L701 — An excellent choice for low to mid volume custom cannabis labels for all of the reasons listed above.

Afinia L801 — An excellent choice for high volume custom cannabis labels for all of the reasons listed above.

Afinia L901 — This Memjet model is brand new, improving upon the L801 with features like dye inks, a longer printhead life, built-in memory, a touchscreen interface, better water and UV resistance, and deeper blacks.

DuraFast Label Company also has blank label media for each of the recommended Afinia Label label printers as well as replacement ink cartridges and accessories.

We Can Help You with All of Your Custom Cannabis Label Printing Requirements

With multiple cannabis label printers to choose from, we understand that making a choice isn’t necessarily easy. Each of the Epson and Afinia marijuana label printers works well for certain volumes and quality scenarios. Our cannabis label specialists can help you to determine which label printer would be best for your medical or recreational marijuana operation. Contact us today to learn more.

	Leading Marijuana Label Printers from Epson	Leading Marijuana Label Printers from Afinia Label
Max Label Width	4 inches	8 inches
Entry-Level Marijuana Color Label Printers	None	Afinia L301 (High resolution, but slow print speed)
Mid-Range Marijuana Color Label Printers	Epson TM-C3500	Afinia L501 Dye Afinia L501 Pigment
High Speed Marijuana Color Label Printers	Epson TM-C7500 Epson TM-C7500G Epson TM-C7500GE	Afinia L701 Afinia L801 Afinia L901
Onsite warranty	The Epson TM-C7500 and TM-C7500G have onsite warranty option. You can purchase up to 4 years onsite service. The Epson TM-C7500GE includes one year of onsite warranty service.	Third party one year onsite is available for the L701, L801 and L901