People choose event ID card printers (also called badge printers) that can produce oversized IDs for a lot of reasons.

• With the larger surface area, they can more prominently display sponsors or brand design. They can even provide revenue.
• Oversized IDs can be a take home souvenir.
• Different sized credentials can identify a season ticket holder or staff.

 

You need the best plan and card printers for your particular needs. Easy Badges provides you with the tools to have great event IDs, including oversize cards. That does not just mean the cards and the right printer (large format or standard CR80 “credit card sized”).

We hope this article will answer a lot of your questions, but please reach out with your unique needs. Call us at (855) 436-0527 to help you choose how to print. Being successful is more than buying a printer. We are experienced in helping consider pre-printing, security, speed, and quality. It won’t stop with the purchase, either Easy Badges signature lifetime email and phone support is unique in the industry.

If you are looking for a large format card printer to make badges for sporting events, conferences, festivals, or trade shows, we put this article together to help you choose the right options.

What oversized card printers are available? What is the difference between them?

Easy Badges offers two large format ID card printers: the Zebra ZC10L and the Swiftcolor SCC-4000D. They cover the spectrum of use cases. The Swiftcolor is the reliable industry standard and the Zebra is an innovative new product. Each has advantages. We can help you choose the right event ID card printer for your program. Let’s introduce the contenders.

What are oversized ID cards? What options do I have?

Oversized IDs are greater than the standard 3.375” x 2.125 CR80 size of a credit card. The most common oversized ID card is 3.5” x 5.5” which makes for almost three times the surface area for design.

If you want to print different sizes, the Swiftcolor SCC-4000D can print on a variety of cards from 3.35” x 1.9” to a massive 4.7” x 11.81”. The Zebra ZC10L can print that “standard oversize” card of 3.5” x 5.5”.

Swiftcolor SCC-4000D: The reliable oversized card printer
Easy Badges has carried the Swiftcolor SCC-4000D for a long time and has happily supported it for many clients. When we go to conferences or events we see a lot of badges that came out of Swiftcolor printers we support. It is fast, prints a high-quality image on the ID card, and can be used to print on a variety of sizes.

The Swiftcolor is an inkjet style printer that can print 1800 badges in an hour using the single pass process. That is a whole lot of badges, which is very useful if you have thousands of fans coming through the gates!

As with most inkjet printers, there are a couple of drawbacks. First, it does not do true edge to edge printing. Look carefully and you will see a very small white border on the ID cards it produces. Secondly, the printing can have small flaws in it, often from the rollers contacting the surface before the ink is dry. For most, the issue is too subtle to be noticed. From a distance, the cards look great. Finally, the ink will only work with card blanks that are “inkjet receptive material” so make sure the cards are compatible before buying a year’s supply.

The Swiftcolor large format badge printer is also big and heavy, weighing in at 55 pounds and two feet tall.

Zebra ZC10L: A new take on oversized cards with an edge to edge print
Zebra’s ZC10L is a different take on the large format ID printer. It uses a couple of unique tricks to provide advantages: true edge to edge printing and portability.

The Zebra ZC10L is a direct-to-card printer. In printing, a transfer ribbon lays between the card and a thermal printhead. The heat of the printhead transfers color to the card. This results in a very high quality print.

To achieve edge to edge printing, the Zebra has another step in producing the cards; after they have been printed, the printer trims the edges. It uses the proprietary Zebra card blank style, so like the Swiftcolor you need to make sure your card blanks work with your Badge printer.

The Zebra ZC10L is a better choice if you need to move your printer around. At 46 pounds, it is 9 pounds lighter and more compact than the Swiftcolor. Zebra offers a secure carrying case for the ZC10L.

Quick note: Windows only

In case you are a committed Apple or Linux user, it is important to note that both of these printers have only Microsoft Windows drivers. Plan accordingly!

Comparing the Swiftcolor SCC-4000D and the Zebra ZC10L

Cost
Customers have two concerns about the cost of large format ID printing — or any ID card printers they reach out to us about. The upfront cost and the cost per card. The cost of these two printers is roughly the same, so the upfront cost is very similar no matter which option you select.

Cost per card depends on your particular project! Contact us and together we can determine the best printer and supplies for your needs.

Cost per card depends on the project. Among other factors, volume affects the overall cost per card; the more you are printing the less each card costs. For color, the Swiftcolor is cheaper (1.90 for the Zebra) at 5,000 cards. However, if you can pre-print and then print just monochrome, the Zebra is less than half the cost per card (2.00 for the Swiftcolor). See the section below: Pre-printing is your best friend!

