There are various processes for printing plastic cards, each with its own advantages and disadvantages, as well as optimal areas of application.
At YouCard, you will receive exclusively high-quality printed plastic cards, chip cards, and transponder cards. We also offer extra-large plastic cards in special formats! If you would like oversized plastic cards in XL format or printed XL ID cards, simply visit our XL Plastic Cards or XL Card Printers section.
Below you will find a brief explanation of the plastic card printing methods we use.
Plastic Card Printing Using the Offset Process
This process offers the highest print quality and completely borderless printing, even on uneven card surfaces. However, due to the high setup costs, this process is only feasible for runs of 250 or more plastic cards.
Plastic card printing using the offset process requires a certain amount of time, as drying times, for example, must be observed. This applies regardless of whether you require standardized ISO plastic cards or particularly large, oversized plastic cards or custom formats. The print image is very sharp, and the colors are vibrant. In addition to the CMYK color scheme, spot colors such as Pantone or HKS are also possible with the offset process.
Cards pre-printed using the offset printing process can be subsequently personalized using the thermal transfer process. We would be happy to do this for you. Alternatively, you can personalize the card yourself using your own inexpensive monochrome card printer.
Plastic Card Printing Using Digital Printing
Digital printing also offers high print quality, as well as borderless printing. Color intensity and print quality are somewhat lower than with offset printing. Digital printing also does not allow the use of spot colors.
One advantage is that this printing process does not require a fixed template, and setup costs are therefore only a fraction of those of offset printing. Digital printing is therefore suitable even for smaller card runs. Digital printing is also the right choice if you need your ID cards very quickly.
Plastic Card Printing with Retransfer Card Printers
If you want to print borderless plastic cards yourself, or if you’re printing on chip cards or RFID cards, you should ideally use a card printer with a retransfer process (also called a chip card printer).
These card printers don’t print directly onto the card, but first print in reverse onto a transfer film, which is then transferred to the plastic card using a rubber roller. Both the printer and the consumables are somewhat more expensive than with a direct card printer, but the print result is visibly more detailed and clearer.
Plastic Card Printing with Direct-to-Card Printers
Most card printers on the market use dye sublimation printing. This process transfers the ink directly from the ribbon to the card using heat.
Uneven card surfaces can result in print failures in these areas. Furthermore, with this type of plastic card printing, a minimal unprinted border (between 1 and 7 mm, depending on the model) always remains around the layout.
These card printers are ideal for personalizing pre-printed cards, for example. Consumables, acquisition costs, and operating costs are relatively inexpensive with this type of printer.
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