414 lines
28 KiB
Markdown
414 lines
28 KiB
Markdown
# Basics of Card Printing
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Basics of Card Printing
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How Card Printers Work
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Printing Process
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Magnetic Stripe Encoding
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Smart Card Encoding
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Card Lamination
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Card Security Features
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Glossary of Terms
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(Source: ID Edge Learning Centre)
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How ID card printers work
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The Original Way to Make ID Cards
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Prior to the early 1990s, the most common method of producing an ID card was known as the film-based
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method. This involved taking a person’s photo, cutting it out and laminating it to a card-sized piece of paper
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containing the person’s name, ID number and any other personal information.
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Although the initial investment for a film-based system was relatively low,
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the time, labor and individual cost per card was high. Plus, these cards were easily counterfeited. As a
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result, a new method called digital printing arose during the late 1980s and early 1990s.
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Benefits of Digital Printing
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Image quality
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The image quality of plastic cards produced with digital printing technology is far superior to those produced
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through the traditional manual method described above. The cards look better because digitized photo
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images are sharper and can be edited for color quality. Placement of various graphical elements of the card
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is more consistent and text is clearer and more readable.
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Flexibility
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Plastic card printers can print text, line art and photographic images. They also can encode magnetic stripes
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and provide smart card chip programming contact stations, all in a single-step process. Card design
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software used to produce the cards provides users the flexibility to change designs, store and access
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multiple designs, create variable text fields and implement database programs to store images and track
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information.
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Security
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Plastic card printers also can apply various types of card protection materials to make cards resistant to
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tampering and alteration. These protection materials, including hologram overlays, make cards more secure
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because they cannot be easily reproduced or counterfeited.
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Durability
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Card protection materials such as overlay varnishes, overlaminate patches and secure card media each
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provide various levels of card durability by making the cards resistant to abrasion, UV light exposure, water
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damage and exposure to liquid chemicals.
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Economy
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In-house printing of plastic cards using a digital card printer takes far less time than the old film-based
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method. While the intial capital cost is higher, the cost per card is far less than the old method.
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Convenience
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Printing your own plastic cards gives you the convenience of being able to produce cards when you need
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them, where you need them, letting you issue new cards on demand. Having your own card printer
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capability also makes it easy to make changes to card content or design quickly.
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Printing Process
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Dye Sublimation and Thermal Transfer
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Most plastic card printers feature the same basic printing operations - dye sublimation and/or thermal
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transfer printing. Both techniques involve a ribbon being heated as it passes under a thermal print head.
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The difference is that thermal transfer ribbons heat up and transfer ink onto the plastic card, and dye
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sublimation ribbons heat up and undergo a chemical change process that turns the ink into a gaseous state
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which then permeates the plastic card.
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The ribbon used in color dye sublimation printing is divided into three separate color panels: yellow,
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magenta and cyan (see Figure 1). This configuration is referred to as YMC.
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yellow magenta cyan yellow magenta cyan
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These three colors are the primary colors used in printing to
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produce all other colors including black.
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The dye from the ribbon is applied to the plastic card via a multi-pass operation. This means the card will
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pass under the print head once for each of the three colored ribbon panels, applying each color separately.
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The term dye sublimation also is referred to as dye diffusion. When the dye on the ribbon is heated by the
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print head it is transformed from a solid to a gas and diffused onto the plastic card (the card is specially
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coated to absorb the color dye). The hotter the elements in the print head, the more dye is converted to a
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gas and absorbed into the plastic card. At 300 dpi the picture quality and continuous color tones produced
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by a dye sublimation printer outperform most laser or ink jet printers with higher resolutions.
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The advantage of dye sublimation is the millions of colors that can be created. The colors result from a
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combination of the panels on the ribbon. By combining these colors and varying the intensity of the heat,
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providing various shades of each color, you are virtually unlimited in your color selection.
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Thermal transfer differs from dye sublimation in that thermal transfer uses ink rather than dye. Both dye
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sublimation and thermal ink (sometimes refered to as resin) can be combined in one ribbon (see Figure 2).
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This ribbon is referred to as a YMCK ribbon. The letter "K" is the designator for the color black in the printing
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industry.
