ID Card Printer

Asure ID 7 by HID

May 2 in ID Card Printer, ID Cards, Security by admin | No Comments

Take your card personalization to the next level with powerful, convenient and intuitive ID issuance software. HID Asure ID 7 allows organizations to design and print custom ID cards that meet the specific organizational requirements.

Asure ID 7 provides a dramatic speed boost as well as everything you need to design and populate a card. It is a simple solution that allows the user to glide from data entry to card design to printing and reporting.

If you need more information on Asure ID 7 or would like to order for your organization, please call (317-488-10320) or email (sbrown@asapid.com) with questions.

We look forward to hearing from you!

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Other Uses for the ID Printer

April 3 in ID Card Printer by admin | No Comments

You buy your Photo ID printer to create a layer of visual security for your organization, but what else can your ID printer do for you? It can help sell your identity and gain customer loyalty.

Gift Cards
Create gift cards with fixed face values easily using your ID printer. Just determine what values you want to sell, design an exciting layout and print.

Reward/Loyalty Cards
Use your POS system and a mag stripe card to encourage customer loyalty with a reward card. A reward card is durable and reusable and, if your system supports it, can store customer information.

Booster/Fundraising Cards
Work with local businesses and not-for-profits and you can create booster cards to support a good cause. Interested businesses can offer a certain discount to patrons and have that information printed on the card. Patrons purchase the card (money going to the not-for-profit) and support local business in the process. This is a great opportunity for small businesses to increase traffic and support a worthy cause.

Business Cards
Print unique and durable business cards using 20-mil PVC on your ID printer. You cards can be customized to meet your needs and may include as much information as you need as well as logos and photos. Stand out from the crowd with a durable, flexible business card.

ASAP can help support you on your basic photo ID needs as well as other uses for your ID printer. Please feel free to call (317-488-1030) or email (info@asapid.com) and we will support you in your plan.

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Does this ID system purchase make me look foolish?

February 29 in ID Card Printer by admin | No Comments

When we get calls from customers looking for a new ID system, they often try to find the least expensive printer available. While we will always offer the best price available, ID systems should be purchased to meet your ID requirements and not just a price point.
Some basic printers are very robust and will serve you well but oftentimes there is a higher per print cost for the ribbons. If you do not print large volumes, this will not be a problem but if you do print large volume, you need to be careful in understanding the total cost of ownership including both upfront + ongoing costs.

Some high end printers offer great flexibility including:

  • adding encoding
  • dual sided printing
  • lamination

For some customers, this flexibility is important so the ID system can grow along with your needs. These printers often have a higher up front cost to “buy” that flexibility.

Every card printer is different so we recommend reading about the capabilities using the brochures on each website, comparing those facts to each other and, of course, giving us a call so we can help you make the right decision for your organization now and into the future.

Call 317-488-1030 or email us to talk or ask questions so we can help. No one wins if you end up with the wrong printer for your organization, so let’s do it right the first time.

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Keeping your printer card printer in tip-top shape

February 8 in ID Card Printer, Printer Maintenance by admin | No Comments

As with any investment, you need to make sure your ID printer is kept clean and maintained on a regular basis. ID card printers that are not properly maintained can become inoperable, causing print issues and can ultimately shorten the life of a printer, or worse, void your manufacturer warranty. Proper routine care and maintenance will prolong the life of your ID printer and insure the highest quality card output.

From most printer drivers, you can run a cleaning cycle for your printer using cleaning cards (pre-saturated or sticky-tape).

How to clean your ID printer:

  • Feed Rollers: Cleaning kits include cleaning cards that clean your feeder/transport rollers. Run one after each ribbon change.
  • Print Head: Cleaning swabs with isopropanol alcohol (IPA) or an approved thermal printhead cleaning pen may be used CAREFULLY on the printhead with each ribbon change.
  • Overall maintenance: Depending on use and environment, consider having a more thorough printer cleaning and tune up by our Factory Trained Service Technicians.

ASAP Identification sells cleaning kits for all ID card printers. We also offer a Printer Service for either routine maintenance or repairs. Call us at 1-800-ASAP4ID for pricing.

