When you are responsible for making ID badges and making sure that they are readable to anyone who needs to see it, you have to make sure that what you purchase is of good quality. You will also need to understand what an ID card printer is and what it can do to help your company.
ID card printers are available for a variety of uses and just like other printers they have more functions than those of printing. Think about the ID cards that you have seen around different businesses. Most of them have a magnetic strip these days that keep information about the employee embedded in it. Part of what the printer does is to encode this information into the magnetic strip on the back.
This magnetic strip must say that the individual is a part of the company and in many cases it keeps the data as to where the individual goes throughout the day. This means that the data must be kept somewhere and generally this is the job of the preinstalled software that comes with the printer.
Any printer you purchase will have a variety of options and functions but you may not need everything that it offers. As an example, some ID cards will not need a magnetic strip. Some of the clubs, temporary programs and conventions may not need this extra strip so you would not need to have this function on your printer. You might only need a single sided printer.
There are a couple of things to consider though when you do decide on a printer. Some ID cards need a double sided printer because they want not only the picture and the name of the individual but you may need other information that won’t fit on the face of the card. In this case your ID card printer would have to print on both sides in order for it to be effective.
The type of printing you need will also determine the printer that you choose. As an example, if you are printing proximity cards, or using smart cards your printer will have more features than someone who only needs an ID card with a picture and the person’s name. Another question is whether you need a hologram on the front of the card as well.
These more advanced ID card printers work on radio frequency in order to give you the information you need for higher security needs. You will need to make sure that this extra encoding is available on the printer you choose.
Another thing to take into consideration is whether you need just one color (monochromatic) or several colors on your card. Some businesses have a certain logo they need put on the card which would lead to a possible custom job — in other words it may be more than your printer can do.
Once you have taken a look at all the printers and you understand your needs, it is a good idea to make sure the printer is user friendly for anyone who is gong to use it.