Category Archives: Learning Center

Perfect Color Fidelity for Magicard Rio Pro Users

You can now reproduce color images better than ever before thanks to a new embedded ICC profile for the Magicard Rio Pro. Brian Meyrick, Magicard Senior Software Engineer, explains: “Images can originate from many sources such as digital or mobile phone cameras, scans, image libraries or other online resources and as such can exist in many different color formats. Our challenge was to ensure that whatever the image source, format or software used along the workflow, the Rio Pro would produce an accurate result, faithful to the original image when printing on to a PVC card. The new ICC embedded profile provides an excellent solution.”

The profile is available in the newly-released Rio Pro driver – version 1.6.1, which can be downloaded from here. Note that the driver default setting is Gamma 1 – to select the ICC profile you will need to click on the advanced tab and change ‘color correction’ to ‘color management (built in to driver)’

For more information about the Magicard Rio Pro or any of Magicard’s other fine card printers contact an expert at Safe-Card ID Services TODAY.

 

Add Flexibilty and Volume to Your Card Presonalization Process

The Evolis Quantum is a flexible and scalable solution, ideal for personalizing plastic cards in large volumes. Quantum brings to the market the ease of use of a desktop printer matching the power of industrial machines, to support any card-based application: loyalty cards, transit passes, payment cards, membership cards, SIM and phone cards, and more. Quantum provides optimized value to any organization that needs to personalize cards in large quantities, from card manufacturers to service bureaus, or even banks and universities.

Reversible encoding module and fast production

Quantum stands on the market by its innovative design. This machine is shipped, standard, with a distinct detachable encoding unit that supports magnetic, contact smart card and contactless card encoding. This module is independent from the printing module, and operates autonomously to speed up the production process: a card is encoded while, simultaneously, another one is being printed.
Quantum offers top-notch performance as it prints more than 1000 cards per hour in monochrome and 150 cards in color. With such an impressive capacity, Quantum proves itself to be an affordable substitute for the conventional industrial machines.

New technical equipments for enhanced flexibility

Quantum can operate autonomously, thanks to its two dual-purpose hoppers holding 500 cards each, which can be used either as a feeding device or for collecting personalized cards.

In its revamped version, Quantum provides several new technical benefits, improved usability and efficiency:

A new card stacking and removal system that does not require the hoppers to be detached.
Optimized and user-friendlier card hoppers that benefit from an extended lifespan (use of a more robust actuator to unlock and detach the hoppers).

A metal-based body for enhanced durability and reliability over time.

A centralized locking system, provided as an option, to prevent tampering with the stack of cards, or while production is in progress.

To learm more about the Evolis Quantum or any other Evolis Card Printer, contact and expert at Safe-Card ID today.

 

International Dragon Boat Federation uses Zebra card printers for competitor IDs

Central to a sport spanning over 6000 years, the International Dragon Boat Federation (IDBF) promotes dragon boat racing worldwide. A software and printer solution has now been developed specifically for processing Dragon Boat regatta participants, using Zebra’s ZXP series 3 printers to print personalised race ID cards and streamline the competitor accreditation process.

Check out the IDBF/Zebra video at the following link;

Zebra Card Printers

 For more information on how to create a custom ID solution to meet your needs call an expert at Safe-Card ID Services today.

Magicard Rio Pro Xtended Personalizes Extra-Long Plastic Cards

The Magicard Rio Pro Xtended personalizes extra-long plastic cards for ticketing, accreditation and product labeling. Cards up to 110mm long can be printed entirely in full colour using the double-printing mode. The printer can also handle pre-printed cards up to 140mm long, printing a CR80-sized (86mmx54mm) area in full colour in a single pass or an area up to 110x54mm using double-printing. In monochrome mode, the entire length of a 140mm by 54mm card can be printed.