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Fargo Printers and Alphabet Soup

September 26 in Fargo Printers, ID Card Printer by admin | No Comments

Honestly, every time someone places an order for a Fargo ID card printer ribbon I’m reminded of alphabet soup. Yes, that orange/yellow soup you ate as a kid (maybe still eat, and I’m not judging if you do) filled with an assortment of letters and numbers. It isn’t hard to imagine why. The ribbons have names like YMCKK, YMCFK, YMCKI and YMCKH. Let’s be honest, that is a mouthful (okay, that was a pretty awful pun).

Ordering these Fargo ribbons might be a little easier if you learned what those letters actually mean. To help with that, these letters mean the following:

  • Y – yellow panel
  • M – magenta panel
  • C – cyan panel
  • K – black resin panel
  • H – heat seal panel
  • F – fluorescing panel
  • I – inhibitor panel

Now depending on which of these letters is included in the ribbon name, those letters will tell you exactly what that particular ribbon does. For example, a YMCK ribbon is capable of printing full color cards while also possessing a resin black panel. This enables the YMCK ribbon to also print barcodes or text that requires a crisp black color. Another example is the YMCFK ribbon. This ribbon contains a fluorescing panel that enables you to produce images that are only visible with ultraviolet light. This provides an end user with a cost effective way to include an anti-counterfeiting security measure within each card produced.

Please give us a call at (317) 488-1030 to learn more about our Fargo brand ribbons, as well as about our Evolis, Zebra and Datacard ribbons. We are happy to walk you through the process, and if you decide to stop by our offices, we will give you a bowl of alphabet soup.

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How do I Protect my Card Printing Program? The Terminator Perhaps?

September 19 in ID Card Printer, Security by admin | No Comments

Who doesn’t love the concept of the Terminator sequels?! An all-powerful machine that looks human follows John Conner, the eventual leader of the human resistance, everywhere in order to protect him from certain death at the hands of other machines sent by Skynet to destroy him. Of course, I am going to ignore the whole premise of the original movie where the Terminator was sent back in time to actually destroy Conner, but who knew Arnold would become so popular?

We would all love to have someone, or something, around to protect us. Unfortunately, we can’t all have our very own Terminators. However, we can take steps to protect our card printing programs.

There are ID Printers such as the Fargo DTC4500 and the Zebra ZXP Series 8 that can be password protected. As a result, a security code must be entered before someone can use the printer. Other ID printers, such as the Datacard SP75 and the Zebra ZXP Series 3, can be secured to a workstation through the use of a Kensington lock.

ID Printers even have options to keep your card supplies safe. ID Printers can have locking input and output hoppers. This helps prevent theft, particularly of really expensive cards such as proximity or smart cards.

Please give us a call to learn more about the steps you can take to keep you card printing program secure. We can be reached Monday through Friday at (317) 488-1030.

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Umm, how exactly do I make these cards?

September 1 in ID Card Printer, ID Cards, ID Software by admin | No Comments

You weighed the pros and cons of a lot of different ID printer options available and you picked a model that really fits your needs. Your ID printer can make double sided cards, it can laminate, it can print quickly and, heck, it can even make a chicken pot pie (okay, I made that last one up, an ID printer can’t do that). Now you are ready to design your ID card, at least you think so.

You sit down at your desk with your leftover chicken pot pie, take a big bite and get ready to work (WRONG! Didn’t you read the blog entry from August 15?! You never work with an ID printer while you eat. The grease and the grime will destroy your ID printer. Okay, let’s start over). You sit down at your clean and clear desk and get ready to work. There is just one problem – how are you going to design your ID card?

You can create an ID card using a Windows based program, such as Photoshop or Word. However, if you use an actual ID card program you can streamline the process and save yourself a lot of time in the long run. The most popular ID card software brands are Jolly, Asure ID and CardStudio. Each is very effective, but they have a different look and feel. We would strongly encourage you to download a demo version to get a feel for each. You might prefer one brand over another.

