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2009 - Page 4 of 24 - Plastic card
Yearly Archives

2009

Aug 05
0

Everything You Need to Print Your Own Plastic Cards

By | News, Plastic cards | No Comments
Are you planning to print your own plastic cards or ID cards? There are many different scenarios in which you may need to print your own cards. Maybe you need the cards for school or for a small business you own. Have you been paying another company to print your ID cards for you? If so, then you probably already know how expensive this process can be. It’s also challenging to get the cards printed exactly how you want them. It can be a frustrating process if the cards turn out to be wrong or with even a small mistake. Even if you get the mistakes corrected free of cost, you will have to wait all over again to have them reprinted and mailed out.If you learn to print your own plastic cards, you can take a great deal of this stress and pressure out of the process. When you print them yourself, you can have direct control over your cards, what they look like, their size and more. If you print one and it doesn’t come out right, you can go immediately back to your machine and just try again.

Card Printer Hardware

Printing ID cards with your own card printer doesn’t have to be difficult. It connects to your computer just like your paper printer and will print out the same way except instead of printing on paper, it prints your image on plastic cards.

If you’re going to print your own plastic cards, there are certain pieces of hardware you’re going to need to do the job correctly. Here is an overview:

Ribbons

Just like your paper printer needs ink ribbons or ink cartridges, so will your card printer. Card printer ribbons are made specifically for printing on cards and will get the job done right so that you can have professional quality cards, printed right in your own home or office.

Laminates

Laminating is very important to protect the card, especially with ID cards or badges that get used on a daily basis. There are different ways of achieving lamination but one of the easiest is purchasing laminates which fit over the cards like sleeves and will protect them and make them last longer.

Cleaning Kits

Proper maintenance is very important to keep your card printer working properly and for a long time. To get the most from your machine, you will want to purchase cleaning kits to keep it operating at top performance. PVC Cards

You can purchase PVC cards for printing on. There are many different styles, colors and qualities to choose from, but you have freedom in finding the perfect ones for your needs.

These are just a few of the main pieces of card printer hardware you will need for printing your own perfect cards. However, this is not an exhaustive list and there are many other products that can make your job even easier or help you add other touches and details to your printed cards. This includes things such as holograms and more.

Benefits to Printing Your Own Plastic Cards

If you aren’t already convinced that printing your own cards is the way to go, it’s time to consider the cost benefits. Who doesn’t like to save money? So why spend more money that you have to? It just doesn’t make sense. Common sense tells you that if there is a cheaper, better way, you should act on it.

If you’re printing membership cards, ID cards or other plastic cards, printing them yourself can be faster, less expensive and easier once you learn how. Here are some of the benefits to doing it yourself:

-The cost per card is less expensive -No penalties if you only need a small number of cards at a time -You can change designs any time you want to -You don’t have to wait 2-6 weeks for your printed cards to arrive -You have quality control and can quickly fix any mistakes to your cards -You have complete control over the printing process and are not limited by a company’s policies

As you can see, the benefits clearly outweigh the cons in a case like this.

Let’s take a look at the numbers:

Full color printing through a company can cost you $0.75 – $2.00 per card and single color printing through a card printing company can cost the same. However, if you print yourself, you’re looking at $0.35 – $0.38 per card for full color printing and $0.07 – $0.08 per card for single color printing. That’s a whopping cost difference!

This is just the per-card cost savings. We haven’t even mentioned what you will save on shipping as well as the fact that you can print as much or as little as you want without any penalties. With many commercial card printing companies, you must have a minimum order (often in the thousands) or you will be charged an additional service fee. What about the person who doesn’t need thousands of cards printed at once?

But as we mentioned, it’s not all about the money. You have the benefit of complete control over your card quality, printing time and any necessary changes.

For the Small Scale Printer

If you tend to need only a small number of cards printed at once then it’s simply not cost effective for you to outsource your printing needs. If you are a small business who needs to print plastic cards for your employees, you won’t benefit from outsourcing your card printing needs either.

When you print the cards yourself with your own plastic card printer, it may take past the first couple of prints to really start to see a good return on investment, but once you do, it will be well worth it. In the long run, you can benefit financially from your own card printer and you can feel satisfied with the professional quality of each card printed.