 

Print extra long plastic cards

Superior print quality enabled by ICC profiles

Monochrome print on pre-printed cards up to 140mm long

Colour print up to 110mm x 54mm cards

Built in USB and Ethernet connection with Windows 7, XP and Vista (32/64 bit) compatibility

50mm wide variant for product labelling

Standard HoloKote with option to customise  

Adjustable card feeder

For information on the Rio Pro Extended or any Magicard Printer call an expert at Safe-Card ID Services today.

HID Global Acquires EasyLobby For Secure Visitor Management Solutions

IRVINE, Calif., – January 3, 2012 – HID Global, a trusted leader in solutions for the delivery of secure identity, today announced the company has acquired EasyLobby, the industry leader in secure visitor management solutions. The acquisition delivers a number of potential synergies with HID Global’s portfolio across its identity and access management business.

EasyLobby is the pioneer and market-leading provider of comprehensive visitor management solutions. The company’s product suite provides enterprise-class visitor registration, tracking, reporting, badge printing, asset and package management, web-based pre-registration, and employee/contractor time and attendance functionality, and is tightly integrated with a wide variety of access control, human resources and other systems. EasyLobby products complement and extend HID Global’s portfolio, and have been deployed across a large and diverse base that is well-aligned with HID Global’s physical access control customer base.

EasyLobby is a strategic acquisition that delivers strong potential synergies across multiple high-value market segments,” said HID Global president and CEO Denis Hébert. “The addition of EasyLobby’s product suite, large installed base and strong customer engagements will enable us to broaden our offering to include trusted solutions for a wide range of visitor management applications. Additionally, this acquisition brings us a talented team with a highly complementary skillset.”

“We are very excited to become part of HID Global, a global company at the very heart of the security industry. This combination adds industry-leading secure visitor management solutions to the world’s most comprehensive offering of physical access control and secure card issuance systems,” said Howard Marson, EasyLobby CEO. “Together, our extended range of products creates a highly differentiated portfolio that will drive new opportunities for our mutual customers and partners, across all geographic regions of the world.”

For more information about Visitor Management give an expert at Safe-Card ID Services a call at 888-485-4696.

Evolis Zenius Printer – Setting New Standards in Card Printing

Evolis is introducing their newest ID card printer – the Evolis Zenius. 

 

From the Evolis website, the following advantages can be found with this new printer:

Easy-to-use

 Zenius makes it easy for you every step of the way! Discover a wealth of advanced features loaded in a contemporary yet compact design.

  • Card feeder and output tray located at the front of the printer
  • Manual feeder
  • Control panel with LEDs

 Scalable

Equipped with state-of-the-art printing technologies, the Expert version of Zenius can be upgraded onsite with multiple encoders. These flexible features ensure that you will always be in line with your current and future requirements in plastic card printing.

  • Direct access to ports
  • Onsite integration of specific modules*
  • Magnetic and smart card encoders can be combined within the same printer*

 

Compact, lightweight and silent:

With a low sound level  and its amazingly small size, Zenius can be accommodated in virtually any environment, be it a welcome desk, a sales counter, or an office desk. By its really low weight, Zenius is the lightest printer in its category.

  • 46dB(A)
  • 7.3 lbs

 

Eco-designed

Zenius has earned the coveted ENERGY STAR certification and complies with the reduced energy consumption guidelines from the ErP European Directive

  • Standby and Sleep modes
  • ENERGY STAR certification
  • Compliance with the ErP European Directive

For additional information about this new Evolis Printer, contact our ID card experts at 888-485-4696.

Rewritable ID Card Printing

Many of the ID card printers recently released offer the feature of rewritable ID card printing.  Many ID card operators have no clue what rewritable means in the context of PVC card printing. 

The concept of rewritable card printing allows a card to be customized approximately 500 times during its lifetime.  Using an ID card printer without a ribbon, specialized cards can be personalized for temporary use.  At the end of use, the card can be erased so that it can be re-customized and used at a future time.