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yellow magenta cyan black yellow magenta cyan black
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Why do you need a separate black panel, when you can create
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black by mixing the three basic YMC colors together?
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The answer to this question is simple. When black is created by mixing the YMC colors together it creates
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what is referred to as "composite black." Composite black typically looks muddy or has a grayish tint when
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compared to thermal transfer (TT or resin) black. Composite black is not recommended for printing bar
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codes since combining the three colors together does not produce the sharp edge many scanners require
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(this is invisible to the naked eye but can be observed under magnification). Composite black also is invisible
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to IR scanners because there is no carbon in the dye. Since you may not know what type of scanner will be
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used, the rule is to always use TT (resin) black to print bar codes.
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All color printers are capable of printing in monochrome using a single color ribbon. These ribbons are less
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expensive than full-color multi-panel ribbons and can be either dye or ink (thermal transfer). The most
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commonly used monochrome ribbon is black, but there are several other colors available, including red,
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green and blue.
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Monochrome
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Dye sublimation ribbons are preferred when you are printing pictures, because they can produce many
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shades of gray for a smoother look and a better picture quality. A resin black picture normally uses a
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dithered gray scale (gray made from a combination of pixels which limits the number of shades), producing
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a coarser, grainy look to the image.
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Thermal transfer (resin) ribbons should be used to print text, bar codes or single color
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graphics such as simple logos. Black monochrome ribbons are represented by the
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letter "K" followed by a lower case "r or d", (Kr or Kd). The "r" designates a thermal
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transfer ribbon with resin ink. The "d" designates a dye sublimation ribbon.
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Reverse transfer
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This process prints images on the reverse side of a retransfer film. The film is then laminated to the face of
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a PVC card with heat and pressure. The process uses the same four color panels as a dye sublimation printer
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but produces much higher quality because the dye bleeds less on the film than it does on a PVC card. Also,
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since the film is laminated to the card it is virtually impossible to tamper with the card without destroying it.
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Inkjet printing
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Inkjet printing has been around for a long time and is common in today's office. However, it has just been
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introduced to ID card printing. Currently, only Fargo has inkjet printers and they require specially
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formulated ink and PVC cards to work.
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There are three main steps to producing a drop with thermal technology. First, the chamber holding the ink
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bubble is heated. Second, the bubble bursts due to heat and the ink drop shoots out of the nozzle. Finally,
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the vacuum from the drop leaving the chamber draws the next bubble into the chamber. There are between
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300 and 600 nozzles per print head, all of which can fire at the same time. "These deliver drop volumes of
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around 8 - 10 [picoliters] (a [picoliter] is a million millionth of a [liter]), and dot sizes of between 50 and 60
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microns in diameter." Thirty microns is the smallest dot size visible to the naked eye.
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There are 300 to 600 of these firing mechanisms per print head. Four to eight of these tiny drops are fired
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onto the paper to make a color dot. Larger dots of 35 picoliters are usually created with black inks. Part of
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this difference is that the colors are usually created with dye-based ink and the black ink is a pigment-based
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ink. Dye-based inks produce a wide range of vibrant colors whereas pigment-based inks are more durable
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and water-resistant. Pigment-based inks also have larger molecules because they are particles suspended in
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solution. Because thermal technology uses heat to create the drop, all the inks used must be heat resistant.
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This narrows the selection of inks and their characteristics such as water-resistance.
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Magnetic Stripe Encoding
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Magnetic stripe cards have been in existence since the early 1970s when they were used on paper and film-
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based ID cards as well as credit cards. Magnetic stripe technology is widely used throughout the world and
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remains the dominant technology in the United States for transaction processing and access control. Other
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technologies such as PDF bar codes and smart chip cards now are capturing part of the magnetic stripe
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market because they can hold more information.
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Magnetic Stripe Plastic Card
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Magnetic stripe encoding terms:
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Coercivity
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A technical term used to designate how strong a magnetic field must be to affect data encoded on a
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magnetic stripe. Coercivity is measured in Oersteds (Oe). Coercivity is the measure of how difficult it is to
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encode information in a magnetic stripe.