Aug 02
0

Top 4 Tips For Trading Cards Online

By | News | No Comments
Whether you choose to collect cards in general, or cards for a particular sport, team or league, card collecting can be a very valuable, interesting and educational experience as well as being loads of fun. Trading your cards can be quite lucrative for you too, if done wisely. There is a wide range of cards that people choose to collect and trade; postcards, business cards, calling cards, Victorian trade cards, anime cards, pokemon, yugioh, baseball cards, football cards, sports cards, digital cards, mechanical cards, die-cut cards, CD & DVD cards, celebrity trading cards, artist cards, autographed cards, Disney cards, tobacco cards, promotional cards and more.Avoiding Forgeries Sometimes collectors have mistakenly bought hard-to-find or vintage memorabilia that is actually a good reproduction of the original. Often these are reproductions that have fooled some of the “experts” as well. Be sure to buy from a reliable source to insure authenticity of autographed items. If it seems too good to be true – it probably is. Auctions sites can be loaded with false information not only from scam artists but from honest sellers who just don’t know what they are selling and describing. It has been known for sellers to list fake cards believing they were real, or damaged cards they had rated as fair. Certificates of Authenticity from reliable sources can minimise the risk of counterfeiting and/or fraud for you.

Yugioh (or Yu-gi-oh) trading cards have become a hit with youngsters everywhere. Based on the hit Japanese comic book and cartoon series, Yugioh enthusiasts worldwide collect the wildly popular Yugioh trading cards in order to participate in the elaborate game that is based on the trading cards. The trading card game has it’s own rules of play that are too extensive for the range of this article but well worth learning if you or your youngster are interested in collecting Yugioh. To validate their authenticity always look for the small hologram at the bottom right corner, which should show the Anubis eye, or the word YuGiOh depending on how the light shines on it.

Card Conditions Trading cards (even cards taken directly from factory sealed shrink wrapped products) have a wide range of condition types depending on several factors like card being crisp with sharp edges, no printing errors or blemishes, perfect gloss, and no surface flaws. There are several categories of card conditions commonly used to describe cards in from Poor, Fair, Good, Very Good, Excellent, Excellent-Mint, Near Mint, Near Mint-Mint, Mint, Gem Mint and Pristine.

Preserving, Storing and Protecting your Cards It can be a good idea to get your more valuable trading cards framed, or encased, to protect from damage, and keep them in good shape. Of course, you can store your cards in boxes, but using card protector sheets in binders is a much better way to store the cards where-by they are protected and easily accessible for viewing. If you choose to box your cards rather than using a binder, be sure to use individual card protectors for each card.

Poor storage conditions can be the enemy of your trading cards. Always store cards in a location that isn’t subject to excessive humidity, moisture, extreme heat or direct sunlight. Heat may damage the cards, especially if they are in plastic card protectors, and exposure to sunlight will fade the cards. Moisture is another enemy of card collectors. I have seen card collections that got wet in storage, went mouldy and became instantly worthless. If you have an extensive collection you may even want to consider an archival safe holder or protector and avoid anything with PVC.

Card Values The worth or value of a card is both relative and subjective. For example, a collector may find a card more valuable than a player when it is difficult to find but it is not all that useful for playing the game. The same card may have different value for different people depending on the cards frequency of printing, age, condition, or when it is being offered for trade. The value of cards can change with time, as new game strategies are explored or new cards are published. Collectible cards are actually good investments. The rarer it is to find cards in good condition with time, the higher the value they will obtain.

