Plastic Card Printer
A plastic card printer is electronic desktop printers that are used to print directly onto plastic cards. Most plastic card printers can handle cards that have dimensions of 85.6 by 53.98 millimeters. These printers can be used in a variety of applications and can utilize several printing technologies.

Applications
There are several reasons a quality plastic card printer would be needed. They can personalize driver’s licenses, membership cards, gift cards, bank card, ID badges, and season tickets for sporting events.

Basics
The printing process for plastic card printert is relatively standard. The card that is to be printed on will be put through the print head at the same time a colored ribbon is passed through. The print head will generate heat which will cause the color from the ribbon to be transferred onto the card to create text and images. The images printed usually have a resolution of 300 dpi. Though the process remains the same, there are several different printing technologies that can be utilized to print plastic cards.

Dye Sublimation
The best plastic printer for making colored and high detailed cards is the dye sublimation models. A ribbon with four color panels is used, which can create up to 16 million shades of colors. These cards are usually coated with a transparent coat to minimize the scratching or wearing down of the high depth colors.

Thermal Transfer
Discount plastic cad printers usually utilize thermal transfer technology to print. These cheap plastic card printers usually handle preprinted cards in only black and white.

Reverse Image
Reverse image technology is used to make plastic cards that are used in high security situations. During this process the print head never actually comes in contact with the card. Instead an image is printed on a thin piece of film that is then transferred an bonded to the card using heat. These cards regularly contain smart chips that are scanned when the cards are used.

Thermal Rewrite
Thermal rewrite technology allows these plastic cards to be erased when necessary and have new information generated on them. The card are not printed on using a ribbon, rather they have a piece of foil inside of them that can be activated to generate new personalized information.