Will card go through a printer?

Which printing technology do you want to use?

There are two types of card printers. Printers that use so-called direct-to-card technology and printers that work on the principle of retransfer technology. When do you choose one and not the other, and vice versa? Short answer - if you want to do monochrome printing, then always go for a direct-to-card printer. This type of printer is in most cases also very suitable if you intend to do color printing. Certainly if you are going to use pre-printed cards. However, if you want to issue cards with full 'over-the-edge' printing, exactly reproduce a house-style, or if you want to issue cards made from materials other than PVC, then a retransfer printer is what you need.

Common Print Needs

Most common will be the need to print point-of-sale material, business cards and other light card design-related media and this is where you have a couple of options. Firstly, you want to go for a laser printer as the quick print speeds and vibrant colour will show off what you need on a range of materials.

Xerox’s Versalink C8000DT and C9000DT will be a great option as some of these models allow for printing up to 350gsm. This is easily enough thickness for almost all commonly used cards. Add in some large and flexible trays, quick speeds and fantastic colour output and this range of machines could be ideal for your card printing needs.

You could also look at the Epson XP-Series and Canon Pro series. Or specifically, the PIXMA iX6850 is a great and affordable model that can help you achieve what you need when it comes to printing on a card.

There is also the Canon PIXMA IP8750 that can print up to 300gsm, including most of the same features as the IX6850 but with a 6 ink system which adds Grey ink, and the inclusion of a CD/DVD printing tray.

In addition to card printing, we now have 3 crafting printers the Epson ET-8500, Epson ET-8550 and the Canon PIXMA TS9550 printer. The Epson ET-8500 and ET-8550 printers will print up to 800gsm (1.5mm), but for media above 300gsm, you will need to print through the straight paper path. The Canon TS9550 will print up to 300gsm and is a Canon-recommended crafting printer.

OKI C650 colour printer is a new addition. This is a laser printer option, that will print on a maximum of 256gsm card and banners up to 1.32 meters long.