A thermal printer with a printing head is described for the printing of differently thick print media, especially label course or the like, in which opposite the printing head constructed as a pressure beam there lies at least one transport roller, and the medium to be printed is led through the input gap between printing head and transport roller. So that differently thick print media, especially label courses, can be printed with little wear on the printing head, the invention provides that the pressure beam is made liftable and lowerable.