There are three types of ribbon ink: wax, wax/resin, and resin.

Different types of hard and soft waxes are used in wax ribbons. They are generally used for short term applications where the image is not required to stand up to repeated scratching, contact with chemicals, or high temperatures. Wax ribbons can be printed on a wide range of label stocks, but the most common and economical match is coated paper. Typical applications include compliance labeling, and shipping labels.

Waxes and resins are mixed together to produce ribbons that show improved scratch and smear resistance, as well as improved solvent and heat resistance over wax ribbons. Wax/resin ribbons can be printed on a wide range of label stocks, but are particularly good matches for coated papers and coated synthetics such as Kimdura®. Typical applications include bin location labels, and labeling for horticultural and health care applications.

Resin ribbons offer the highest degree of scratch resistance. They are also resistant to a wide range of solvents and can be used in applications in which very high temperatures are encountered. Resin ribbons come with top coats to encourage adhesion to pre-treated polyester, polyimide, polypropylene, and polyethylene labels. Typical applications include agency recognized labeling, circuit board labeling, and labeling of chemical drums.