About Fargo's Direct-to-Card printing technology  

Fargo's Direct-to-card (DTC™) printing technology is the most common technology used by desktop ID systems to print images directly onto the surface of a plastic card. It does this by heating a special print ribbon beneath a thermal printhead, resulting in the transfer of color from the ribbon to a blank card.

DTC technology uses two printing methods: dye-sublimation and resin thermal transfer.

• Dye-sublimation is the process used to print smooth, continuous-tone images that look truly photographic. This process uses a dye-based ribbon that is partitioned by a number of consecutive color panels. The panels are grouped in a repeating series of colors – Yellow, Magenta and Cyan (YMC) – along the length of the ribbon. During printing, a printhead containing hundreds of thermal elements heats the dyes on the ribbon, which vaporize and diffuse into the surface of the card. A separate pass is made for each of the three color panels. By combining the colors and varying the heat used to transfer them, the printer is able to produce up to 16.7 million colors.

• Resin Thermal Transfer uses a single-color ribbon to print sharp black text and crisp bar codes, which can be read by both infrared and visible-light scanners. This process uses the same thermal printhead as dye-sublimation; however solid dots of color are transferred rather than a combination of colors.

Specifications subject to change without notice.

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