Choosing an ID card printer can be difficult, particularly if you’ve never purchased one before. Despite the huge amount on offer, they use one of two main types of technology: direct-to-card (aka DTC) or retransfer (aka reverse transfer).
In this guide, we’ll be talking about direct-to-card printers. We’ll talk you through how they work, how they compare to retransfer printers, their benefits and limitations, as well as consider who they are best suited for.
There may be dozens of plastic card printers to choose from, but they can be split into two distinct categories: direct-to-card printers and retransfer printers.
In this guide, we’re going to take an in-depth look at the latter and consider some of the reasons you’d choose one over a direct-to-card printer.
A plastic card printer works by feeding a blank plastic card through a thermal print head. Next, the card design is transferred onto the card’s surface through the print head via a printer ribbon, and finally, the printed ID card is ejected from the card printer through the output hopper.