Tag

plastic card printer Archives - Plastic card

Accessorized Your Plastic Card Printer

By | News | No Comments

There are many plastic card printer suppliers that offer a complete range of supplies and accessories especially designed for your card printer. In the card printer market you can find range of accessories to get the most out of your card printer such as cables, additional card feeder, cleaning kits etc. Here are some of the plastic card supplies and accessories:

– Colored Ribbons – There are a complete variety of colored ribbons to choose from to get the most out of your plastic card printer. It is advised to know the brand of your printer to ensure that you use the appropriate card printer ribbons for your printer. The color printer ribbons are used in dye sublimation printers and high definition printers for a print full color cards which gives a smooth, clear image.

– Monochrome Ribbons- This type of ribbon does not only refer to black and white printer ribbons, they can also print specific color design according to your needs. It used a single color to create a range of shades. This type of card printer ribbon is ideal for a small scale, economical card printing needs.

– Specialty Ribbons – This kind of ribbon is design for unique printer applications. It comes in wide range of types and colors which includes dye sublimation, high definition, thermal transfer, laminate and many more depending on the type of printer you own and on the printing needs of your organization.

– Blank Plastic Card (PVC) – For outstanding printouts on the information written on your card, you should focus in choosing the right blank plastic card manufacturer. There are so many flaws that can occur on printing when you use low quality blank plastic card. You can avoid this printing problem if you choose a well respected and leading manufacturer with high quality of plastic card for your plastic card printing needs.

– Plastic Card Cleaning Kits – This cleaning kit will help your plastic card printer last for longer years. It will also keep the quality of the print by preventing the unit free from fragments that can affect printing results on your card. Having plastic card cleaning kit is the most economical preventive maintenance that you can do to keep your printer in good condition. It can also save you a lot of money and time by increasing the quality of your print and save on replacing some parts of your printer every now and then.

– Plastic Card Printer Cases – it gives protection to your card printer during moves. It is specially designed to keep your printer from bumps during transfer of your printer to one place to another. But it is necessary to find the right case for the specific plastic card printer model because each transport plastic card printer case is designed for every specific plastic card printer type.

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.

Plastic Card Printing – A Great Way to Boost Your Business

By | News | No Comments

Many UK business owners who provide products and services to the public offer some type of plastic credit card or plastic loyalty card to their customers. In this article, we’ll present some basic information about plastic card printing and how it can help your business.

How Can I Use Plastic Cards in My Business?

Custom plastic cards are a wonderful and cost effective “perk” that increases both goodwill and sales. To get started, you’ll need a specialized piece of plastic cards printing equipment and a computer to attach it to. Once you’ve gotten your hardware, we’re sure you’ll find many other uses for your plastic cards printing machine. For example, you might want to consider employee ID cards, personalized gift cards or visitor badges in addition to the cards you give to your customers.

Who’s Using Plastic Card Printers?

So, who’s using plastic card printing machines? Here are just a few headlines from various Internet sources:

“Self-Printed Gift Cards Are In Style at shopLAstyle.com”
“The Store” Provides On-the-Spot Loyalty Cards to Shoppers with Card Printers”
“Card Printers a Clear Winner for Qatar Airways Frequent Flyer Program”
“Award-Winning Funeral Home Prints Its Own Commemorative Plastic Cards”
“Promotional Products Company Uses Printer to Create Custom ID Cards for Clients”

Features and Pricing for Plastic Card Printers

Cards like plastic membership cards are easy to customize. You can add a magnetic stripe, bar code or OCR lettering. You will have complete control over the custom plastic cards printing process. Imagine being able to instantly design a striking plastic card, complete with your logo and custom artwork. Basic plastic cards printers are surprisingly affordable, with prices starting at about $1200 US (£810 GBP). Plastic cards printing technology is used worldwide for an amazing variety of applications. Shouldn’t your UK business it them as well?

6 Questions to Ask When Purchasing an Id Card Printer

By | ID Cards | No Comments

Everyday business owners decide that the time is right to implement their own internal ID card printing system; and each time the same question arises – what is the right ID card printer? Here are 6 Questions you should have the answers to before purchasing an ID card printer.

1. Do you need to print on both sides of your photo ID card?

If you answered yes, you will need to purchase a dual-sided printer. This will allow you to add information on both the front and the back of the card. There are all kinds of excellent dual ID card printers on the market. The disadvantage to this type of printer is it costs more and this type of printing takes more time.

