What You Need to Know About Choosing Thermal ID Card Printers
Thermal ID card printers allow you to create a plastic badge for ID purposes for a special event, a workplace, or as visitors or volunteers for a facility. The software for the card printers can be set up to include the information of your preference on the visible parts of the badge or in the magnetic strip. There are many available brands, features, and options for ID card printers.
What are some of the available brands of ID printers?There are many companies that manufacture ID card printers. Some of the available options include Canon, Datacard, Epson, Evolis, Fargo, Intermec, Magicard, Polaroid, and Zebra. Some of the available product lines include Canon CP and Celphy, Datacard SP, Fargo DTC, Fargo Persona, and Zebra Z.
What are the available output types of thermal ID printers?The card printers offer either black and white output or color output. The devices that make colored ID badges can also print black text, barcodes, or quick response (QR) codes on the plastic cards. The card printers can print images, symbols, or text on the finished pieces.
What are the connectivity options for the ID card printers?The connectivity options for ID card printers include:
- Bluetooth: It will work with another device that also has Bluetooth technology for sending and receiving data.
- USB: These systems may accept USB 1.0, USB 2.0, or both types of connections.
- Wireless: Some of the card printers operate on a wireless connection.
- Ethernet: They may connect to internet service with Ethernet cables.
- Parallel: The printers for IDs may be hardwired in parallel to another device.
The card feeder capacity refers to how many of the plasticized ID cards can be stacked and stored so that the printer has them ready for use. The available capacity in the card printers ranges from one to 100 of the plastic ID cards.
What types of encoding do the ID card printers do?The ID card printers may have the capacity to encode in these options:
- QR codes: The printers may be able to imprint QR codes onto the cards so that ID card readers or other devices with compatible software can scan them.
- Barcodes: The printer systems can print black and white barcodes onto the cards for scanning by smartphones, card readers, or other devices.
- Magnetic strip coding: The printing systems can encode information onto the magnetic strip.
- Imaging: The printing unit can create a color image likeness from a digital photo of the person who is wearing it or to whom it belongs.