ID card Printers in Dubai - Review
Adapt Middle East has been offering quality Identification card solutions & ID Card printers in the middle east regions of Dubai, UAE & Abu Dhabi and in the Africa regions of Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Madagascar, Botswana, Djibouti Rwand, Kenya, Somalia, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania, Congo, Chad, Cameroon, Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa. Moreover, it also supplies high quality Identifcation card solutions in various regions including Iraq, Jordan, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Georgia & Armenia. Known for its timely delivery and knack of understanding the customer’ss needs & expectations, it is quickly elevated itself to become the most preferred suppliers of ID card printer systems.
Adapt ME display of ID card Printers in Gitex - Dubai
Since the inception of the company in the year 2005, Adapt Middle East established strong partnerships with over 100 private and public enterprises in the UAE and across the region that has made Adapt one of the top customer oriented solutions company in the region. Recently, Adapt participated in the Gitex 2009 Tradeshow at Dubai at International Convention & Exhibition Centre highlighting ID card printer solutions presented by the leading manufacturer including Datacard Group worldwide. Let us see some of the things you have to consider before you buy an Identifcation card printer in your home or office. This article will help you to make the right decision before you go for an ID Printer.
Buying Guide to ID card Printer
The first question that can pop up in your mind as soon as you decide buying an ID printer is the cost involved. You do not have to get too much worried about the cost as they come in different range of costs varying from $1,000 to several thousand thousands depending upon your mode of business and application. Another rather fundamental question that may arise in your mind will be the machine’s capabilities and performance. In our next section, let’s get into thick of things with the technical issues of the ID card printer in a much detailed manner.
Portability & Simplicity
If you are on the hunt for a basic informational card that is integrated with a text and photos, you may be pretty pleased with a basic level model that has the ability to print on one side of a plain PVC Card. This will function absolutely fine for card application that doesn’t need the capability to interface with a card reader. Some ID card printers come in small sizes that help you to carry wherever you go. Make sure you have a camera and that you are connected to the computer access with installation of the software so that you can download and format the design of the card to the printer. These rather expensive entry level printers are quite slower compared to their expensive counterparts, but they will work just fine for companies that require a small number of cards to be printed from time to time.
Durability
Durability - another factor that can go a long way in deciding if you have to go for a particular ID printer. Units that have the ability to print on thermal transfer film instead of printing directly on the surface of the card provide some additional protection to your printed images and text. Also, check out with Identity card printers that can manage cards of all thickness so that the cards can be printed on heavy duty PVC stocks. Printers with laminating capabilities will come in handy if you want your card to lasts for a long time in an ambience where your card is exposed to changing weather conditions like sun, rain, chemicals. This option is available on few models and comes as an additional option on others.
Any form of warranty from leading brands may convey you are provided with either one or 2 years of warranty on cover parts and labour depending upon the manufacturer. There is also the availability of extended support and warranty. As regards the durability of the machine, the way you treat the machine goes a long way in deciding how long it is going to last. Make sure that you don’t run into a machine that offers applications for occasional use if you have planned to print a high volume of cards on a continuously. Do check out the manufacturers’ or brand’s recommended duty cycle and warranty so that you can maintain your Identity printerin good shape. The biggest enemies of any card printer can be dust and dirt. Try to place your printer in a clean environment and always use a dust cover.
Image Quality
The quality of the image is normally the same on all sorts of card printers that deploys the same technology. Thermal printers can produce a pretty good looking ID card. The resolution of image or the level of quality of image is normally expressed in terms of dots per inch or dpi. The higher the dots per resolution, the much crisper will be the quality of the finished image. Most of the card printers have a dpi of around 300. Even sometimes Low cost ID printers can produce a decent form of image. If your cards are being used for promotional purposes (where striking first impressions are decisive) you may require to have your plastic cards pre printed at 1200 DPI by some form of offset press method then customize it using ID Card printer. You can also select a printer that has the ability to print on both sides of card on each card in order to place information that is the less important on the back of the card.
If you are looking for a much better and crisper black lines and text, ensure if your printer can manage YMCK ribbon and not just merely YMC. The YMC is yellow, magenta, and cyan. This type of ribbon can creates “black” by blending the three colours in unison and outlines can sometimes be in the form of a tiny bit blurry. This tiny bit of blurry may not be visible to the naked eye, but consider the use of bar codes that are particularly sensitive and need very sharply delineated edges. The K panel is generally a black panel. The software present in the printer driver has the ability to recognize the ribbon and makes use of the K panel in case it is available. If you have to protect the print and the image, then go for an YMCKO ribbon. The O panel is essentially meant for an overlay panel that helps seals in photo and the print.
Encoding & Security
If you are in need of cards that can be used to store some data, it is high time you look for a printer that allows encoding and reading of RFID tags, magnetic stripes magnetic stripes. Magnetic stripes are very popular and can prove quite cost-effective. You can also go for printers that help to re-write the card data existing and update information and track the changes throughout the life span of the card. RFID tagged cards and Magnetic stripes are both excellent options for managing basic access control. Smart chip data cards have the capability to store information, as well as executable programs. These properties make an essential ingredient ideal for handling some sensitive information. You can also make a quick investigation on some of the security finishing features including micro printing and holographic lamination. We at Adapt ME are more than happy to helps you select the ideal printer that best suits your application and purpose.
Blank plastic card stock of good image quality can cost you around ten cents. You can purchase cheaper plastic cards but these can ruin your plastic card ID printers because the cards are not of “image quality”. You can also go for a customized card with a good choice of security features somewhere between the scale of $1 and $5 per card that depends upon type of security features and the number of cards.You can find both visible as well as invisible security features. UV (ultra violet) printing is a good example of invisible security feature. You need to have a black light in order to read it. A custom hologram can be made visible to the naked eye and so is micro printing which appears like a line to our naked eye. But when it is magnified it comprises numbers and letters. You can Allow 6 weeks for customized printed high security card production after the approval of artwork.
Some Additional Considerations for ID card Printer purchase
The ID card printer you purchase has to be compatible with your existing version of Windows. Windows 2000 and XP are now-a-days quite standard on all most all Printers models. Therefore, if you have ‘98 or Vista, you will have to double check the specification sheet or you can talk to our technical support executive about compatibility. Also, do check out if a card printer makes use of Ethernet or USB technology so as to connect to your local network. Some of the card printers can work with late model Apple computers. Do check with our Adapt Middle East’s Customer Service Desk for ensuring compatibility.
In general, here are some questions that can creep in your mind before buying an ID card printer:
- Do I have to print monochrome or in color?
- Do I have to print on both sides of the ID card?
- How secure do I need my identification card to be?
- How smart do I require all my identity cards need to be?
- How many ID cards should I have to print every year?
- How long do I need my cards to last?
Popular ID card Printers - Overview
Datacard Group
One of the leading manufacturers of various ID card printers, software and ID Systems worldwide. Some of the popular Datacard Identifcation card printers include SP25 Plus, SP35 Plus, SP55 Plus, SP75 Plus & RP90 Plus E Some of the ID software offered by Datacard group include ID Works Intro, ID Works Basic, Standard, Enterprise & ID Works Visitor Manager. 1-2-3 System is one of the popular ID systems that you can find at Datacard Group.
Make sure you read this article before you go for an ID card printer. Please contact us in case you have any doubts or clarifications regarding the buying of ID card printers or availing ID card solutions. You can also find exclusive unbiased reviews on one of the card printers and solution offered by Datacard group in Useful article section. We will also update the section regularly for you to bring some of the latest card printers that have found themselves into the market so that you can choose some of the best ID card printers available in the UAE, Middle East, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Africa Regions.
