11 Apr 2022

Choosing the Best Plastic ID Card Printer

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An ID Card Printer is an important investment for any business and a necessary piece of equipment after COVID-19. Finding the correct ID card printer for your needs might be difficult with so many models and features available, so we would like to highlight here the best advice for you:

Step 1: What is the price of an ID Printer?

The price can vary greatly based on what you're searching for in an ID card printer.

  • Single-sided printers, like the Evolis Zenius printer, are less expensive and ideal for small firms who are just getting started with card printing.
  • If you need to display more information or improve visual security, the Evolis Primacy printer would be more beneficial as it enables you to print on dual-sided cards with extra modular encoding options.

Special bundles are available on our website for each of the 2 ID card printers listed above which you can find below:

Evolis ID Card Bundle


Step 2: What kind of card do you want to print on?

It's important to figure out what kind of cards you'll be printing on before buying an ID card printer. Do you plan to print employee badges, gift cards, payment cards or national ID cards?

The following step is to determine whether you require a single-sided or dual-sided printer:

  • Single-sided printers are designed to print on the front of ID cards and are ideal for companies that want to implement visual security measures like photo ID cards in the workplace.
  • Today, more and more clients are opting for the versatility of dual-sided printing. When compared to a single-sided printer, dual-sided printing doubles the quantity of card space you can print on.

Depending on your use of the machine, different types of printers can be adapted to you:

  • With the Evolis Zenius printer, you benefit from premium quality biodegradable single-sided cards in colour or monochrome.
    This solution is perfect for delivering badges on demand: employee and access control badges, loyalty cards, student IDs, but also payment cards, identification documents as well as passes for transport and events.
  • With the Evolis Primacy printer, which offers one of the market's most efficient outputs, you benefit from premium quality biodegradable single AND dual-sided cards, with a capacity of up to 225 colours and 1,000 monochrome cards per hour.
    This solution is perfect for printing transport tickets, payment cards, national ID cards, student cards, employee badges, and much more.

Step 3: What are your ID Card Printer needs?

After you've decided on the type of card you need, the following step is to figure out which printer will best suit your needs. It's important to think about the following factors when selecting a printer:

  • Whether you're printing on smart cards for access control or not
  • The visual quality that you need
  • The amount of printing you'll need
  • You need a certain level of printer and card security

ID card printers come in a variety of shapes and sizes, including:

  • Printers that print directly to cards
  • Printers that print retransfers

Before you go any further, we recommend visiting our website, where more than 30 different solutions with various printing options are available for you.

Click here to discover the different solutions:

Shop ID Card Printers


Step 4: What is the best ID Card Printer for you?

Printers that print directly onto cards

Due to a combination of reasonable pricing and ease of use, direct-to-card printers remain the most common type of ID card printer and are often the option for novices or those with modest volume printing requirements.

Printers such as our Entrust Datacard Sigma ID Card Printers or our Magicard ID Card Printers would be perfectly adapted, as they are one of the smallest, fastest, and with best quality ID card printers in their class, printing directly onto the card surface.

Consider our Direct-To-Card Printers if:

  • Simple card design with simple photographs, logos, and text is required
  • You want to keep the cost of consumables as low as possible
  • There is no need to print an access control card form

Retransfer printers

Because of their two-step production process, retransfer printers are far more efficient than direct-to-card printers. Your design is printed on the reverse side of a clear film, which is then heat attached to the entire card surface using a method known as "reverse transfer" printing. 

In summary, retransfer printing produces more durable cards and allows you to print onto smart cards for access control without compromising the final picture.

Our Matica High-Resolution Retransfer Printers are adapted for on-demand quality card issuance with exceptional printing in government, corporate, education, and financial sectors. 

Consider one of our Matica High-Resolution Retransfer Printers if:

  • Access control cards must be printed
  • You desire high-definition image quality
  • Over-the-edge card coverage is required
  • You want an ID card that will last in time and won't fade

Step 5: How many cards are you looking for?

It is important to estimate the number of cards you will need to print on a daily, weekly, or annual basis. When analysing card print volume, keep the following considerations in mind:

  • Speed of printing: high-volume printing needs a faster print speed to keep up with the demand
  • Hopper for input and output: the bigger your hoppers are, the longer you can go between loading and unloading cards
  • The yield of printing: the larger the ribbon, the less often you will have to replace it and the less money it'll cost in the long run

Step 6: How do you feel about the warranty and technical support?

All of the ID card printers we sell come with 2-3 years warranty. The great majority, however, include three years on coverage.

Our in-house technical support team is available to assist you with setting up your printer by telephone and can come to your premises if preferred for a installation, free of charge. 

Step 7: Is software a concern for you?

All of our printers and related software at DBC Group enable you to create great cards using predefined templates, also available in a variety of shapes for easy design card layouts. 

For example, the CardPresso ID card software is the ultimate tool for your professional ID card production in a user-friendly way, designed to have the best performance with large databases with and without photos. Create amazing cards using predefined templates and the clipart library, also available in numerous shapes for easy design card layouts.

So, where do we go from here?

You can call one of our printer specialists, who will be pleased to take your call, review your requirements, and assist you in determining the best machine for your needs. They will advise you and help you to choose the best value for money machine that suits your needs. You can also visit our Buyer's Guide:

Buyer's Guide

Call us right now at +353 1 460 2200 and visit our website at www.dbcgroup.ie

Cover your new ID Card Printer with a Service Plan at Guide to ID Card Printers:

Service Plan