Picture your wallet: think of all the different types of photo ID cards you have which have been personalized for you. Chances are you have a driver's license. You may have a photo ID card for work; you may have one for your gym. If you are a student, you'll have a plastic student ID card with your photograph and name. You may carry photo ID badges for membership clubs, rewards programs...

There are different ways to print images directly onto a plastic card. Two popular technologies are dye-sublimation printing and resin thermal transfer printing.

Dye sublimation technology produces amazing images that really look like photos. The length of a "dye sub" printer ribbon is divided into repeating groups of 3 separately colored panels. A thermal printhead heats this ribbon, and the dye on these panels is vaporized. Greater heat vaporizes more dye, resulting in a more saturated spot of color. The vapors blend on the card, producing a continuous gradation of tones, and an image which is breathtakingly realistic.

Resin thermal transfer printing, like dye sublimation printing, uses heat to transfer color on to a blank PVC card from a printer's ribbon cartridge. However, with resin thermal transfer printing, the ribbon holds just one color of ink. The ink is resin based; when it hits the card surface, it immediately fuses with it. The result is an exceptionally sharp, durable image. This technology is responsible for the bar codes you see on some of those cards your wallet holds.

Types of Security ID Badges

There are many different ways to print security badges. The badges can be full-color, or monochromatic. They can be printed on one side, or both sides. If they are printed on both sides, it might be that the operator flipped the card manually, or the ID card printer flipped it automatically.

The digital photo could have been printed directly onto the card via a printer ribbon. It may have been sprayed on with a specialty ink jet printer. In other instances, the image is printed onto a special film, and the film is bonded onto the card. This type of printing is especially secure, since it sandwiches the image between the film and the PVC plastic.

The type of card you will be allowed to use depends largely on the type of printer you buy. Choosing the right printer for your particular needs is probably the most important decision you will make during the creation of your ID-making system. Fargo and Zebra both make a large number of reliable, affordable and top-notch ID card printers.

To make the badging of inmates, staff and medical personnel as manageable and secure a process as possible, investigate an Alpha Card Systems secure photo ID card system. Print full-color, oversized photo ID cards that make face recognition possible at a glance. Use printed bar codes to track activity participation, library or food service usage. Encode magnetic stripe badges to allow personnel different clearance to controlled areas and to record individual medical histories confidentially. Your options for secure photo ID cards don't end there: For even greater security and maximum card durability, laminate printed cards with a custom holographic design and lock your printer with a "smart" key, so that only those with proper authority can produce ID cards.