Benefits if using rewritable printers are many.  Some of them are:

  • Cost effectiveness as there are no costs relating to ribbons and the cards can be reused up to 500 times.
  • Cutting -edge marketing tool as the card can be customized on the spot.
  • Can be used for for magnetic stripe and contactless applications.

The technology behind this printing comes is explained best from a leading card printer manufacturer, Evolis.  They explain the printing technology of their rewritable ID card printers as follows: 
 

Rerwitable Printers
 Rewritable printing technology does not require a ribbon to personalize cards. The card itself holds a thermosensitive material that turns visible when heated to a temperature of 356° F (180° C) and then rapidly cooled.

The application of a lower temperature, generally in the 230-320° F (110-160° C) range, will erase any color pattern. This process leverages two chemicals that interact with each other according to selected temperature thresholds.

This heating/cooling process is handled thanks to a thermal head, similar to the one used in the Evolis printers. Note that this process can be rolled back, allowing the same card to be reused and reprinted up to 500 times.

Rewritable cards 
 In a blank rewritable card, the thermosensitive material is applied as a plastic layer over a substrate. The most common substrates are PVC for 0.76mm (30 mil) cards and PET for 0.25mm (10 mil) cards.

PVC cards can be supplied with magnetic stripes and contactless chips to support advanced applications. PET cards often come with a magnetic layer on the reverse side of the rewritable surface

For more information about Evolis printers or other ID card printers, contact our ID card experts at 888-485-4696.

How Dye Sublimation Printing Works

Printer RibbonDye sublimation printing is chosen often because of the quality photographic printing results that this type of printing provides. The printing process is also known as dye sub. In this process, a thermal transfer provides a specific amount of colored dye pigment to section of a card surface. In ID card printing, this colored pigment is derived from a printer ribbon, transferred by the print head and deposited onto the plastic card surface. The pigment is able to bond chemically with the card due to the heat used in the transfer process.

The printer ribbon is a roll of film, sometimes in a cartridge, that consists of a number of repeated panels. The yellow, red and blue panels (YMC) provide various colors available while black and clear panels provide black color and an overcoat panel. The YMC panels hold heat sensitive dyes that can be combined in various amounts to create a broad range of colors. The black panel is a plastic resin and is not mixed with the other panels. It is used to provide solid black color that is most frequently used for barcodes on a badge. The protective coat, the O panel, is applied to the entire surface of the card to provide extra protection and durability to the card.

All of the colors needed from the panels are transferred when the print head of the printer is activated. The print head contains about 300 pixels per inch. Each individual pixel is separately activated and heated to transfer a specific amount of color, black or overlay panel to an area of the card. The dye is vaporized due to the heat and bonds to the plastic card surface. They dye does not become liquid, but changes straight from a solid into a gas.

Because of the way the vaporized dyes permeate the surface of the card, a gentle gradation at the edges of each pixel is created – not the conspicuous border between color and substrate produced by inkjets. Also, because the color infuses and bonds with the card material, it is less vulnerable to fading and distortion over time.

Most ribbons are set up in the Y (yellow), M (magenta), C (cyan), K (black), O (overlay) order. There are specialized panels and variations to this standard with the addition of security options and other printer features.

For information about PVC cards, contact our ID card experts toll free at 888-485-4696.

Tips for Troubleshooting ID Card Printer Errors

Overall, ID card printer systems are easy to use. Installation involves installing a plug and play printer driver on your computer system. The ID badge software can be downloaded and after typing in the license key, the majority of the printing system is installed and ready to begin.

One of the more difficult preprinting activities may be the badge design. Getting managers and other authorized people to agree on the final look is often the most time consuming process.

Once printing has started, the printer system is fairly to use. Occasionally they need a bit of human assistance to continue providing quality cards. Printer ribbon and PVC cards need to be monitored and added regularly during printing jobs.

Printers do malfunction and many of the issues can be easily fixed. Issues with printer ribbons and card feeding are the most common problems with ID card printers. Following are some common errors and basic troubleshooting.

