Direct - To - Card Printers/Encoders - Print Methods

PRINT METHODS

Both digital printing technologies- High Definition Printing and Direct - To – Card share two print methods. These print methods are called dye-sublimation and resin thermal transfer.

Dye-Sublimation

Dye-sublimation is the process FARGO printer/ encoders use to print smooth, continuous-tone images that look truly photographic. This process uses a dye-based ribbon that is partitioned by a number of consecutive color panels. The panels are grouped in a repeating series of the three process colors — Yellow, Magenta, and Cyan (YMC) — along the entire length of the ribbon.

During printing, a printhead containing hundreds of thermal elements heats the dyes on the ribbon which then vaporize and diffuse into the surface of either the card (for direct-to-card printing) or the HDP Film. A separate pass is made for each of the three color panels on the ribbon. By combining the colors of each panel and by varying the heat used to transfer these colors, the printer is able to produce up to 16.7 million, photo-realistic colors.

Resin Thermal Transfer

Resin Thermal Transfer is the process FARGO printer/encoders use to print sharp black text and crisp bar codes which can be read by both infra-red and visible-light bar code scanners. Like dye-sublimation, this process uses the same thermal printhead to transfer color from the ribbon to the card or HDP Film. The difference, however, is that solid dots of color are transferred in the form of a resin-based ink which is fused to the surface of the card when heated. This produces very durable, single-color images. Resin black panels are included on many of FARGO’s full color dye sublimation ribbons so that you can automatically print both dye sublimation and resin images on the same card. This gives cards the benefits of both print methods.

Resin-only ribbons are also available for use with FARGO’s direct-to-card printers for printing economical one color cards in as fast as 5 seconds. These ribbons consist of a continuous roll of a single resin color and can produce up to 3,000 cards. Black, scratch-off and a variety of other resin ribbon colors are available.