Last Updated on May 1, 2024 by Daniel Osakwe
ID card printers just as the name implies are printers specifically used to print ID cards. These printers are quite different from our normal or traditional printers because they print on a special kind of material and their printing process is quite different.
Although, ID card printers are mainly used commercially, so picking the best printer would be a top priority for anyone who desires to have one. For this reason, we’ve researched, tested, highlighted, and reviewed 10 of the best ID card printers available in the market today.
The ID card printers we’ve listed below are durable, portable, easy to operate, fast in operation, efficient, produces clean and sharp prints and lastly, they’re very reliable.
With that being said, if you’re looking for the best ID card printers to buy, you just found the right place.
Table of Contents
Buyers Guide: Things to Consider Before Buying an ID Card Printer
Price: It’s useful to have a pre-built up spending range while assessing printers since an association’s financial plan can be the most constraining element. Ensure you consider the continuous flexibly costs including blank cards and printer ribbons.
Printing Method and Performance: Most ID card printers use color sublimation printing, while a portion of the more complex models utilize switch transfer printing to create top quality cards. What’s more, a few printers have a monochrome rewritable mode.
Connection Type: Before settling on the last decision, you might need to consider ID printer size, accessibility of field updates, or working framework similarity. We prescribe checking on the maker guarantee to decide whether you should buy service contract inclusion.
Visual Security and Encoding: Some ID card printers have unique highlights to build ID card sturdiness and visual security including cover, holographic overlay, and Holokote watermarks. Encoding choices are genuinely standard overall ID card printers.
Best ID Card Printers Compilation Chart
| Products | Features | Where to Buy |
| Magicard 600
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|
Get it on Amazon |
| IDP Smart 51 Secure GDPR
|
|
Get it on Amazon |
| Fargo HDP5000 retransfer printer
|
|
Get it on Amazon |
| Magicard Pronto
|
|
Get it on Amazon |
| Zebra ZC300
|
|
Get it on Amazon |
| Datacard CD815
|
|
Get it on Amazon |
| Matica XID8100
|
|
Get it on Amazon |
| Evolis Primacy
|
|
Get it on Amazon |
| Fargo DTC1250e
|
|
Get it on Amazon |
| Magicard 300
|
|
Get it on Amazon |
Best ID Card Printers in Durability
Magicard 600
The Magicard 600 is one of the most up to date direct-to-card printers available and offers an extraordinary blend of high-resolution printing and noteworthy printing speeds. Being a Magicard implies it offers additional security: they all accompany HoloKote as standard. This prints a straightforward picture into the jacket board, bringing about a safe watermark that must be seen under unique UV lights. Magicard’s One Tree Planted plan likewise implies it’s an incredible alternative in case you’re searching for a naturally maintainable printer to purchase.
The 600 likewise profits by a capacity that scrambles touchy data. This implies it’s incomprehensible for the Magicard 600 to cause an information leak; a significant thought for some associations as information security turns into a main concern. It’s secured by a three-year maker guarantee and, with these various security alternatives, it’ll despite everything be on the ball in 2023.
The best piece? An exceptional offer as of now implies all Magicard 600s will accompany a double-sided printing add-on. The choice, which for the most part costs purchasers extra, will be naturally added to your request. This will give you greater adaptability should your necessities change over the coming year.
With everything taken into account, this machine is an incredible fit for the individuals who are searching for a medium to a high-volume print arrangement, eco-cognizant purchasers, or flow Magicard clients possibly updating from a past Rio genius model or the Enduro3e.
| Pros | Cons |
| High volume prints | Expensive |
| Very durable |
Datacard CD815
The Datacard CD815 is the most recent age of direct-to-card machines following on from the mainstream SD range. It is one of the quickest DTC ID card printers available and can deliver 210 full-shading cards every hour.
Strong and tough development implies it’s ready to endure loads of mileage as well, in spite of the fact that, in the impossible occasion of an issue, the printer includes a three-year guarantee and the print head is secured for 30 months.
| Pros | Cons |
| Durable | Expensive |
| Fast |
Evolis Primacy
An undeniably well-known decision for printing staff and student ID cards, the Evolis Primacy can print 225 full-shading cards every hour. This settles on it an extraordinary decision in the event that you will require a printer able to do high volumes.
