Printer (computing): Difference between revisions

Revision as of 20:34, 4 July 2025

Revision as of 13:56, 18 July 2025

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;Reverse image technology:The standard for high-security card applications that use contact and contactless [[Smart card|smart chip cards]]. The technology prints images onto the underside of a special film that fuses to the surface of a card through heat and pressure. Since this process transfers dyes and resins directly onto a smooth, flexible film, the print-head never comes in contact with the card surface itself. As such, card surface interruptions such as smart chips, ridges caused by internal [[RFID]] antennae and debris do not affect print quality. Even printing over the edge is possible.

;Thermal rewrite print process:In contrast to the majority of other card printers, in the thermal rewrite process the card is not personalized through the use of a color ribbon, but by activating a thermal sensitive foil within the card itself. These cards can be repeatedly personalized, erased and rewritten. The most frequent use of these are in chip-based student identity cards, whose validity changes every semester.

;Common printing problems:Many printing problems are caused by physical defects in the card material itself, such as deformation or warping of the card that is fed into the machine in the first place. Printing irregularities can also result from chip or antenna embedding that alters the thickness of the plastic and interferes with the printer's effectiveness. Other issues are often caused by operator errors, such as users attempting to feed non-compatible cards into the card printer, while other printing defects may result from environmental abnormalities such as dirt or contaminants on the card or in the printer.<ref>{{cite conference |url=http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistir/IR-7056/Interoperability/Goyet-Interoperability.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160310101533/http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistir/IR-7056/Interoperability/Goyet-Interoperability.pdf |archive-date=10 March 2016 |title=Interoperability and Card Printing |conference=NIST Workshop on Storage and Processor Card-based Technologies |year=2003 |pages=8-98–9 |accessdate=9 March 2016}}</ref> Reverse transfer printers are less vulnerable to common printing problems than direct-to-card printers, since with these printers the card does not come into direct contact with the printhead.

====Variations====

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{{main|Solid ink}}

[[Solid ink]] printers, also known as phase-change ink or hot-melt ink printers, are a type of [[thermal transfer printer]], graphics sheet printer or 3D printer . They use solid sticks, crayons, pearls or granular ink materials. Common inks are [[CMYK color model|CMYK]]-colored ink, similar in consistency to candle wax, which are melted and fed into a piezo crystal operated print-head. A Thermal transfer printhead jets the liquid ink on a rotating, oil coated drum. The paper then passes over the print drum, at which time the image is immediately transferred, or transfixed, to the page. Solid ink printers are most commonly used as color office printers and are excellent at printing on transparencies and other non-porous media. Solid ink is also called phase-change or hot-melt ink and was first used by Data Products and Howtek, Inc., in 1984.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Gregory|first=P|title=Editor|publisher=Blackie Academic & Professional for Chapman and Hall|year=1996|isbn=0-7514-0238-9|___location=Great Britain|pages=113–138}}</ref> Solid ink printers can produce excellent results with text and images. Some solid ink printers have evolved to print 3D models, for example, Visual Impact Corporation<ref>{{Cite book|last=Burns|first=Marshall|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/27810960|title=Automated fabrication : improving productivity in manufacturing|date=1993|publisher=PTR Prentice Hall|isbn=0-13-119462-3|___location=Englewood Cliffs, N.J.|pages=97|oclc=27810960}}</ref> of Windham, NH was started by retired Howtek employee, Richard Helinski whose 3D patents US4721635 and then US5136515 was licensed to Sanders Prototype, Inc., later named Solidscape, Inc. Acquisition and operating costs are similar to [[Laser printing|laser printers]]. Drawbacks of the technology include high [[energy conservation|energy consumption]] and long warm-up times from a cold state. Also, some users complain that the resulting prints are difficult to write on, as the wax tends to repel inks from [[pen]]s, and are difficult to feed through [[automatic document feeder]]s, but these traits have been significantly reduced in later models. This type of thermal transfer printer is only available from one manufacturer, [[Xerox]], manufactured as part of their [[Xerox Phaser]] office printer line. Previously, [[solid ink]] printers were manufactured by [[Tektronix]], but Tektronix sold the printing business to Xerox in 2001.

====Dye-sublimation printers====