Plastic Card Printing: Tips for Ensuring a Quality Print Job

There are plenty of benefits of plastic ID cards. Not only are they durable, but they’re also easy to read and waterproof. In some instances, you can also print plastic cards on both sides and even include a barcode.

While they’re great to have in the workplace, it’s not as easy to ensure a quality print job. If you’re looking for high-quality cards with vibrant colours and crisp images, here are some tips to making sure they turn out great.

Ways to ensure a quality card print job

1. Make sure you’re working with quality card stock
Having good card stock is vital to producing high-quality cards. Make sure that you’re sourcing from the right supplier and that your card doesn’t just have clean edges, but is also sized correctly

2. Correct colour
Just because something looks right on your monitor doesn’t mean that it’ll look the same when it’s printed. For these reasons, prior to printing, make sure that you’re adjusting the printer’s settings to achieve the results you need.

3. Store your card stock properly
If you’re printing your plastic cards on PVC, make sure you’re storing them in a clean place and place them in a zip-lock bag after opening. This will help minimise the amount of lint and dust that gathers on your card stock.

4. Avoid touching the surface
While tempting, avoid touching your plastic ID card with your bare hands as it will affect its quality. If you must touch it, be sure to wear rubber gloves.

5. Choose the right printer
The quality of your cards is only as good as your printer. Make sure you’re choosing the right printer to bring your design to life. If you’ve got high-quality images on your plastic card, consider choosing a reverse transfer printer to meet your needs.

6. Test prior to production
Testing before printing a mass amount of cards will help ensure that everything is working properly. This is important as you may run into unexpected issues or errors if you bulk print the cards at once.

Take the time to make sure that the quality of your images is consistent and that all of the data can be read successfully.

1. Determine the layout
   Finally, before you’re ready for your plastic cards to go to print, take a look at the layout and design. Make sure that you’re exploring both portrait and landscape options and take your time to decide which one works better.

   Other than the layout, design is also a massive consideration. Make sure that you’re happy with the design as there’s no turning back once your plastic cards go to print.

High-quality plastic card printing

If you’re taking the time to design your cards, you’ll want to ensure that they’re looking professional. Make sure you’re doing sufficient research on the type of plastic card printer that you’d like to purchase and take note of those tips mentioned above. With that, you’ll have professional high-quality plastic ID cards in no time at all.