Printing Process Dye Sublimation and Thermal Transfer

ID card printing is often a complicated process especially when integrated with holographic images on the ID card.

Many plastic and PVC card printers have the same basic printing operations: Dye Sublimation or Thermal Transfer Printing. Both operations utilize heating element to heat a ribbon as it passes under a thermal printing head. The main different is that the thermal transfer ribbon is heated and transfers ink onto the plastic card. The dye sublimation process heats up several ribbon as it undergoes a chemical change that transforms the ink into a gas state which is then transferred by permeation onto the plastic or PVC plastic card.

The ribbon used in the dye sublimation process is separated into three color panels and blended before going onto the card.

Monochrome Printing:

Dye sublimation ribbons are preferred when you are printing pictures, because they can produce many shades of gray for a smoother look and a better picture quality. A resin black picture normally uses a dithered gray scale (gray made from a combination of pixels which limits the number of shades), producing a coarser, grainy look to the image.

The manufacture of a card goes through a series of different stages before completion. The main stages are design, reproduction, printing and finishing. To accomplish this entire manufacturing process. Modern digital devices, that produce quality products greatly superior to other conventional processes, together with experience and know-how.

Most plastic card printers feature the same basic printing operations - dye sublimation and/or thermal transfer printing. Both techniques involve a ribbon being heated as it passes under a thermal print head. The difference is that thermal transfer ribbons heat up and transfer ink onto the plastic card, and dye sublimation ribbons heat up and undergo a chemical change process that turns the ink into a gaseous state which then permeates the plastic card.

ID card printing has become much more advanced over the years, but also much more expensive. ID card manufacturers now have several ways of making ID cards and tons of new materials and processes to choose from. Clear ID cards are a new phenomenon of the last few years, using a special carbonate plastic to obtain the effect. ID cards are generally printed and then undergo another process to add the holographic security badges to them. The process fuses the hologram into the ID card through sublimation and heat transfer within a special printer.

Creating a hologram involves extremely expensive equipment and a sterile environment. Holograms applied to ID cards generally cycle through two or three different images when viewed at different angles and in different light. Holograms are made with a laser triangulated through a system of mirrors, a holographic film and interrupted by a series of objects which will then be portrayed on the hologram.