BUYING A CARD PRINTER: AN ENJOYABLE EXPERIENCE

I can imagine your incredulous face as you read the title of this article: can buying a card printer be an enjoyable experience? As far as you know, doing so can be quite a nightmare and all the business owners and managers you have talked to about this issue have agreed on the fact that going card printer shopping is not something they look forward to doing so in the near future. However, let me tell you that buying a card printing instrument can be quite pleasant. The key lies in knowing what you are looking for and what your printing needs are so that you do not get dizzy while studying the different models available in the market.

With this being said, it is a basic step to write down everything related to your ID badge requirements. This includes from the amount of ID cards you may need to produce on a regular basis not only now but also within the following five years to the aesthetic and security aspects that your ID cards will need to fulfill. These questions will help you get focused:

·         How many ID badges would you need to produce on a regular basis?

·         Do you receive lots of visitors or do you hire temporary staff workers in certain periods of the year?

·         Which kind of ID cards do you plan to provide your employees with: identification ones or access control ones?

·         Does using rewritable cards appealing to you, especially for visitors or temporary workers?

·         Would you like to incorporate your employees’ picture or you company’s logo into the ID cards?

·         How much information do you consider including in your badges?

The answers to these questions will help you determine how powerful your card printing instrument needs to be and if it should be a full color or a monochromatic device, or it should allow you to print on both sides of the card at the same time.

Then you should focus your attention on your security policy. Read it thoroughly and determine which safety features you would have to add to your ID badges so that the card cannot be easily copied, forged or tampered with and at the same time they keep up with your security requirements. Fortunately, every card printer model comes with attractive safety features that can be easily incorporated to the cards.

As a last step, it can be useful to surf online for card printers and see which ones satisfy your requirements. Browsing online will help you compare different models and even have an idea of the cost they may imply to your company.