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Overview	6 Months Ended
	Jul. 28, 2012
Overview [Abstract]
Overview	(1) Overview Headquartered in West Warwick, Rhode Island, Astro-Med Inc. designs, develops, manufactures and distributes a broad range of specialty printers and data acquisition and analysis systems. Our products are distributed through our own sales force and authorized dealers in the United States. We also sell to customers outside of the United States primarily by using authorized dealers and international sales representatives, who are managed from our foreign branch offices. Astro-Med, Inc. products are sold under the brand names Astro-Med ® Test & Measurement, Grass ® Technologies and QuickLabel ® Systems and are employed around the world in a wide range of aerospace, automotive, communications, chemical, food and beverage, medical, military, industrial, and packaging applications. Unless otherwise indicated, references to “Astro-Med,” the “Company,” “we,” “our,” and “us” in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q refer to Astro-Med, Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries.

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- Definition

The entire disclosure for the nature of an entity's business, the major products or services it sells or provides and its principal markets, including the locations of those markets. If the entity operates in more than one business, the disclosure also indicates the relative importance of its operations in each business and the basis for the determination (for example, assets, revenues, or earnings).

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 275

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Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher AICPA

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-LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy.

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