ID Card Printing
ID Card Printers are used throughout many organisations whether they are used for printing ID Cards, Loyalty Cards or any other personalised plastic cards. ID card printers vary depending on the quality in which you wish to achieve. The two types of ID card printers are DTC and Re-Transfer; we will tell you more about the two types later on in the article. There are many manufacturers such as Evolis, Fargo, Magicard, Zebra and many more, each manufacturer will more than likely offer both the DTC and Re-transfer printers.
DTC explained
The most common printing process for ID card printing is DTC also known as Director Card Printing this is the common printing for standard identification cards that are printed on PVC plastic. This type of printing produces a high quality result with clear colour logos and images that have been laid out in card creation software such as Emedia, Card Five and Assure ID.
The direct to card printing process is started within the card creation software; the software provides details as to what information is printed on the cards. The ribbon which the card printers use is commonly known as YMCKO. Each of the panels YMCK provides a portion of colour to the card, the combination of panels provides a full range of colours which makes up full colour images. The specific section of the panel is heated and the colour is heated onto the plastic card.
Re-transfer Explained
Re-transfer ID card printing is very similar to the DTC, the method of using the ribbons are very similar although the plastic card does not touch the Print head in any way. Re-transfer printers have two ribbons, one is the Re-transfer Film and the other is a YMCK ribbon. The YMCK ribbon is printed onto the Re-transfer film and then the transfer film places the image onto the card.
This process gives the card an edge to edge finish and looks alot crisper in image quality.
The Zebra ZXP Re-transfer printer has the capability of remembering the last card you printed, so if worst comes to worst and you need that card again you will be able to print it at a click of a button, not to mention the ZXP also has a Logging system which enables you to keep track of all cards printed.
With the ID printer, printing ID cards or customer loyalty cards couldn’t be easier. The PC or Mac used to design the cards within the card creation software stores all the information regarding the card design, so if someone loses there ID card or loyalty card it can be reissued quickly.
If you would like more information regarding ID Card printers or if you would like to discuss more difference between DTC and Re-transfer please feel free to call our team on 0800 622 6201 (Landline Friendly) or 0333 7000 123 (Mobile Friendly).
Kind Regards
Lesar Team
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