The majority of existing thermal printers are made so that the print media is sandwiched between the drive roller and heating element of the thermal head. Our new heating head is an extension of the thermal printhead concept with the exception of heating a whole section of the head rather than a portion of it. The heating head utilizes the thick-film heating element on the ceramic substrate. The new design prevents energy diffusion by heat accumulation and retention. Also, the new structure makes it possible for the device to be miniaturized and the heat transfers to the media easily. Another distinction of the new heating head is that the heating/contacting surface is on the opposite side of the heat generating side of the ceramic substrate. This improves the heat dispersion throughout the heating head. The best benefit of this structure, however, is there will be no life problems on the heating surface such as abrasion, scratch and chemical corrosion which is a serious concern for any contact heating device. The temperature sensor is located very close to the heating element on the same side of substrate and temperature monitoring can be done very fast, easily and accurately. The unique heating element construction makes it possible to join multiple ceramic substrates making the head heating as long as required.