Please give us a call at (317) 488-1030 and we can help you find the right fit for you. We will even share our chicken pot pie recipe, although we make no guarantees that it is any good.

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Does Anybody Have a Loaner!?

August 30 in ID Card Printer, ID Cards, Printer Maintenance by admin | No Comments

Has this ever happened to you – you walk into the office with a spring in your step as you enjoy the beautiful autumn morning. Just as you are laying out your morning paper, cup of coffee and blueberry muffin, someone knocks on your door reminding you (okay, let’s be honest, telling you for the first time) that there will be 75 guests in the building tomorrow afternoon and each of them needs an ID badge.

Ignoring the grumbling in your stomach, you proceed to say “not a problem, I can get those done today.” You turn on your printer, enter the necessary information and hit print. Unfortunately, the next sound you hear is the kind of screeching that sends cats and dogs running for cover. Somehow, someway, the printer is broken. The question now is – what do you do?

The simple answer – give us a call. We maintain a variety of printers at our office precisely for this exact situation. Depending on where your offices are located, we can either deliver a loaner printer to you that day or ship you a loaner printer overnight. Either way, you will be able to print those ID badges in time for tomorrow’s afternoon meeting.

At the same time, we can also repair your broken ID printer while you use our loaner printer. This will ensure you are ready to go if any other unexpected badging jobs need to get done. This is a much better deal than going 2-3 weeks without your ID printer!

For more information, please give us a call at 317-488-1030.

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To Flip, or Not to Flip – That is the Question

August 15 in ID Card Printer, ID Cards, Printer Maintenance by admin | No Comments

You are sitting at your desk trying to eat that slice of pizza with extra cheese you just bought for lunch. Just as you are thinking that you wish you added pepperoni to your order, someone walks in who needs a few replacement ID cards. You are happy to help. You ask for the names, start your printer and begin printing replacement ID cards. Once the front side prints, you grab the cards and flip them over so you can print the back.

Unfortunately, now you aren’t the only one having extra cheese pizza for lunch, so is your ID printer.

ID Printers are most often times damaged by dirt, dust, debris and, even greasy pizza hands. Those things can damage your machine as well as your print head. If your machine goes down, then you may have to replace it. Of course, you might only have to replace the print head. The problem is that most print heads aren’t covered by manufacturers’ warranties if damaged due to lack of proper care and the cost of most print heads starts at nearly $500 dollars. That is one expensive piece of pizza!

So, to answer the question – Don’t Flip! You need to plan ahead and purchase a printer that does everything you need it to do. Your printer will last longer and you will save money in the long run. Please give us a call to learn more about the ID printer options available. You can reach us at (317) 488-1030.

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Questions to Ask When Buying an ID Card Printer

July 26 in ID Card Printer, ID Cards, Printer Maintenance by admin | No Comments

A lot of times when we receive a customer call asking about purchasing a new ID card printer, the first question we hear is:

How much will it cost?

We totally understand. Everyone is trying to make a dollar go farther these days, and so cost is definitely a factor to consider.

And, sometimes, the least expensive ID card printer will be perfectly fine to meet your needs. However, if cost is the only question you ask, you might not pick the printer that best meets your needs. When that happens, you might have to buy more parts, or worse yet, buy a whole new printer to meet your needs. Suddenly, that “cheap” printer can become a pretty expensive purchase.

So, when the time comes to purchase that new ID card printer, definitely ask about cost, but also consider these questions:

  1. Do you need to only print on one side of the card, or on both sides?
  2. What kind of card are you trying to make – is it an employee card? A gift card? A membership card?
  3. What do you want the card to look like – do you want to just print black? Do you want a lot of colors? Will something be imbedded in the cards?
  4. Do you want your ID cards to work with your time clock or door access system?
  5. Do you really need to be able to make a card at a moment’s notice?
  6. Will the printer be dedicated to a single work station, or will multiple computers be connected to the ID card printer?
  7. How big a problem is it if your ID card printer is down for a week, two weeks or for even more time?

If you would like some help answering these questions, or want to learn more about a particular ID card printer, give us a call. You can reach us at (317) 488-1030.

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