Abstract: A printing apparatus for generating an image which includes a housing, a ribbon supply holder, a tape supply holder, an input device, a thermal printing head and a tape attachment device. The ribbon supply holder is operatively coupled to the housing to hold a supply of ink ribbon. The ink ribbon includes a film layer with an ink layer disposed thereon, and a receptor layer for receiving ink from the film layer. The tape supply holder is operatively coupled to the housing to hold a supply of tape, and the tape includes an adhesive layer. The input device is operatively coupled to the housing to enter data used to generate the image by the printing apparatus. The thermal printing head is operatively coupled to the housing to print the entered data on the ink ribbon. The tape attachment device attaches the tape to the film layer of the ink ribbon.