Before you buy an ID card printer – 3 tips
You have decided to buy an ID card printer for your business. The next step is choosing a printer that meets all of your needs while providing you the best value for money. To assist you, here are three tips on how to select the right ID car printer for you.
1. Determine your card printing volume.
There are ID card printers for all printing volumes. However, knowing the volumes you will be printing will help you select the most appropriate ID card printer.How many cards will you have to print per year?
- High printing volume: over 5.000 per year
- Medium printing volume – or up to 5,000 per year
- Small printing volume – or under 500 per year
2. Specify your card appearance needs.
You have to determine if you want a:
- A single or a dual-sided card
- A monochrome or a full-colour card
- The image quality you need.
There are multiple options to choose from and ID card printers to match. Some of the options are detailed below. (Click on the links for more information.)
- The card printer can print on both sides but it must run through twice
- The printer can print on both sides
- Cheaper; typically used in specialized situations (integrating with a mainframe system)
- Also works well when using colour ID cards (silver printing on a black ID card)
- All colour printers can use monochrome ribbons to print monochrome cards and badges
- More expensive, but the most versatile and practical long-term choice
- Dye sublimation process with thermal print head which allows to transfer colour from ribbon to card
- Prints photo-realistic colours
- Slight borders
- It is the best choice if the image quality is the primary concern
- High-quality printing
- No border
- More expensive and slower to print card
3. Define the Level of Security Required.
Having chosen the volume you require and style of finish, the level of security incorporated into your cards is an important consideration. Depending on the card’s usage, there are differing levels of security features to factor in. Below are some options. Click on the links for more details.
Standard Card Security – Magnetic Encoding
- Optional magnetic strip encoding
- Magnetic stripe (swipe cards) read by all card readers
- Versatile common use include: loyalty card, gift card, membership cards, students IDs and many more
- Plastic card are not really less expensive than magnetic stripe cards
- Smart card encoding options for some ID card printers in order to add more advanced information
High Card Security – Lamination
- Improve lifespan for all cards
- Allows added security features such as holographic images and added security layers such as ultraviolet images
- Often used for high-security facility identification in the public and private sectors
- Requires use of composite card stock, rather than standard PVC card stock
- Holographs can be customized for highest security by either using customized laminating ribbons or card stock
When choosing the right ID card printer for your business, consider your card printing volume, standard of finish and required level of security. In doing so, you will be in a better position to maximise the return on your ID card printer investment.
If have any questions or require more details about oir range of Evolis ID card printers explore our website or contact us on + 353 1 460 2200