Two of the most prominent features of plastic cards are the sticky backs and the barcodes. To be able to add these features on the card is one of the advantages of choosing a plastic card. How will these features be printed on the plastic cards?
Sticky Backs
The sticky back refers to the adhesive at the back of the plastic card. The adhesive is used when the card itself is too thick to be printed on a data card printer. Usually, the adhesive used is inexpensive. In case there is an error on the printing, plastic card manufacturers can simply remove the sticky back portion and then reprint the new sticky back card.
The sticky back feature makes it easy for plastic card manufacturers to print the back part of the card. If done properly, the sticky back will be durable. However, if the adhesive back card used is not high quality, it results to tearing, poor design quality and sticky back peeling.
It is important that when printing on sticky backs, the printer is always cleaned afterwards. This is to ensure that no sticky residue will be left on the printers. This is a good way of protecting the printer and at the same time ensuring high quality printing.
Barcodes
Barcodes play a vital role in transaction retail system. Most plastic cards related to payments, access, stores and identification systems use barcodes. Barcodes authenticate the plastic card. Here is some information about barcode printing:
When printing the plastic card, there should be nothing within the quiet zone of the barcode. What is the quiet zone? This is the space before the first bar and the space after the last bar. There should be an allotted quiet zone of at least 6.35 mm. So when printing barcodes, plastic card suppliers must be aware of the quiet zone.
Barcodes should meet the ISO/ANSI Specifications. All barcodes must meet these specification irregardless of the type of card the barcode was used.
Barcodes shouldn’t be printed opposite the magnetic stripe of the plastic card. The magnetic stripe is used in swiping the card. When the barcode is on the reverse side of the magnetic stripe, it will always be swiped, thus, it will be scratched making it hard to read.
The sticky backs and barcodes are just two of the features that manufacturers can include and print in a plastic card.
ADC Plasticard is Ireland’s top Plastic Cards Supplier. Since 1999, ADC has built its reputation in the plastic cards industry. Its range of products includes Membership Cards, Gift Cards, Loyalty Cards, ID Cards, Promotional Cards and more. |
Added: Sun Jul 27, 2008 7:53 am GMT 