ID Card Printers

Things to consider before buying your ID Card Printer

Before buying an ID card printer, you should define exactly what the printer should do for your current and future projects. For example, it should be clarified beforehand which printing method is suitable for you, how high the print volume is and whether you want to encode your ID cards.

In our card printer guide, we explain how to find the right card printer and which specific questions you should ask.

Once the requirements for the desired printing system have been met, the choice of products can be more easily limited. With our ID Card Printer Comparison you filter exactly according to the criteria that your printer must perform. Especially the printing process is an important issue that you should have dealt with before deciding on a plastic card printer. So there are important differences between a direct-to-card printer and a retransfer card printer.

Which printing methods are available?

Most ID card printers work on a similar principle, but the printing methods differ in detail.

Thermal Transfer

The thermal transfer process is used for the monochrome personalization of mostly pre-printed plastic cards. Here, the color is "transferred" by heat from the monochrome ribbon directly to the card. This direct printing method enables fast card printing, but no borderless printing result is achieved.

Thermal Sublimation

The thermal sublimation is also a direct printing process and is suitable for the colored printing and personalization of plastic cards. Multi-tone ribbons are used. The card to be printed is passed several times with the respective color zone on the print head. The color is deposited in gradations directly on the card (sublimated). Thus, a high color depth with up to 16 million colors can be displayed on the card. The printing process is fast, but edge-passing (over-the-edge) printing is not possible. Thus, there is always a small white margin to the edge of the card. This is also known as edge-to-edge printing.

Thermal Rewrite

In contrast to the usual printing methods of plastic card printing, in the thermal rewrite process the card is not personalized with the aid of a ribbon, but a heat-sensitive layer in the card is excited by heat. These cards can be reprinted, erased, and reprinted with Rewrite Card Printers.

Retransfer

In contrast to the thermal sublimation printing, the color is first printed mirror-inverted on a print film in the retransfer process. The film is applied to the plastic card in a second thermal operation. A big advantage of retransfer printing compared to the thermal sublimation is a certain independence of material and surface of the card medium to be printed. PVC cards can be printed with retransfer printers over the edge.

Tips for Card Printer Installation & Maintenance

We keep receiving technical questions about setting up and maintaining card printers and installing software. We have summarized the most frequently asked questions on the topic for you in a card printer FAQ.

Card Printer FAQ