That implies that dependent on a 35-hour working week, you can print up to 7,000 cards on the off chance that you decide on a solitary-sided printer or 4,900 cards for the double-sided choice. With its 300×600 dpi adaptable resolution, it likewise printers cards to great guidelines as well.
Evolis offers the Primacy with a three-year guarantee on both the printer itself and its print head, which means should you experience an issue, you’ll be secured for a long time. As a maker, Evolis takes its promise to the earth very seriously, as does Digital ID.
Thus, the Primacy is an “eco-structure” and the consumables, for example, strips have been painstakingly delivered utilizing whatever number of reasonably sourced items as could be expected under the circumstances.
| Pros | Cons |
| Fast printing | Pricey |
| Durable |
Best ID Card Printers in Security
IDP Smart 51 Secure GDPR
The IDP Smart 51 is as of now an able ID card printer. It can print monochrome and full-shading cards and is accessible with a scope of encoding alternatives. One of the most straightforward ID card printers to utilize, it profits by a 10% speedup contrasted with its ancestor settles on it a decent decision for high-volume needs as well. In light of a seven-hour working day, you’ll have the option to deliver around 5,000 monochrome cards or 1,475 full-shading cards.
Things being what they are, how would you improve what is now a sound machine? By making it progressively secure obviously! The IDP Smart 51 GDPR Secure includes a few security features that aren’t as of now found on most of the different printers. For instance, it has a lockable top cover. It’s a basic change, however, it has a significant effect. In the event that a printer is being utilized in a situation where halting unapproved individuals from getting to cards and printer strips is foremost.
Strips contain delicate information and the 51 secure GDPR diminishes the danger of an information break fundamentally. It likewise accompanies a protected Kensington Lock which guarantees the machine itself can’t go on a walkabout with a light-gave cheat as well. SmartMark innovation additionally includes a visual layer of security to the cards themselves on account of a watermark on a straightforward overlay board.
| Pros | Cons |
| Easy to operate | Expensive |
| Very secured |
Magicard 300
The Magicard 300 is another strong decision from a producer that pays attention to security. It’s intended to offer dependable ID card creation and produce strong cards, in spite of the fact that, with somewhat lower print speeds than the 600, it’s a progressively moderate machine. Highlighting superior quality picture quality, a three-year guarantee, and a free double-sided module as standard, it’s perhaps the most ideal decision for associations with medium volume necessities.
Like the 60-0, in any case, this more affordable model despite everything highlights an advanced destroying capacity and Magicard’s custom HoloKote. These two highlights make information penetrating unthinkable and diminishes the danger of cloned and fake cards. With custom Holokote, you can make up to 10 customized holographic structures that can be comprised of text, pictures, or a logo.
| Pros | Cons |
| Very secured | slow print speed |
| Durable |
Fargo DTC1250e
The Fargo DTC1250e probably won’t have the option to create a similar nature of card the HDP5000 retransfer printer we notice above can, however, it is as yet the most brilliant decision for independent companies, clubs, and associations that have a moderately low-volume card printing prerequisite. DTC represents direct-to-card, however, that doesn’t mean you need to settle on print quality.
It can at present make energetic, photograph-like pictures and fresh and clear content. There’s nothing more needed than 16 seconds to print a full-shading card and, similar to all ID card printers, it is set to print on CR80-sized cards.
All things considered, it is additionally fit for imprinting on CR79-sized cards as well and, being an HID Fargo item, can be furnished with a scope of encoding modules including magstripe, MIFARE, and Proximity.
| Pros | Cons |
| Can print on different surfaces | The print speed is slow |
| Easy to operate |
Best ID Card Printers in Price
Fargo HDP5000
The piece of information is in the name: HDP represents High Definition Printing, and the Fargo HDP5000 is the printer of decision for those that need class-driving card quality without paying excessively. The top-notch cards this printer is fit for printing comes politeness of its retransfer innovation. Retransfer ID card printers are best for those that need to create high-security ID cards that will last. This is on the grounds that they can print on smart cards’ lopsided surfaces.
