The Best ID Card Printer [Video]

Video Transcript

Hey everyone it’s Corey From IDville and we are all here today to uncover the best ID card printer. Well, let’s get it out of the way. There is no one best printer. They are like cars, there are a bunch of options because everyone has different needs and wants. So, while I can’t tell you what the indisputable best printer is, I can show you some top notch options and you can pick the one that’s perfect for you. Let’s break it down.

Let’s start with the big dogs, the Magicard Ultima and Evolis Avancia. These are the best high-volume retransfer printers. These have a true edge-to-edge print, longer lifespan on internal parts and produce extremely crisp prints with insanely good color accuracy. Add all this up and you have some printers that can print premium cards and a lot of them. If you’re printing thousands of cards a year, this is what you need. I also recommend these for printing on prox cards and chip cards.

Some differences are that the Ultima provides a number of enhanced security features like 10 holographic overlays and UV encoding.

The Avancia takes the cake if your main goal is consistency. It’s been in the market for a few years and Evolis makes a quality product that rarely has you calling tech support.

Now if you don’t want to spend north of $4,000, don’t worry, there are still some awesome printers. For example, the Evolis Primacy. This printer always works well, produces consistently good looking cards and has a screen that displays the number of prints you have left, instructions on how to clean your printer and more helpful features.

If you’re looking for enhanced security features, I recommend the ID Maker Secure or Magicard 600. I recommend these because they include 10 standard holographic overlays and a bonus is that it prints really good looking cards at 600 DPI quality and prints faster than many other printers.

Now if you’re still watching your probably wondering what the best printer is on a budget. I’ll give you two.

First up, the Pointman N10. This printer has a super attractive price and even more attractive prints. It also includes encoding capabilities found on higher end printers. The downside is that this is hand feed only and the Pointman brand is pretty new to the industry so no one really knows how well they will hold up over time. However, they do come with an impressive 5-year warranty.

Last but not least, ol’ Faithful, the Evolis Badgy. The Badgy hasn’t been updated in years but if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. The print quality is the exact same as much more expensive printers and basically never quits on you. The only downside is again, manual feed only, so if you’re printing a few cards at a time that’s fine but anything more is no Bueno.

Notice I did not mention some common brands like Zebra and Datacard. To be honest, I personally don’t know much about the brands or the printers, but if you have, please leave a comment and let everyone know about your experience.

One last tip is that a printer is only as good as it’s software and support. Pick a card design software that includes all the data and encoding features you want and be smart about who you buy from because it’s a partnership. Try your best to look at the support offered and see if you’re going to get charged for calling tech support or software training.

Check out these links if you want more info on ID card printers, free ID maker software trials or simply want to start shopping.