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Information about card printers

Printing plastic cards is in principle just as easy as printing on paper. However, there are a few special features that you should consider and know before buying such a device:

 

Do I need special knowledge?

No, you definitely do not need that. If you can connect and operate a normal paper printer, you will have no problems with card printers.

 

How do I connect my printer?

Card printers are connected to the printer in the same way as conventional paper printers, using a USB cable or network cable. For plug-in printers, it is not even necessary to install a driver. For all other printers, the appropriate printer driver is installed either by means of the supplied CD, USB stick or as a download.

 

Do I need special software?

No, you can print directly from all common programs such as Word, Corel Draw, Photoshop or Open Office. However, if you want to encode your plastic cards, whether magnetic stripes, RFID cards or chip cards, you need a special program and of course the corresponding encoding stations in the printer. For this purpose we recommend the software Cardpresso.

 

How do I change a colour ribbon?

The manufacturers have made this as simple as possible. You only have to open the cover or the front flap of the printer, the old ribbon can be easily removed from the printer and a new one can be inserted just as easily. Re-transfer printers require 2 ribbons to be loaded in a certain way - but this is also very uncomplicated and done within 1 minute.

 

Why are there special cleaning kits for card printers?

Over time, dust and particles settle in the printer. These are also often found on plastic cards. In order to obtain a consistently good print image and to guarantee a smooth card feed, cleaning should be carried out after approx. 1000 prints. The printers usually report this automatically as soon as a cleaning is due.

 

How do I clean my card printer?

In most cases a special cleaning card is inserted into the printer to clean the mechanism and the rollers. This can be repeated several times with one and the same cleaning card until the printer is dust free and ready for use again. This takes just 2 minutes, but it protects your card printer and is important for warranty claims.

 

Can I print on any card colour?

In principle, yes. However, the printing inks may appear differently on coloured plastic cards than desired. The card colour and the printing inks mix, so that a blue print on a green card, for example, suddenly appears brown-grey. A print in black, white, gold and silver is possible on all card colours and does not change the appearance and colour image.
A colourful print as well as a print with re-transfer card printers is only perfectly possible on white plastic cards.

 

How does a thermal transfer printer work?

These are the all-rounders among the card printers (Authentys 300, Hiti CS200e, Evolis Primacy, Zebra ZC series etc.). Here, printing is done directly from the ribbon onto the plastic card using heat. There is a wide range of different, monochrome printing ribbons as well as ribbons for colourful printing.

Advantages:

• Low acquisition costs
• Inexpensive monochrome ribbons
• Special colours like gold and silver
• Special ribbons such as scratch off or for a signature field (depending on manufacturer)
• Compact and space-saving printers
• Very easy to use
• Upgradeable with coding options and turning station (depending on manufacturer)

Disadvantage:

• No over-the-edge printing, even if the manufacturers call it that. About half a millimetre remains unprinted at the edge of the card.
• Image quality does not reach the re-transfer print

 

What is a re-transfer printer?

Re-transfer card printers are specially designed for an excellent, colourful print image (Dascom DC-7600, Evolis Avansia, Matica MC660, Fargo HDP6600 etc.). In contrast to the thermal transfer printers, the card is first printed on a special carrier foil, the so-called re-transfer film. This film is in turn applied to the cards with high heat. This enables brilliant printing results and over-the-edge card printing. This printing method is also particularly suitable for RFID cards, as the unevenness of the cards is not important here due to the integrated RFID transmitter.

Advantages:

• Particularly good print quality, near offset print quality
• Resolution up to 600 dpi for finest lines and micro fonts
• Absolute over-the-edge printing
• Optional special lamination and security modules
• Upgradeable with various coding options and turning station

Disadvantage:

• Higher acquisition costs
• No single-colour printing ribbons

 

Which plastic cards can I use?

The plastic cards we offer in the standard size 85 x 54 mm and a thickness of 0.76 mm usually work with all card printers. However, we recommend our High Quality Cards for very good printing results and for all re-transfer card printers. The print image will be sharper and better with these cards. If you want to print another card format or thicker or thinner cards, this depends on the configuration of your printer.

 

How fast do the machines print?

Here we differentiate between colour and monochrome printing. Of course this depends on the individual devices and your computer settings, but a guideline is as follows:

Colour printing per card page: 30 - 60 seconds

Monochrome print per card side: 3-9 seconds

 

Which is the right printer for me?

We cannot answer this question in such a general way. It depends on your requirements and wishes regarding the printer and of course a little bit on the estimated budget. We would be happy to find out for you which printer models are ideal for your project - simply contact us by e-mail at info@kartenstudio.com or call us on +49 8094 - 66 899 85.