Jul 30
0

Picard- A Cheap and Amazing Gift

By | Gift Cards | No Comments

Looking for a great and cheap way to surprise your costumers and promote your business? Picard gift card is the perfect solution for you! By giving this small beautiful card to your clients, you can be sure that they will remember you and your company for the better, and revisit your business more and more often. Unlike any other business card made of simple paper that does not last too long, Picard is made of PVC plastic and UV coating that protects the card from being damaged, and makes the card’s life last very long. The print on the card is probably in the best quality that you can find. The special thing about Picard, is that you are the designer of the card! Just enter our website and see for yourself- the process of the design is extremely simple, fast and fun. It includes uploading any image you want, adding text, and changing the colors and effects as you wish. Once completing the process of design, you will receive your gift card to the address you specified within few days only, and all for a ridiculously cheap price! Picard is, indeed, the prefect gift for any occasion and for anyone you want to give it to. You should print the details of the gift on the card, for example, a certain discount, or a present from the company. So, if you have a restaurant, you can write on the card that the gift is a fancy dinner for two. If you need any help with deciding upon a gift, please contact us and we will provide you with great ideas for a great and cheap gift to give your clients.

Jul 27
0

Everything You Need to Print Your Own Plastic Cards

By | News | No Comments

Are you planning to print your own plastic cards or ID cards? There are many different scenarios in which you may need to print your own cards. Maybe you need the cards for school or for a small business you own. Have you been paying another company to print your ID cards for you? If so, then you probably already know how expensive this process can be. It’s also challenging to get the cards printed exactly how you want them. It can be a frustrating process if the cards turn out to be wrong or with even a small mistake. Even if you get the mistakes corrected free of cost, you will have to wait all over again to have them reprinted and mailed out.

If you learn to print your own plastic cards, you can take a great deal of this stress and pressure out of the process. When you print them yourself, you can have direct control over your cards, what they look like, their size and more. If you print one and it doesn’t come out right, you can go immediately back to your machine and just try again.

Card Printer Hardware

Printing ID cards with your own card printer doesn’t have to be difficult. It connects to your computer just like your paper printer and will print out the same way except instead of printing on paper, it prints your image on plastic cards.

If you’re going to print your own plastic cards, there are certain pieces of hardware you’re going to need to do the job correctly. Here is an overview:

Ribbons

Just like your paper printer needs ink ribbons or ink cartridges, so will your card printer. Card printer ribbons are made specifically for printing on cards and will get the job done right so that you can have professional quality cards, printed right in your own home or office.

Laminates

Laminating is very important to protect the card, especially with ID cards or badges that get used on a daily basis. There are different ways of achieving lamination but one of the easiest is purchasing laminates which fit over the cards like sleeves and will protect them and make them last longer.

Cleaning Kits

Proper maintenance is very important to keep your card printer working properly and for a long time. To get the most from your machine, you will want to purchase cleaning kits to keep it operating at top performance.

PVC Cards

You can purchase PVC cards for printing on. There are many different styles, colors and qualities to choose from, but you have freedom in finding the perfect ones for your needs.

These are just a few of the main pieces of card printer hardware you will need for printing your own perfect cards. However, this is not an exhaustive list and there are many other products that can make your job even easier or help you add other touches and details to your printed cards. This includes things such as holograms and more.

Benefits to Printing Your Own Plastic Cards

If you aren’t already convinced that printing your own cards is the way to go, it’s time to consider the cost benefits. Who doesn’t like to save money? So why spend more money that you have to? It just doesn’t make sense. Common sense tells you that if there is a cheaper, better way, you should act on it.

If you’re printing membership cards, ID cards or other plastic cards, printing them yourself can be faster, less expensive and easier once you learn how. Here are some of the benefits to doing it yourself:

-The cost per card is less expensive
-No penalties if you only need a small number of cards at a time
-You can change designs any time you want to
-You don’t have to wait 2-6 weeks for your printed cards to arrive
-You have quality control and can quickly fix any mistakes to your cards
-You have complete control over the printing process and are not limited by a company’s policies

As you can see, the benefits clearly outweigh the cons in a case like this.

Let’s take a look at the numbers:

Full color printing through a company can cost you $0.75 – $2.00
per card and single color printing through a card printing company can cost the same. However, if you print yourself, you’re looking at $0.35 – $0.38 per card for full color printing and $0.07 – $0.08 per card for single color printing. That’s a whopping cost difference!

This is just the per-card cost savings. We haven’t even mentioned what you will save on shipping as well as the fact that you can print as much or as little as you want without any penalties. With many commercial card printing companies, you must have a minimum order (often in the thousands) or you will be charged an additional service fee. What about the person who doesn’t need thousands of cards printed at once?

