When it comes to purchasing an ID Card Printer there are many questions that a buyer usually asks themselves or a salesperson. One of the most common questions asked is whether you should buy a single or double sided ID card printer. This is an extremely important question as making the wrong choice can cost you more money in the long-run. There’s an old adage that comes to mind, “Buy once, cry once.” Dual sided ID cards often present an increased spike in cost but it’s a factor that can also determine long-term usability of the device. After all, if you do end up needing the capabilities later down the road it’s much better to be equipped with the correct model than have to buy an entirely new printer. That being said, there are quite a few single sided ID card printers that offer model upgrades. That means that later down the line if you do require dual sided printing you can call a first or third-party distributor and have them install the dual sided upgrade. There are an even smaller percentage of printers that offer remote upgrade capabilities.
Time/Cost Analysis
A single-sided plastic ID card is a great option for a simpler designs that only require a portrait, logo, and some additional information. These are great for low volume use cases that don’t require swiping or NFC chip capabilities. The benefits of a dual-sided PVC id card is that you can include added content on the back of the card. This extra content can be lost card instructions, expiration dates, account numbers and verification codes. Having the option to include additional content to the back of the card can allow for a clearer and less cluttered design and create the impression of professionalism that just isn’t achieved as easily with a single sided printer. While content can be printed on both sides of the card with just a single sided ID card printer it’s a time consuming process which requires the user to manually flip the card by hand and insert the card at the correct orientation. This can lead to a lot of headache down the line which is why an auto-flipper can be such a lifesaving features of dual sided ID card printers. No matter how you slice it, a dual sided printer saves you time and money in the long-run by reducing the time it would take to print hundreds of company or school ID cards that utilize both sides of the PVC card.
Security
Security is of course one of the primary factors of ID card printers which can be greatly affected by the choice to go with a single or double sided printer. Dual-sided printing can be used to include more encoded data in the form of barcodes or QR codes that single-sided printers will take much longer to produce. This secure data can be used to restrict access privileges and identify employees within an organization. Dual-sided ID cards can also include magnetic stripes or other smartcard features with further enhance their security.
