If you want to print your own ID cards, plastic card printers are the answer. They enable you to print your cards as and when you need them, which means that you stay in control and do not have to rely on a print firm to produce your staff identification cards.
This brief guide will give you an overview of the types of ID card printers that are available.
Do you need to Print on Both Sides?
Most card printers only print on one side. This is fine for most firms, but you may want to include additional information on your personnel Ids in which case it is probably better if you buy a printer that can print on both sides.
However, if you are going to print the same message or details on the back of every card, for example your firm’s logo and phone number you can still get away with buying a single sided printer. This is because you can have your ID card blanks produced by a printer with a blank front and the standard details printed on the back.
Printing Method
The other consideration is the print technique. There are two main kinds dye-sublimation or re-transfer printing.
Dye-sublimation is the fastest and cheapest option, so the majority of the plastic ID printers use this technology. However, with this kind of technology you can only print onto completely flat cards. This means that this kind of printer will not work if you want to use proximity-controlled cards. These kinds of security cards have a small chip and aerial built into them, which means that you will have to opt for a re-transfer printer instead.
Print Quality
It is important that the ID cards you produce are clear and easy to read. For this reason, you need to buy a printer that prints to a minimum of 300dpi.
These are the most important differences.