But as we mentioned, it’s not all about the money. You have the benefit of complete control over your card quality, printing time and any necessary changes.

For the Small Scale Printer

If you tend to need only a small number of cards printed at once then it’s simply not cost effective for you to outsource your printing needs. If you are a small business who needs to print plastic cards for your employees, you won’t benefit from outsourcing your card printing needs either.

When you print the cards yourself with your own plastic card printer, it may take past the first couple of prints to really start to see a good return on investment, but once you do, it will be well worth it. In the long run, you can benefit financially from your own card printer and you can feel satisfied with the professional quality of each card printed.

Jul 23
0

Printing Your Own Plastic Cards Will Save You Money

By | ID Cards | No Comments

Having your plastic identification cards made by a printing company can be very expensive. If you represent a company who is not concerned about saving money than please ignore this information. However, if you are representing a business and your success or failure depends on every dollar you can save, than hop aboard and hang on. Even if you are a student that only needs to make a few cards at a time for school, this is news you will want to hear. The bottom line is that by printing your own plastic cards you will save money.

Most of your commercial printing companies require bulk orders, sometimes up into the thousands. By printing your own cards, you have the option of printing only the amount of cards that you need. Once you learn how to make your own plastic cards, it will be easier, faster and without a doubt, less expensive. In addition, by making your own cards you avoid any penalties or fees for small orders. You will have the control over your own designs. You can change them anytime you wish with out any hassle. You will also eliminate the waiting period, which can be weeks with some companies.

You are immediately empowered with on the spot quality control when you are making your own cards. If a company makes a mistake, most of the time they will take care of the cost, but you still have to wait even longer to get your product. All of this stress can be avoided. You do not have to be tied down to other companies polices. You can control your own printing process. By making your own cards you will save an amazing amount of money on a per card basis. In addition to all of this you will not be paying shipping costs anymore.

Any business must be cost effective. Everyone wants to save money. It does not matter if you are a student or a small business owner. Make your own cards and you will get better through trial and error. In the end you will reap the rewards. It is not as hard as you might think to make your own plastic cards. You can purchase a card printer and connect it to your computer just like a paper printer. Of course you will need a card ribbon instead of a paper ribbon to ensure absolute quality. Badge software and the correct attachments to wear or carry the badge are other items you may need to have a successful badge printing setup.

If you have an eye for detail and actually feel more comfortable when you have your fingers on the controls, then making your own plastic cards is the way to go. You will get that control and save a bundle of money as well.

For additional information about id badge makers or other products for making custom badges contact an id card company who specializes in PVC badge printing.
Jul 20
0

Plastic Card Printer Basics For Business Owners

By | ID Cards | No Comments

Whether it’s for employee ID cards, customer loyalty cards or a host of other customized plastic cards, using a card printer has become common in many UK businesses.

Benefits of Plastic Card Printers

Whether it’s for an employee or a customer, card printers make short work of creating any type of card, from a plastic credit card to a plastic security card. Because the information is stored in a computer, it’s easy to create replacements for lost cards. Because the cards are issued on site, the employee or customer doesn’t have to wait for their cards.

How Does A Plastic Card Printer Work?

There are 2 basic ways to print cards: thermal transfer and dye sublimation. In the thermal transfer method, heated ink goes directly onto the cards. In the dye sublimation method, heated ink converts to a gas that permeates the cards.

Card Printer Features

Be sure the card printer can interface with whatever computer operating system you’re using. It also should have a USB port and an optional Ethernet port, so it can be used as a standalone or on a network. Card design software should be included, so you can quickly easily design everything from plastic discount cards to plastic membership cards.

Benefits of Digitally Printed Cards

The main benefit of using plastic card printers is that you’re able to create cards that seamlessly integrate text, graphics, artwork, digital photos, logos and bar codes. If you have OCR or magnetic stripe requirements, a good card printer can handle those as well.

A plastic cards printer can be a valuable and cost effective tool for UK business owners who want to save money and have full control over both the look and security of printed plastic cards.