ID printing has become far more versatile in the last few years. Today, you can use everything from barcodes, RFID, magnetic stripes, and Smart Card technologies on an ID for greater security and traceability across many applications.
Our resident ID Card expert, David, constantly tests ID printers in real-world office environments has selected what he believes are the essential printers for the next year and beyond. These printers suit all needs from industrial to pharma, educational to low-volume office printing or full-scale enterprise solutions, we have your essential shopping guide.
Top 4 ID Card Printers:
The Professional choice, the Magicard Rio Pro Duo is flexible to provide single or double-sided printing, batch or one-off card printing. It allows secure encoding with magnetic stripe and can facilitate contact and contactless technologies making it perfect for the financial industry or large enterprises who want to keep their data private and secure.
Edge to edge printing
The printer comes with "edge to edge" card printing and is rewrite-able capabilities. The cherry on top of your proverbial id printer pudding is this printer comes with patented Holokote watermark technology meaning that your logo can be printed onto an id card’s surface frosting the card with your branding or security design. This is all personalised to your company which will definitely make any cards printed on this unique to you. On top of all these great features, it also comes with a 3-year warranty! What more would you want!
What we like:
- Holokote watermark technology
- Edge to Edge printing
- Fully personalised ID card printing
2. Datacard SD260 ID Card Printer:
If speed is what you need, The Datacard printer is it. Faster than you can say Datacard SD260 ID Card Printer, (if you can say it in 18 seconds or more) you will have a full-colour single-sided card printed in vibrant and crisp colouring.
This Datacard printer is capable of printing ID cards over 3 times faster than other printers in its class on the market. Datacard has built this printer with reliability in mind and includes 100 input hopper and 25 output hopper making it ideal for printing ID’s small runs.
With optional magnetic stripe encoding, you can print high quality, secure cards very quickly. The Datacard SD260 is favoured by industries such as financial services, Universities, gift card companies and government organisations. If you are looking for speed but don’t want to sacrifice quality, this one is for you.
What we like:
- 18 Second card printing
- Ideal for small runs
- Compact design
We call Evolis Zenius Classic the old reliable here in the office. The Zenius classic is the perfect ID card printer for low volume usage. Ideal for printing single-sided employee badges in monochrome or colour, this little printer gives a fantastic bang for your buck. On top of being the best value system on our list, the classic does not lack on speed either producing 120 to 150 cards per hour in full colour. If you are concerned about the environment, don’t worry, the Zenius Classic comes with an ENERGY STAR rating. It also comes with a 2-year warranty, what else would you want?
What we like:
- High-Quality Printing
- Great Value ID Printer
- Plug and Play Design
4. Evolis Primacy Dual-Sided ID Card Printer.
Finally, staying in the Evolis range of ID printers, our fourth recommendation for 2017 is the Evolis Primacy printer. Our most popular product and with good reason, the Primacy offers the perfect solution of a good price but designed for medium and large runs. For the cheapest cost per card among any of our printers mentioned today, the primacy features a flexible modular design that can print up to 140 cards per hour dual side. This little printer can print a full-colour dual-sided card in just 24 seconds.
Compatibility
If you are concerned about compatibility with IT systems, the Evolis Primacy is one of the only printers that will work with Mac and Linux systems. If you are still not convinced this is the printer for you, perhaps a 3-year warranty will change your mind? This comes as standard on the Evolis Primacy. So it begs the question, why are you still here, you should be purchasing this machine.
What are Pro’s love:
- Flexible Plug and Play design
- Fully upgrade-able
- Double-sided printing
Still, confused?
If you are still confused about which of the relevant ID card printers will suit your needs for 2017, we are here to help. Our ID Card specialists have thoroughly tested and used all ID Card printers we sell, and being independent, we can guide you through the best ID card system to suit your individual requirements so contact us today at +353 1 460 2200