Application of Digital Printing in Card Making
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The card-type certificate began in 1958. Firstly, the Americans applied to the driver's license, followed by the appearance of the ID card, medical card, and credit card. The card technology developed rapidly and the application range was greatly expanded. It is characterized by the card brought by the development of microelectronic technology. Ingenious combination of electronic certificates and computer certification and identification technology. Therefore, the modern document production technology is the card production technology.
Compared with European and American countries, the application field of China's card is far from wide, and the application depth is far less than that of developed countries. However, the application field and depth of China's card application are gratifying. In 1993, with the “Golden Card Project” focusing on electronic money application officially launched in China, this intelligent and portable card quickly spread and developed in China, opening up a broad market for China's electronic information industry.
First, the card type
Ordinary ID Card - A card that can be used for identification purposes with a user's photo. ID cards are widely used in student and employee identification cards, driver's licenses, various VIP cards, membership cards, and more.
Bar code card - use the international standard black and white strip pattern to store a large amount of information, the earliest use in packaging logo, books, mail, etc., can be quickly and closely read, recently appeared 2D barcode, can store cardholders Photo, the information content is greatly improved, easy to encrypt and anti-counterfeit, but can not be rewritten.
Magnetic (bar) card - magnetic (bar) card is a tape on the side of a card-type document, with a tape and a signature strip for storing information, marking the hologram, and printing the card after printing the convex code. The magnetic stripe has the function of information storage, and the signature strip, the hologram, and the corresponding number have the function of identity recognition.
Contact IC card - Contact IC card is referred to as IC card. The card carrier is inlaid (or injection molded) with an IC chip, which has the function of storage or microprocessor. The information capacity is large, and the human physiological data such as photos and fingerprints can be stored, and the security performance is good, and the computer can be independently operated without relying on the database, and the memory can be divided into multiple application areas to realize multi-use of one card. Due to the above advantages, the contact type IC card has been widely used, but recently it has been strongly impacted by the non-contact IC card.
Non-contact IC card - non-contact IC card referred to as proximity card, inherits the strength of contact IC card, and improves the reading and writing mode of the card. It is adjusted by electric signal contact type reading and writing to wireless inductive reading and writing. This makes the non-contact IC card a great advantage for documents that need to be used frequently or when working outdoors. Of course, since the manufacturing process of the non-contact IC card is relatively complicated, and the reading and writing machine requires a dedicated security reading and writing module, the price is higher than that of the contact type IC card.
The RFID card has similarities to the contactless card, but it is read-only and contains an RFID antenna embedded therein. The advantage is that the RFID transponder can be read by the reader anywhere, including the magnetic field, and buried in many objects (including cards), the radio waves can pass through non-metallic objects and be read, so that Prevent data from being worn out in everyday use and destroyed under environmental influences. Its theoretically readable distance is greater than 10 ft.
Each of the above-mentioned cards has its own different characteristics, and it differs greatly in other aspects such as the card-making process and the processing technology. However, since PVC materials are generally selected, they have the same properties in printing. Several traditional printing processes such as offset printing, gravure printing, embossing, silk screen printing, etc. can be used for the printing of cards, which requires the establishment of a production line, which is done by plate making and color printing machines. In the case of mass production, the purpose of reducing costs and improving economic efficiency is achieved through economies of scale. However, for small-volume, personalized prints, this method inevitably has the problems of high cost and long cycle, which is difficult to meet customer requirements, especially for some cards that require photo images to be attached to the card to help identify the identity. Cards, such as student and employee identification cards, admission certificates for special areas, admission tickets, etc., cannot meet the requirements in this way.
The traditional production method relies on multiple steps such as printing/cutting/paste/over-gel. First take a close-up of the person, then cut and modify it to suit the card making; then print the person's information on another card material: then combine the photo with the card to make the card. This kind of card is easy to forge and tamper with and the production process is laborious and time consuming, which brings great inconvenience to people. In contrast, the digital printing process of the card is only one step, which is to print the explanatory text and photos directly on the card through a computer system. These cards are usually the same size as a credit card and are made of polyvinyl chloride (or PVC). These cards can be printed on both sides or on both sides, either in monochrome or in color. Digital printing methods for cards include thermal transfer and laser inkjet printing.
