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1. Don’t be fooled by the so-called performance, the card machine depends on the brand
Don’t be confused by the parameters of “printing speed XXX cards/hour” or “printing precision XXXdpi” mentioned by the sales staff.
Why do you say this way?
The printing principle of the card machine is nothing more than two, one is direct printing, the other is retransfer. The print head and ribbon are all made by the same manufacturer. You can unpack your ribbon and print head, and it will say “made in Japan” on it. Therefore, the so-called speed and printing accuracy are just a gimmick. The faster the speed is not necessarily better, the slower the sublimation process can be sufficient. Of course, there is a problem of time control. Some experienced old-brand manufacturers are better able to know it. This is why the printing effects of Fargo and Datacard machines in the same series are better than other brands. After all, they have more than 30 years of experience. Manufacturers with experience in the production of ID card machines.
The following is a detailed introduction to the printing principle of the card machine. Direct printing is to use the principle of thermal sublimation, directly contacting the card through the print head, and the print head controls different temperatures to form the color ratio and density, reaching 256 levels of gradient, thus forming a continuous The color scale. Re-transfer, known as “non-destructive printing” and “perfect printing”, the print head does not touch the card, and first prints the image on a special film, and then this film is thermally transferred to the card, (as shown below).
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In this way, the life of the print head is basically unlimited, and because the image can be perfectly presented on the film, the retransferred card can be distinguished from the directly printed card at a glance. (As shown below). First, the retransferred card has no white borders, and the other is colorful, just like a photo that has just been developed from an imaging shop.
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Retransfer printing sample card Direct printing sample card
Regarding these two printing technologies, there are many manufacturers with direct printing technology on the market, and there are mainly three that do better: Datacard’s Sp series, Fargo’s DTC series, and Eltron (now Zebra) P310.
There are two main manufacturers with retransfer technology, one is Fargo and the other is JVC Victor. From Fargo’s HDP700 series to HDP800 series, to HDP600 series, to the HDP5000 series that has just been launched, Fargo’s retransfer technology is already the fourth generation of products. Although JVC is a manufacturer, it does not have its own brand. Currently, there are four OEM manufacturers, DNP, IST, Dies, and Datacard. Although both JVC and Fargo use retransfer technology, for Fargo’s consistent straight card transmission method, JVC has been improved to horizontal card transmission. What are the benefits of such an improvement? One is that the speed has increased, and the straight card has entered The distance to be transported is 86mm, while the distance to be transported when the horizontal card enters is only 54mm. Second, due to the principle of retransfer technology, the physical structure of the card and the film is different. After the retransfer is cooled down, the card will bend a little, and the advantage of JVC’s product is that the horizontal card enters and the horizontal card covers. Film, the degree of bending of the card will be slightly less. However, the horizontal card transfer method will also bring a bad disadvantage. Due to the increased speed, the transfer time is reduced. The color of the JVC machine is slightly worse than that of the Fargo.
In actual use, there are many factors that will affect the printing speed. These factors include: the total amount of data that needs to be printed, whether it is single-sided or double-sided printing, the type of printing ribbon used (number of colors, number of films), Whether to perform a magnetic write operation and whether to perform an IC chip write operation, etc. Therefore, you should ask the salesperson to find out under which printing conditions the speed data he told you were obtained. Of course, you can also find out what the speed of this printer is in various printing modes, so that you can Make a prediction based on your actual production situation in the future. Generally speaking, the speed of entry-level card machine should be 30 seconds per sheet (single-sided full-color printing and coated with light film).
2. Understand the additional functions of the product, and choose the card machine most suitable for you according to your needs.
Understand the additional functions of the product and choose the card machine according to your needs. Don’t be stingy with your investment in security functions and special protection functions. Just imagine, although you can choose a card machine with a cheap budget, the same cheap price is everywhere. The sales of, also cannot bring you safety, because the possibility of your card being copied is too great.
At present, there are three additional functions of the card machine:
1. Whether it is possible to print large cards, most of the card machines on the market can only print CR80 size cards (credit card size, as shown in the figure below), and larger size cards can not only add more to your card With more content, your card is not easy to forge. As shown below.
Speaking of large cards, I have to talk about Fargo, a professional ID card machine manufacturer established in 1974, because at present, the only card machine that can print CR90 and CR100 in the world is Fargo. Perhaps HDP820 can print both CR80 and CR90 and CR100. Fargo feels uncomfortable. So with the discontinuation of HDP820, Fargo launched HDP600-CR100. Now users who only need to buy one HDP820 have to buy two. JS is worthy of it. JS. However, it is worth noting that there are currently no devices on the market that can print CR90.
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2. The ability to cover the film is also one of the importance of purchase (as shown in the figure below). Covered with a thick film of Polygold can make your card resistant to scratches, abrasion, dye migration (the ink molecules printed on the card actually move by themselves), light and chemical corrosion. Some company’s access control systems use contact cards or composite cards, which require repeated swipes. If a machine with a thicker film is not used, the card will quickly become blurred. In addition, the film-covered card also has good anti-counterfeiting characteristics, especially after being covered with a layer of laser anti-counterfeiting film, the safety factor is greatly increased. It is for these reasons that some important national departments have gradually begun to use card machines that can be coated to produce various types of cards. At present, the card machines that can be laminated on the market mainly include Datacard’s SP75, and Fargo’s DTC550-LC and HDP600-LC.
