What type of card printing technology should you choose?
Everyday, we come across many type of the pvc cards, such as Employee Identification Cards, Membership Cards, Student ID Cards, Hospital Patient Registration Cards, Access Control Cards and more.
Desktop card printers are available to issue personalized card instantly, Card Printers are divided into two technologies:
Direct-to-card printing & Retransfer card printing.
Both card printing methods works instant issuance of the cards, however, each technology has its own characteristic and differences.
Since new users may not be familiar with these printing methods, this chapter will help to choose the right printer of your card needs.
What is Direct-to-card printer & how its work.
A Direct-to-card printing is a method of colors directly on the card surface as the meaning of “Direct”.
This printing process is not very different from the paper printers we use.
Step 1
The printhead of a direct-to-card printer applies heat directly to the surface of the ribbon.
The dye contained in the ribbon is sublimated to a plastic card and printed
Step 2
The printed card is issued
What is Retransfer card printer & how its work.
Unlike direct-to-card printing where the card image is printed directly onto the card surface, a retransfer printer will print the image onto a retransfer film, then that image is laminated / transferred from the film to the card.
That’s why it is called a “retransfer card printer” as a structural characteristic.
Step 1
The print head heats the ribbon surface directly and transfers the dye from the ribbon to the retransfer film for printing
Step 2
The printed retransfer film is moved to the position where the card is waiting, and the retransfer head heats the retransfer film to transfer the printed area onto the card, and then the printed card is issued.