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HiCo
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Abbreviation for High Coercivity. HiCo magnetic stripes provide the highest level of immunity to damage by
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stray magnetic fields. They are more difficult to encode than LoCo magnetic stripes because the encoding
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requires more power. HiCo magnetic stripe cards are slightly more expensive for this reason.
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LoCo
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Abbreviation for Low Coercivity. Easier to encode and slightly less expensive than HiCo magnetic stripe
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cards.
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ISO Magnetic Stripe Encoding
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International Standards Organization specification for magnetic stripe encoding. The Fargo encoder supports
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dual high/low coercivity and tracks 1, 2 and 3.
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JIS II Magnetic Stripe Encoding
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Japanese Industrial Standard for magnetic stripe encoding; published and translated into English by Japan
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Standards Association.
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Stripe-up/Stripe-down
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Stripe-up means the magnetic stripe is on the front of the card and stripe-down means the magnetic stripe
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is on the back of the card. This information is important when ordering a printer since the magnetic encoder
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must be installed differently for stripe-up and stripe-down models at the factory. The most common is
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stripe-down.
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Select the right type for the job
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Selecting which type of magnetic stripe to adopt depends on how the card is to be used. Will the magnetic
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stripe be used daily, once a month or just a couple of times a year? The chart below shows some of the
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applications where magnetic stripes are used and which stripe is common for that application.
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Applications LoCo HiCo Usage
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Access Control Daily
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Retail Customers Weekly
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Membership Cards Weekly/Monthly
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Time and Attendance Daily
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Debit/Credit International United States weekly/monthly
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Occationally - HiCo
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Driver's Licence
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required by most states
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How to visually identify which kind of stripe is on a card
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The easiest way to determine visually if a stripe on a card is HiCo or LoCo is by the color. HiCo stripes are
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black and LoCo stripes are a lighter brown. Magnetic stripe readers are "blind" as to whether a stripe is HiCo
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or LoCo and are designed to read both.
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Smart Card Encoding
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There are a wide variety of contact and contactless smart cards currently in use. The terms "smart chip
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card," "IC card" and "smart card" all refer to the same type of card. Smart cards have a chip embedded in
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them which can be programmed. Smart cards can store more than 100 times more information than a
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magnetic stripe and they can be reprogrammed to add, delete or rearrange data.
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Smart cards were invented in Europe in the 1970s and were in wide use in Western Europe by the early
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'80s. Smart cards are an easy, inexpensive way for European businesses to do offline transaction
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verification. The reason offline verification is preferred is the high cost of telecommunications throughout
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Europe. The United States has been slow to implement smart cards because it would require replacing the
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widely installed magnetic stripe card reading equipment with smart card readers. The cost of having the
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current magnetic stripe readers "online" via telecommunications is relatively inexpensive in the U.S.
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compared to the rest of the world.
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Microprocessor
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Smart Card
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The second type of smart card contains both a microprocessor as well as memory. These cards can store
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massive amounts of information, plus the microprocessor enables the card to make its own decisions
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regarding the information stored.
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Both types of chips can be addressed by Eltron card printers since they all offer an optional smart card
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contact station. The printer brings the card into the contact station and then passes programming signals
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from an external programmer to encode the smart chip.
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Contactless smart cards utilize various RFID technologies to write and read. Many card printers print on
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these kinds of smart cards. Encoding or programming the electronic devices on these cards is typically
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accomplished by an external encoding or programming device, but contactless smart card encoders
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integrated into the card printer are becoming increasingly available.
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Card Lamination
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Various types of materials are used to protect plastic cards from abrasion, wear, fading, alteration and
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duplications. Overlay varnishes and laminate patches are the most common materials used to enhance card
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durability and security.
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Card durability has to do with how well the card withstands various forms of environmental stress. They
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include resistance to abrasion, such as passing the card through a magnetic stripe or bar code reader,
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protection from image fading when exposed to sunlight, and resistance to damage when immersed in water
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or exposed to chemicals.
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Another important factor in applications such as driver's licensing is resistance to tampering, alteration
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and/or replication. With the use of protective materials such as laminate patches with holograms, cards can
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be constructed to eliminate the potential of tampering and alteration.