2. Do you need to print monochrome or color cards?

Monochrome printing uses only black ink, so it is much cheaper. It’s also a lot faster, taking only around 5 seconds per card. Color printing lets you create eye catching color cards, and it also allows for very realistic photos on you photo ID cards. The disadvantage is that color printing costs more.

3. Do you need your cards to be smart?

Today’s market provides you with all kinds of different photo ID cards to choose from, including smart ones. The smart card is able to store all kinds of information on the magnetic strip or bar code. The information is encoded on smart chips, making them popular in situations where security is an issue. For example, smart cards are a good choice if you need your employees to sign in or sign out of secure facilities.

4. Do your cards need to be secure?

There is a great deal of effort that goes into making a card as secure as possible. A members card for a local retail store might not have to be very secure, but a restricted area in a laboratory will likely require a great deal of security. You’ll need to take inventory of what it is you need your cards to do, and then you’ll know what features to look for in a printer. All the top manufacturers offer mag stripe encoders, and smart card encoders. If you need to laminate your card you need a photo ID printer with a special station.  So consider this when you are looking

5. How many cards do you need to print every year?

The average printer can print around 30,000 cards per year, which is adequate for most. If you need to print more cards you will need to choose a printer that is designed for higher volume.

6. What is the life expectancy you want from your photo ID cards?

Abrasive activities from swiping the card in high usage situations, can wear them out quickly. Average usage will see a PVC card last 1 to 2 years, while high use could easily cut the life expectancy of these cards in half.

You can extend the life of your cards using overlays or lamination. An overlay is an additional panel on the printer ribbon, which gets laid down on the top of the card. This extends card life by a year. Lamination applies a vinyl coating on both sides of the card. It is applied using heat and pressure. There are different thicknesses of lamination to choose from. In general, laminating adds 4 to 5 years to the life of your card. These options might increase your initial costs, but overall are more likely to reduce your costs in situations of high use.

Once you know the answer to these 6 questions, you will have a much better understanding of the type of ID card printer you need. There are many excellent printers on the market, making choosing right printer that much easier. Successful businesses recognize opportunities that will reduce costs and increase profits. Printing your own photo ID cards will do just that.

Features of Plastic Card Printers

By | News | No Comments

Plastic card printers have the capacity to create personalized cards based on your requirements. Using a computer and an image capture system, like a digital camera, plastic card printers give a well integrated system. At just a few seconds per card, the printing method is fast, so that cards are created and custom-made instantly. Digitally printed plastic cards begin with a clear and plain card that can be printed with any mixture of design, text, graphics, digital photograph, logos, bar codes and others. These designs and features are limited only by the issuers’ creativeness. Other machine-legible information, such as smart card chips and magnetic stripes can also be programmed.

Magnetic stripes can complement your plastic card order where the upper 1/3 of one part of the card is clear to contain the stripe. Magnetic Stripes have beneficial qualities that you can consider to be included on your card order. These help the new card works with previous card readers and software programs. Magnetic stripes save a small amount of information such as customer information, report numbers, user id, member numbers or also access codes for locks and other operational systems. They are compatible with other complicated software programs such as those used in Gift Card programs or Loyalty Card programs as well. The magnetic striped card is also suited with the promoter’s software so that it can provide the holder with special offers, credit towards marketing incentives and purchases, and is also used in building database that assist you in buying habits of customers. This information is useful since retailers can better serve their customers depending on stocks products that pull the interest of their customers. Also, it has many more advantages that offer a wealth of valuable marketing applications.

Another feature of plastic card that you can utilize is the signature panel on the digitally scanned signature on the face of the card or reverse of the card. Most cards are too glossy to draw on a ball point pen for signing. A signature panel provides a perfect surface to tolerate a handwritten signature. Also, a scanned signature can be added and can be personalized, however there are many card options available that can be printed on your card using digital signature.

It is simple and easy to add to your order, just ask your plastic card printing service provider about adding the Signature Panel feature. They will handle the rest. Just call them anytime if you have any queries and they can begin the process producing your high quality plastic cards. Bar-coding is a trendy choice at many plastic cards printing service provider. Most of the new retail cash register systems translate barcodes at the checkout stand, creating a perfect and fast way to collect data about customers and the products they are buying. It is also a great way to handle memberships in services and procedures that have many cards to surge in and out. Each card has the ability to carry a unique barcode on either front or reverse side. The advantages are almost endless: the card can then be linked to a database of select information customized toward your individual requirements. Indeed, digital plastic card printing symbolizes the next generation of card production. With the use of the stated digital printing technology, it adds the card delivery process into the electronic environment that helps you manage your business or agency.