Unable to Feed Card Message
This error message will display on the LED or LCD screen when a printer cannot detect card stock in the input hopper. Either the cards are not loaded, have run out or are loaded incorrectly.

To fix this error, check the card hopper to ensure that the cards are indeed located in the hopper and are not stuck together. You may need to carefully fan the cards, without touching the card surface, to ensure that the cards are not stuck together. Straighten them back into a single stack of cards and place the cards back into the hopper. Close the hopper cover and continue attempting to print by pressing the resume button.

If the printer will still not receive the cards from the hopper, cancel the print job by pressing the cancel print button. You may need to power off the printer, wait for a small bit of time and turn the printer back on. The original errors will be cleared and you can attempt to print the card again.

Ribbon Sensor Error Message
This error occurs when the printer is unable to locate the next panel on the print ribbon. This may man that the printer ribbon has broken or has been damaged in some way. A ribbon that does not advance correctly will cause a printer error. To fix this error, you will need to open the printer and remove the printer ribbon. You need to look at the ribbon for tears, wrinkles or breaks and repair them.

To fix a tear or break in the ribbon, connect the two ends of the ribbon with a piece of scotch tape. Wind the ribbon forward past the taped section and place the print ribbon back into the printer. If the ribbon is wrinkled, straighten out the ribbon, and advance the ribbon past the damaged section of the ribbon so that the printer does not access that section of the ribbon. When the ribbon is placed back into the printer after being repaired, you can press the resume button to direct the printer to continue printing.

Card Jam Error
Most all ID card printers will input 30 ml cards. Some printer models will accept various card thicknesses ranging from 10 ml to 40 ml. The printers are sensitive to the specific card thickness that is being placed in the card hopper.

To resolve a card jam error, open the printer cover and remove the print ribbon. Press the cancel, pause, forward or backward buttons to move the rollers back and forth. This should free the jammed card. Remove the card, replace the print ribbon and close the cover. You should be able to resume printing with a new card from the hopper.

By following manufacturer instructions found in your operations manual, the correct adjustments can be made to continue printing. If your printer displays something not defined in your manual, it is always best to contact the manufacturer or your ID card printer distributor for additional assistance.

Using ID Cards for More than Just ID

Most photo identification cards that are printed with our photo ID card printer systems are used for the purpose of identification. Printed plastic cards commonly have a company logo, card holder photo and specific custom information about the person carrying the ID card. The cards may be full color on one or both sides. This is determined by the type of printer you have and also the type of print ribbon that is used.

Small business typically use plastic ID cards as identification for their employees or group members. Larger businesses and government frequently purchase professional, security oriented ID card printer systems that allow the identification to be used for more than just ID.

Printed plastic cards are commonly known for identification. They also benefit businesses in the areas of physical and virtual access, debit functions, payroll and more.

When you know what you want to use your ID cards for and if you know your budget limit, there are ways to make your card produce information you want to benefit company outcomes. There are many ways to integrate custom data in plastic cards. Some of these methods can be developed with a standard entry level ID card printer and software while others need a specialized system.

Current top of the line identification cards that are used for more than one purpose are the contactless or contact smart card. These cards are more common in other parts of the world and are rapidly making entry into the United States. These cards have the capability to hold a large amount of data that can easily transmit to card readers. The card readers then submit that information to control systems for analysis and further use.

A more common way of storing data on a plastic card is through a magnetic strip that is found on PVC cards. Information can be encoded into the tracks of the magnetic strip. Mag stripe readers can transfer information to control systems when the stripe is swiped through the reader. A common example of this is a credit or debit card swipe at a retail outlet. This system can also be used for transfer, access, loyalty systems and more.

Another method of storing information is available. This is with the use of a bar code printed on the outside of the card. The bar code is not able to store as much information as a contact or contactless card or as a mag stripe card. It is useful for time and attendance or for debit card type functions. It is the most cost effective way of storing information that is not legible to a casual observer of the card.