Patent ID: 8294743

Claim:
A method of thermally marking a substrate, comprising the steps of: providing a printable medium configured with at least one orientation indicator, the printable medium including one or more thermochromic areas; providing a printing apparatus with a processor and at least one sensor, wherein the printing apparatus is coupled with a user interface for accepting one or more inputs from a user, wherein the printing apparatus holds the printable medium, and wherein the printing apparatus transfers heat to the printable medium with an array of heating elements; inserting the printable medium into the printing apparatus to position one or more individual heating elements from the array of heating elements at least partially adjacent to the one or more thermochromic areas of the printable medium; detecting the at least one orientation indicator with the at least one sensor such that the orientation of the printable medium within the printing apparatus is determined based on the position of the at least one orientation indicator; mapping the location of the thermochromic areas by the processor using the orientation determination; activating one or more individual heating elements from the array of heating elements that line up with the thermochromic areas of the printable medium, forming activated heating elements, wherein the activation comprises configuring the one or more individual heating elements to provide heat to the printable medium; and actuating one or more active heating elements in response to a user input to heat one or more thermochromic areas and cause the thermochromic areas to change in appearance.