a system is provided for movably supporting an ink film in a printer . the system has cylindrical supply and take - up cores for supporting and taking up the film during printing operations . the cores may be made of molded plastic resin . the ends of the cores are sized to selectively fit within a frame in such a way as to provide stable operation , including where applicable , while a frame cover is closed . in a preferred embodiment , the diameters of the first and second ends of the supply and take - up cores are essentially the same , and the diameters of the second and first ends of the respective cores are essentially the same . a molded cylindrical brake portion frictionally contacts the teeth of a brake gear to provide the desired film tension with improved handling and with reduced likelihood of jamming .