Direct To Card ID Card Printers

Direct-to-card ID card printers are the most popular choice for printing photo ID cards. Also known as DTC printers or dye-sublimation printers, direct-to-card printers can easily print staff, student and visitor ID cards and offer an affordable yet effective alternative to retransfer printing. Here's how they work.

A direct-to-card printer prints texts and images directly onto the surface of an ID card, using a printer ribbon, printhead and a combination of heat and pressure. The technique is called 'direct-to-card' ID card printing because the printhead makes direct contact with the card during the printing process.

Direct-to-card printers are ideal for printing basic designs onto blank white cards and a great starting point is the budget-friendly IDP Smart 21. Or if you're looking for something more advanced, the new and improved Evolis Primacy 2 direct-to-card printer will be a better fit, offering high performance printing and some of the fastest print speeds on the market.

What's more, some direct-to-card printers offer additional modules that enable dual-sided printing, allow you to laminate your ID cards and even encode HID and MIFARE products. However, it's worth noting that if you need to print photo ID onto these access control cards or smart cards, you will need to opt for a retransfer printer instead. You can find out the difference between direct-to-card machines and retransfer printers here.

To see all available printer options, you can explore our complete range of ID card printers here. We guarantee to have something to fulfil your card printing needs.