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Card security means that the card can be verified for authenticity. Techniques include the application of
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overlay varnish or overlaminate materials with hologram images. Use of these materials in constructing
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cards makes replication by anyone without access to the custom hologram image materials virtually
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impossible.
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Material Card Life Durability Security
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Overlay Varnish Up to 2 years Minimal
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Overlay Varnish
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Up to 2 years Minimal Visual
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with Hologram
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Clear Patch
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Up to 5 years High
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Overlaminate
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Patch Overlaminate
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Up to 5 years High Visual
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with Hologram
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Overlay varnishes provide card protection, but have a much shorter life span that laminate patches - and
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offer very little security (with the exception of some hologram varnishes). Varnishes are not a solid covering
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and have multiple tiny holes in the surface, which allows the dyes to be drawn away from the card. This will
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cause the image on the card to blur and fade due to UV light, shift in color or just wear away. The life
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expectancy of a plain plastic card is up to two years.
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Laminate patches offer better protection than plain varnish, for both security and life expectancy. A patch
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laminate is, as its name implies, a polyester patch that is applied to the surface of the card after printing.
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Laminate patches, most often either .6 or 1.0 mil thick are applied via a hot roll laminating station. The life
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expectancy of a plastic card with a laminate patch is up to seven years.
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Glossary of Terms
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Access Control Cards
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Plastic cards used to gain access to premises, usually associated with magnetic stripe and proximity cards.
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Bar Code
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An array of machine-readable rectangular bars and spaces arranged in a specific way defined in
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international standards to represent letters, numbers and other human-readable symbols.
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Biometrics
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Biometrics utilize "something you are" to authenticate identification. This might include fingerprints, retina
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pattern, iris, hand geometry, vein patterns, voice password or signature dynamics. Biometrics can be used
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with a smart card to authenticate the user. The user's biometric information is stored on a smart card, the
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card is placed in a reader and a biometric scanner reads the information to match it against that on the
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card. This is a fast, accurate and highly secure form of user authentication.
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Coercivity
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A technical term used to designate how strong a magnetic field must be to affect data encoded on a
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magnetic stripe. Coercivity is measured in Oersteds (Oe). Coercivity is the measure of how difficult it is to
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encode information in a magnetic stripe.
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Color Matching
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Several color matching options are included with Fargo Card Printer/Encoders. These options are built
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directly into the printer driver so they are easily selected. Colors print with more clarity, detail and accuracy.
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Contact Smart Card Encoder
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The contact smart card encoder connects the ISO contact pins mounted on the e-card docking station to a
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Gemplus GemCore 410 smart card coupler mounted inside the printer. The GemCore 410's digital I/O is
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converted to a RS-232 signal which is accessible to application programs through a dedicated DB-9 port on
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the outside of the printer labeled "Smart Card."
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Contactless Smart Card Encoder
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The contactless smart card encoder connects an antenna mounted on the e-card docking station to a
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Gemplus GemEasyLink 680SL coupler mounted inside the printer/encoder. Application programs can access
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Mifare® contactless cards via a RS-232 signal through a dedicated DB-9 port on the outside of the printer
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labeled "Mifare/Contactless."
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Digital Imaging
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Scanning or otherwise capturing images which may be subsequently edited, filed, displayed or printed on a
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plastic card.
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Direct-to-Card (DTC) Printing
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The Direct-to-card printing process prints digital images directly onto any plastic card with a smooth, clean,
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glossy PVC surface.
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Dye Sublimation
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Dye sublimation is the print process Fargo Card Printer/Encoders use to print smooth, continuous-tone,
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photo-quality images. This process uses a dye-based ribbon roll that is divided into a series of color panels.
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The color panels are grouped in a repeating series of three separate colors along the length of the ribbon:
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yellow, magenta and cyan (YMC). As the ribbon and card pass simultaneously beneath the printhead,
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hundreds of thermal elements heat the dyes on the ribbon. Once the dyes are heated, they vaporize and
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diffuse into the surface of the card. Varying the heat intensity of each thermal element within the printhead
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makes it possible for each transferred dot of color to vary saturation. This blends one color into the next.
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The result is continuous-tone, photo-realistic color images.
