FARGO electronic Pro-L manual C. About Cards, D. Loading Cards Into The Printer

Pro-L Card Printer User’s Manual

C. ABOUT CARDS

Your card printer accepts a variety of different card sizes and thicknesses and will print onto any card with a clean, level, polished PVC surface (see Section 10 for accepted card size specifications). Although the printer is equipped with card cleaning rollers, it is very important to always print onto cards specifically designed for direct-to-card dye-sublimation printing.

Suitable cards must have a polished PVC surface free of fingerprints, dust, or any other types of embedded contaminants. In addition, cards must have a completely smooth, level surface in order for the printer to achieve consistent color coverage. Some types of Proximity cards, for example, have an uneven surface which will inhibit consistent color transfer. Likewise, some smart card chips are raised slightly above the cards surface which also results in poor color transfer. For information on card brands suitable for direct-to-card dye-sublimation printing, contact your authorized reseller.

IMPORTANT! Never run cards with a contaminated, dull, or uneven surface through the printer. Printing onto such cards will ultimately lead to poor print quality and will greatly reduce the life of your printhead. In addition, always store your card stock in its original packaging or in a clean, dust-free container. Do not print onto cards which have been dropped or soiled. Printhead damage caused by contaminated or poor quality cards will automatically void the printhead’s factory warranty.

NOTE: If printing onto smart cards, it is not recommended that you print over the area of the card containing the smart card chip, as this could damage both the smart chip and the printhead. For best results when printing onto smart cards, use cards with a recessed chip and select either the Smart Card or Smart Chip card size option from within your printer driver setup (see Section 6-D for printer driver information).

Likewise, if printing onto cards with a pre-punched slot, do not print over the area of the card with the punched slot. To avoid this area when printing in portrait orientation, select the Punch Offset card size option from within your printer driver setup. When selected, this option allows the printer to print up to but not over the punched area of the card. This option does not apply to pre-punched cards intended to be printed and worn in landscape orientation. If you need to print over the entire area of a card in landscape orientation, punch the slot after the card has printed.

D. LOADING CARDS INTO THE PRINTER

The printer will hold a maximum of 100 cards in its Card Hopper (based on a standard CR-80 card size). The Printer automatically feeds each card and adjusts to each card’s particular size and thickness. Significantly larger or thicker cards, however, may require slight printer adjustments for consistent printing. See Section 8 for details on such adjustments. To load the cards into the printer, refer to the following steps:

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Section 4: Ribbons and Cards