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ABOUT
DIRECT-TO-CARD PRINTING TECHNOLOGY |
 Direct-to-Card
(DTC™) printing technology is the most
common technology used by desktop ID systems
to print images directly onto the surface of
a plastic card. It does this by heating a
special print ribbon beneath a thermal
printhead, resulting in the transfer of
color from the ribbon to a blank card.
DTC technology uses two printing methods:
dye-sublimation and resin thermal transfer.
- Dye-sublimation
is the process used 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 colors – Yellow, Magenta and Cyan (YMC)
– along the length of the ribbon. During
printing, a printhead containing hundreds
of thermal elements heats the dyes on the
ribbon, which vaporize and diffuse into
the surface of the card. A separate pass
is made for each of the three color
panels. By combining the colors and
varying the heat used to transfer them,
the printer is able to produce up to 16.7
million colors.
- Resin Thermal
Transfer uses a
single-color ribbon to print sharp black
text and crisp bar codes, which can be
read by both infrared and visible-light
scanners. This process uses the same
thermal printhead as dye-sublimation;
however solid dots of color are
transferred rather than a combination of
colors.
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CASE STUDIES
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Unlocks Doors With Fargo Card Printer
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