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Docking Station
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Fargo provides an optional e-card docking station on select models that can be ordered with encoders for
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one, two or three different types of e-cards. These printer/encoders allow application software to read
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and/or store information in the memory of e-cards. The optional encoders provide everything needed for an
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application program to communicate with a specific type e-card through a standard RS-232 interface. The
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Fargo e-card docking station comes standard with the read/write pins (as defined by ISO) needed to
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communicate with contact smart cards. The e-card docking station also can be ordered with a magnetic
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stripe encoder for either an ISO magnetic stripe that supports dual high/low coercivity tracks 1, 2 and 3 or a
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JIS II magnetic stripe.
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Encoding
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The process of electronically "writing" information on magnetic stripes or smart card chips.
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E-card Encoder
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Fargo Card Printer/Encoders support reading and/or storing information in up to three different types of e-
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cards: ISO 7816 contact smart cards, Mifare® contactless smart cards and HID proximity cards.
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Edge-to-Edge
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Refers to the maximum printable area on a card. Printer/encoders with edge-to-edge printing capability can
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print just to the edge of a card resulting in printed cards with virtually no border.
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HiCo
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Abbreviation for High Coercivity. HiCo magnetic stripes provide the highest level of immunity to damage by
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stray magnetic fields. They are more difficult to encode than LoCo magnetic stripes because the encoding
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requires more power. HiCo magnetic stripe cards are slightly more expensive for this reason.
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High-Volume Printing
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Fast, efficient printing for producing large quantities of cards with minimal down time for supplies loading or
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maintenance.
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High Definition Printing™ (HDP™)
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The high-definition printing process prints full-color images onto clear HDP transfer film. The HDP film is
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then fused to the card through heat and pressure via a heated roller. This revolutionary technology
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enhances card durability and consistently produces the best card color available - even on tough-to-print
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matte-finished cards, proximity cards and smart cards.
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High-Speed Printing
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Fargo Card Printer/Encoders are among the fastest desktop card printer/encoders in the industry. High-
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speed printing allows for more efficient card production - saving time, money and resources.
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Hologram
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A unique photographic printing that provides a three-dimensional effect on a flat surface. Holograms cannot
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be easily copied and are used for security and aesthetic purposes on cards.
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Image Capture System
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A hardware and software system used to obtain and save personal data and cardholder photographic
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images.
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ISO Magnetic Stripe Encoder
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International Standards Organization specification for magnetic stripe encoding. The Fargo encoder supports
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dual high/low coercivity and tracks 1, 2 and 3.
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JIS II Magnetic Stripe Encoder
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Japanese Industrial Standard for magnetic stripe encoding; published and translated into English by Japan
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Standards Association.
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Lamination
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The process of combining lamination material and core material using time, heat and pressure. Laminate
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patches used in card printers come on rolls, with and without carriers/liners.
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LCD Display
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The LCD - or Liquid Crystal Display - shows the current status of the printer and changes according to the
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printer's current mode of operation. LCD communicates an error with text, which is easier to interpret than
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LED lights.
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Lockable Hopper
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Some Fargo Card Printer/Encoders provide a lockable card hopper door. This lock is intended to help prevent
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theft of your blank card stock. This feature is especially helpful if using valuable card stock such as
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preprinted cards, smart cards or cards with built-in security features such as holograms.
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LoCo
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Abbreviation for Low Coercivity. Easier to encode and slightly less expensive than HiCo magnetic stripe
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cards.
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Machine-Readable
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A code or characters that can be read by machines.
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Magnetic (“Mag”) Stripe
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Mag stripe refers to the black or brown magnetic stripe on a card. The stripe is made of magnetic particles
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of resin. The resin particle material determines the coercivity of the stripe; the higher the coercivity, the
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harder it is to encode - and erase - information from the stripe. Magnetic stripes are often used in
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applications for access control, time and attendance, lunch programs, library cards and more.
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Memory Card
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A type of smart card. Also known as a synchronous card, it features 256 bit or 32 byte memory and is
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suitable for use as a token card or identification card.
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Output Stacker
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The output stacker stores printed cards in a first-in/first-out order. This feature makes it easy to keep
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printed cards in a specific order for faster issuance or to print serialized cards.