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3. The third additional function is watermark, (as shown in the figure below). The printing principle of this watermark is actually the engraving of the film. In the process of direct printing, the last procedure is to add film. This film is different from the film mentioned above. , It is only used to simply protect the color of the ribbon from being scratched. And this film can be printed into your designed watermark pattern under some special card machines, which has the function of anti-counterfeiting. Currently there are only two machines on the market that can print watermarks, Datacard and Fargo.
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3. Proofing card to understand the general situation of the machine
Don’t be dazzled by the exquisite sample card
When the seller sells its ID card machine to you, they will definitely show you many beautifully crafted sample cards. Here to remind you that these sample cards are carefully designed, and some of the pictures used are even processed by electronic color separation. The purpose is to do everything possible to make you feel how perfect the output effect of this card machine is. But have you thought about it? If you use an ordinary scanner to scan those unclear ID cards, can you print such good results? Moreover, the sample card shown to you is only a final product. Is the entire production process simple and fast? Is it possible to ensure a certain daily output? Does it require a longer training period? Therefore, these issues are worthy of your careful study.
In the actual purchase process, you can ask the sales staff to make a card on site according to your design requirements. You can directly observe the entire production process, and you can even ask them to let you try it yourself. To experience the ease of operation.
As each company that produces ID card machines has different technologies, each company may have some technical problems that cannot be overcome. In summary, when you find that the printer you buy has the following performance, it is recommended You don’t want to buy.
Sawtooth: Almost no customer is satisfied with images and text with jagged edges, so you must choose a card machine that can print smooth text and images.
Imbalance of aspect ratio: In order to obtain higher printing speed, some cheap card machines will sacrifice the normal aspect ratio of the image to achieve the goal. I believe that no customer will be willing to see their appearance be distorted. !
Color unevenness or streaks: Some card machines will expose this defect when printing a large area of solid color. If the salesperson claims that this is not a problem, then you can ask him to make one for you on the spot to verify it. Don’t forget, be sure to print more cards for comparison.
Ghosting: Some card machines cannot accurately express specific colors, and the four-color separation of Y, M, C, and K will occur. The slightest manifestation is the appearance of imaginary edges around the image, and the more serious is the appearance of obvious ghosting.
Streaks like scratches or scratches: The card conveying device of some cheap ID card machines will damage the surface of the card, which will result in blank thin lines in the direction of the card, and the position on each card is stable.
Fourth, attach importance to the cleaning system of the card machine
Purchasing a portrait ID card machine with an automatic cleaning system will greatly reduce the rate of rejects and defective products, and reduce your daily operating costs.
Although it is also a printer, its expensive price tells you that you should never treat it like an ordinary printer. Since the printed material is PVC plastic sheet, the plastic is prone to static electricity, which attracts a large number of dust particles, so static electricity has become the culprit of the card machine failure. In order for your ID card machine to provide you with perfect cards from beginning to end, the ID card machine needs double maintenance. It is necessary to clean your ID card machine regularly and quantitatively. It is recommended that you print 250 cards or clean your cards once a week. It is best to cover the dust cover if you don’t use it. The key parts of the card machine are the print head and the transfer roller. If these two parts are too dirty, the print quality will be greatly reduced. Therefore, the focus of cleaning is also on these two parts.
You may not know that some cheap ID card machines actually require users to remove the transfer roller and wash it with soap and water. This is not only time-consuming and laborious, but also very likely to damage the roller. Better manufacturers, such as Fargo, Datacard, Zebra, etc., have integrated an automatic cleaning system in the printer firmware or driver. After sending a cleaning command, use a card with adsorption function material on the surface to walk around the printer. Once again, the dust and dirt on the print head and transfer roller can be removed very easily. Some manufacturers’ ID card machines provide card pre-cleaning function. A cleaning roller is installed on each roll of ribbon (as shown in the figure below). One side of the card is cleaned before the card passes through the ribbon, and the ribbon can be replaced every time. At the same time, the cleaning roller is replaced, which greatly reduces the trouble of cleaning.
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5. Don’t save money on consumables
As the saying goes, “the soldiers and horses are not moving, the food and grass go first”, it can be seen how important the common consumables of the card machine are for your normal business operations! Therefore, you should not only ask the sales staff about the cost of consumables, but also don’t forget to ask the other party whether they can guarantee the long-term and timely provision of the consumables.
The main consumable of the ID card machine is the ribbon (most customers of white cards can find the supply by themselves, of course, you have to prepare some yourself). It is recommended that you must use the original ribbon provided by the printer manufacturer, because the original manufacturer The ribbon is developed by the manufacturer based on the characteristics of its own equipment. Therefore, using the original ribbon can not only ensure you get the best print quality, but also effectively extend the service life of your printer.
In addition, in addition to the automatic ribbon cleaning function mentioned above, you also need to know whether the ribbon replacement is easy. Generally speaking, a skilled operator replaces a roll of ribbon for a properly designed card machine. The time is definitely not more than half a minute, and the whole process does not need to use auxiliary tools. Nowadays, some advanced ID card machine ribbons are just a ribbon cassette (as shown in the picture above), and the installation time is less than 2 seconds. There are also some advanced ID card machines that automatically remind the user to replace the ribbon when the ribbon is exhausted. Don’t forget to ask the sales staff whether the card machine you are looking for has the above-mentioned functions.
Six, summary
In short, with the strengthening of international security awareness, the application of ID card machines has become more and more extensive, and more and more domestic enterprises have begun to pay attention to the ID card machine market. All kinds of functions confuse you, how to choose a satisfactory card machine? The above five points hope to be helpful to you.
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