Fargo’s wonderful unwavering quality score and lifetime print head guarantee imply that you needn’t stress over possible issues and, gratitude to the HDP5000’s structure, changing the printer lace and doing a cleaning cycle is a doddle as well. Fargo printers are extraordinary for those searching for security.
Extra encoding modules are accessible that permit you to utilize the HDP5000 to encode cards including HID vicinity, Class, and Indala. among others. A full-shading card takes 29 seconds to print, making this a machine that will suit medium-to-high print runs.
| Pros | Cons |
| Can print on smart cards | None found |
| Affordable |
Magicard Pronto
The Magicard Pronto isn’t the freshest or most amazing ID printer available, yet it is lightweight, minimal, and still, more than equipped for addressing the necessities of independent ventures this year. Its alluring sub £500 value makes it considerably additionally engaging those that need to make basic, non-innovation cards on an Adhoc premise. We’d suggest this as a possibility for ID card printing fledglings, who are perhaps hoping to print participation, dependability, or rebate cards.
You can, obviously, produce ID cards, however, the absence of info and output containers will make things troublesome in case you’re delivering heaps of cards all the time. Magicard’s HoloKote visual security include is accessible over its range, the Prono being no exemption. You can pick one of four watermark plans that can be imprinted onto your cards on an overlay board, helping you to effectively distinguish fake duplicates.
| Pros | Cons |
| Affordable | None found |
| Compact design |
Zebra ZC300
The Zebra ZC300 is a moderate and amazingly flexible ID card printer that has been intended to be as simple to use as could be expected under the circumstances. It’s likewise an extraordinary decision in case you’re hoping to print high volumes of cards: 200 full-color cards can be printed every hour, while a noteworthy 900 can be delivered on the off chance that they are monochrome. Regardless of being a custom
mary direct-to-card printer, the card quality is clear and splendid. It’s one of only a handful of scarcely any ID card printers to highlight a full-color display as well, making undertakings, for example, cleaning cycles and changing the strip amazingly simple gratitude to natural directions.
The ZC300 likewise includes a smart information highlight that permits the client to encode delicate information, for example, account numbers and names during printing. Ready to print on both CR80 and CR79-size cards, the Zebra ZC300 tips the scales at 4kg, making it extraordinarily handy to ship as well, should you need a convenient machine.
| Pros | Cons |
| Affordable | None found |
| Portable |
Matica XID8100
Need a better ID card printer in 2021? The Matica extend of retransfer printers is here. Instead of direct-to-card machines – that all leave a little white outskirt around a card – the XID8100 gives brilliant over-the-edge covering, bringing about a tasteful looking card. It’s a solid, skilled machine that can print on a wide range of card materials including PVC, ABS, hybrid cards, and polycarbonate as well.
Equipped for printing up to 120 cards for every hour, it stays smaller however includes an amazingly strong base, guaranteeing all prints are as exact as could reasonably be expected. Different alternatives remember for line cover, a double-sided printing add-on, and a large group of attractive chip and encoding choices.
Since it’s a secluded unit, it’s amazingly easy to redesign down the line as well, should the necessities of your business or association change.
| Pros | Cons |
| Compact design | None found |
| Easy to operate |
Test Process
During our testing, we relied on the opinion of experts and feedback of clients based on these major factors: Durability, Security, and Price.
More analysis of these ID card printers were uncovered from further research and online reviews. From results and feedbacks (both positive and negative), we were able to categorize each product according to our standard.
If you take a critical look at our review, you’ll discover the manner at which each printer has been categorized. Also, take note that after our testing, the ID card printers that weren’t up to standard were excluded from our list.
Frequently Asked Questions
Conclusion
Picking the best ID card printers is something that ought to be considered important and without a doubt, we believe that our review must have helped you in picking the right spec of printers to buy. Be that as it may, ensure you check all the necessary details of your preferred choice before purchasing.