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Oversized Cards
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Oversized cards are used for more efficient visual identification and are available in many nonstandard sizes.
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The most popular sizes are CR-90 (3.63" x 2.37"/92 mm x 60 mm) and CR-100 (3.88" x 2.63"/98.5 mm x
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67 mm).
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Overlaminate
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Protective clear or holographic material designed to offer advanced card security and durability. Two types
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are available from Fargo: Thermal Transfer Overlaminate is a .25 mil thick material that enhances card
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security and durability. PolyGuard Overlaminate is available in a 1 mil and .6 mil thick material and provides
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extraordinary protection for applications that require highly durable cards.
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Overlay Panel
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The clear overlay panel (O) is provided on dye sublimation print ribbons. This panel is automatically applied
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to printed cards and helps prevent images from premature wear or UV fading. All dye sublimation printed
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images must have either this overlay panel or an overlaminate applied to protect them.
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Overlay Varnish
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A thin transparent layer applied (using the print head) to cards to resist scratching and fading from
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exposure to UV radiation.
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Over-the-Edge
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Refers to the maximum printable area on a card. Printer/encoders with over-the-edge printing capability can
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print past the edge of a card resulting in printed cards with absolutely no border.
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PolyGuard™
|
||
A card overlaminate available in 1 mil and .6 mil thicknesses that provides extraordinary card protection;
|
||
ideal for harsh or more secure environments. Available as clear or with embedded holographic-type security
|
||
images.
|
||
Proximity (“Prox”) Card
|
||
Proximity cards allow access and tracking utilizing contactless technology (usually by communicating
|
||
through a built-in antenna).
|
||
Prox Card Encoder
|
||
The prox card encoder uses a HID ProxPoint® Plus reader mounted on the e-card docking station inside the
|
||
printer/encoder. The ProxPoint is a "read only" device producing a Wiegand signal that is converted to RS-
|
||
232 using a Cypress Computer Systems CVT-2232. Application programs can read information from HID
|
||
prox cards via a RS-232 signal through a dedicated DB-9 port on the outside of the printer labeled "Prox."
|
||
Resin Thermal Transfer
|
||
Resin thermal transfer is the process used to print sharp black text and crisp bar codes that can be read by
|
||
both infrared and visible-light bar code scanners. It is also the process used to print ultra-fast, economical
|
||
one-color cards. Like dye sublimation, this process uses a thermal printhead to transfer color from the
|
||
ribbon roll to the card. The difference, however, is that solid dots of color are transferred in the form of a
|
||
resin-based ink which fuses to the surface of the card when heated. This produces very durable, single-color
|
||
images.
|
||
Smart Card
|
||
Smart cards have an embedded computer circuit that contains either a memory chip or a microprocessor
|
||
chip. There are several types of smart cards: Memory, Contact, Contactless, Hybrid (Twin), Combi (Dual
|
||
Interface), Proximity and Vicinity.
|
||
SmartGuard™
|
||
SmartGuard is a printer security option that uses a custom access card and a built-in reader to restrict
|
||
printer access. With this feature, only those with a valid access card can print cards. This makes both your
|
||
printed cards and your overall system more secure.
|
||
SmartShield™
|
||
This option allows the printer/encoder to print custom, reflective security images on the card that fluoresce
|
||
under a black or UV light source.
|
||
Standard Cards
|
||
The standard card size is CR-80. CR-80 dimensions are 3.375" x 2.125" (85.6 mm x 54 mm).
|
||
Thermal Printing
|
||
The process of creating an image on a plastic card using a heated printhead.
|
||
Thermal Transfer Overlaminate
|
||
A card overlaminate available in a .25 mil thickness that increases card security and durability; often used
|
||
for moderate durability applications or when additional security (such as holographic images) are needed.
|
||
Resolution
|
||
Dimension of the smallest element of an image that can be printed. Usually stated as dots per inch (dpi).
|
||
|
||
YMC
|
||
Yellow, magenta and cyan are the primary print colors for cards. The three colors are combined in varying
|
||
degrees to make a full spectrum of colors. YMCKO is the same as YMC plus black (K) and clear protective
|
||
overcoat (O).
|