Second, the advantages of digital card printing
Image quality - Digital printing is much better than the traditional printing methods described above, not only for digital photos, but also for color calibration. In addition, the elements in the image are more harmonious and more legible.
Convenience One digital printing makes it easy for you to produce cards whenever and wherever you want. Personalized card printing, rapid changes in content and graphics can be very easy.
Adaptability—With digital printing, you can print not only text, line drawings, and photo images, but also magnetic strips and the location of smart card chips, all in one simple process.
Safety A plastic card printer can also provide various protection methods, such as holographic film coating, which can prevent the card information from being tampered with or changed, making the card more secure and difficult to copy and counterfeit.
Durability One card protection means that the light, film and safety media can be used to prevent the card from being worn, UV-resistant, waterproof and chemical-proof to improve the durability of the card.
Economical digital card printing is much cheaper and takes less time than traditional printing/cutting/paste/over-geling methods. It only requires an image input device such as a digital camera or scanner, a text entry and editing. The equipment and the output equipment can be completed, and the initial investment is small.
Third, the application of thermal transfer in card printing
Thermal transfer involves dye sublimation and thermal melting: both techniques are used to heat a thermally conductive printhead when the printhead is in contact with the ribbon. The difference between hot melting and dye sublimation is that the heat is melted using an ink while the dye sublimes using a dye. During hot melting, heating causes the ink on the ribbon to melt and transfer to the surface of the card: in the sublimation of the dye, heating causes the dye on the ribbon to evaporate, the solid becomes a gas, and spreads to the surface of the card, and the surface of the card has a special substance that can be absorbed. These color dyes.
Color thermal transfer printing ribbons are divided into three separate color groups: yellow, magenta, and cyan. This form of structure is called YMC. These three colors are used as primary colors in printing to produce all colors including black. The dye or ink is transferred to the surface of the card through a multi-group system, which means that each time the card passes under the print head, one of the three color ribbon sets will be printed separately.
The ribbon used in actual card color printing is called the YMCK ribbon, which is used to describe black in the printing industry. Why do we need a separate black group when we can mix black with the three primary colors YMC? The answer is simple. The black produced by YMC mixing is called "synthetic black", and the synthetic black turbid gray is gray compared with the resin black. Synthetic black is also not recommended for printing barcodes because it does not produce the smooth edges required by most scanners. Although this is not visible under the naked eye, it is easy to see after zooming in. Synthetic black is also invisible in infrared scanners due to the absence of carbon in the dye. Resin black is usually used to print barcodes because the type of scanner used cannot be determined.
Fourth, the application of laser inkjet printing in card printing
Laser inkjet printing is the same as the previous stage of thermal transfer, except that the output section is a color inkjet printer. The PVC base used in inkjet is coated with a layer of polymer paint on a common PVC white card, so that the ink is printed on it to quickly dry and not spread, forming a vivid pattern. Since the layer of polymer paint is coated on the color inkjet card, in order to improve the firmness of the film, the film must be coated with a film. If the card is printed to the full version, that is, the large-area background color is printed on the edge of the card, because there is a layer of laser powder material between the white card and the film, such as the film with the ordinary film and white card on the edge of the card. It is also easy to crack, so it is also necessary to use a film to enhance adhesion.
DoD (Drop-on-Demand) requires the inkjet technology to be applied to the inkjet printing of the card in its "one-touch dry" curing form. It uses a hot-melt solid ink (solid liquid at room temperature and high temperature). This technology is achieved. After heating, the solid ink becomes a liquid, which is ejected from the nozzle by piezoelectric action and instantly solidifies into a droplet on the printing surface. This solidification phenomenon is called "one touch and dry" and can be completed in a few tenths of a second. The DoD inkjet method only sprays ink droplets onto the surface of the material when needed. This restriction means that there is no need for an ink reflow system, and the printhead can contain multiple nozzles for improved efficiency.