 

Cost per card of oversized ID printing: Comparing the Swiftcolor SCC-4000D and the Zebra ZC10L

	Swiftcolor SCC-4000D	Zebra ZC10L
Ink cost	Ink cartridge: ~ $600	YMCKO Ribbon ~ $500 / Black only $280
Prints per cartridge/ribbon	Depending on the design you can get up to 5,000 3.5” X 5.5” cards printed with one set	400 prints color, 2,000 black, regardless of design
Cost per color card @ 5,000	$1.27	$1.90
Cost per pre-printed monochrome card @ 5,000	$2.00	$0.81

Comparing the speed of the Swiftcolor SCC-4000D and the Zebra ZC10L
If speed is your number one concern, there is really no comparison. The Swiftcolor prints 1800 cards per hour and the Zebra prints 195 per hour (400 in monochrome black).

Portability
The Zebra ZC10L is a much better option for applications that require the printer to be moved frequently. Not only is it smaller and lighter, but Easy Badges offers a sturdy custom travel case.

If you need to move or ship the Swiftcolor, we always recommend that users save the shipping box and custom-cut foam. Special shipping mode setting required as well

Print quality
It is important to not just look for a larger DPI (dots per inch) number when comparing print quality. While the specified DPI for the two printers are different, the overall quality is quite similar. The Swiftcolor inkjet process can handle fully saturated color quite well. Zebra’s true edge-to-edge printing does deliver a nice sense of quality, but note that a saturated design may have a occasional blemishes.

Flexibility
The Swiftcolor printer can be an all-in-one solution for some customers. It prints on cards varying from 3.35” x 1.9” to 4.7” x 11.81”. It can also print on a variety of thicknesses, from 8-30 mil.

The Zebra ZC10L is kind of a one trick pony (Can we say “one trick zebra?”). It can only print the “standard oversize” card size 3.5” x 5.5”. It only accepts 24 mil thick cards.

Can either large format badge printer do dual sided printing?

Both of these printers can print on both sides of the cards, but they are not automatic dual sided printers. The operator has to manually flip the card. This can be time consuming if printing a lot of cards or printing on demand for customers.

However, if one side of a card does not have any customized information, it is easy to pre-print that side in advance. That will reduce cost and speed up printing of the ID cards.

Pre-printing is your best friend.

When we talk with people about their ID card printing needs, we often find that pre-printing dramatically reduces costs, effort, and time for their projects. It can be a game changer.

If sections of a card are going to be unchanged, Easy Badges can print batches of cards in advance for you. These pre-printed cards generally cost less than if you print them yourself, look great, and will speed up your own printing process — particularly if you are preparing for on-demand printing such as the first day of school or a conference.

Purchasing cards and ink for oversized ID card printers

Each of these printers require specific card blanks. Because of the unique cutting process, the Zebra ID card printer requires the special cards designed for that printer. Note that the ribbon is expended at the same rate, no matter the density of design on a card. It is a good idea to purchase the cards and ribbons together.

The Swiftcolor requires a particular inkjet-friendly PVC card for the ink to absorb. Just like your paper inkjet printer, the cartridges run out based on usage. If your team colors are blue and purple, you might go through a lot of cyan ink. You can buy the black, yellow, magenta, and cyan cartridges separately.

Supply costs

• Zebra print ribbon
• Zebra cards
• Swiftcolor inkjet cartridges
• Swiftcolor compatible PVC cards

Software

We are really proud of our Easy Badges software, and our customers love it. If you need to make oversized IDs with either the Swiftcolor or the Zebra large format ID printers, Easy Badges ID card software can easily be your go to.

Designing large ID cards is no different than standard sizes. The software has default standard oversized templates. If needed, you can create a custom-sized template.

Security

There are a lot of ways to provide security and authenticity validation on cards. Easy Badges can help.

No matter which printer you choose, we can provide preprinted or blank cards with security features such as embedded hot stamped foils, holographic backgrounds, UHF, or NFC chips.

If you are using Mifare or a similar technology, the Swiftcolor allows for stock thick enough to employ the proper chips. The 24 mil Zebra ZC10L cards can not. Some NFC chips are also not compatible with the thinner ZC10L cards. Please reach out to find out more!

The Swiftcolor size flexibility is also a useful security feature. How is that security? Size of the badge is visually obvious. Often events will change card size day after day to eliminate counterfeiting. The wrong sized card stands out in a crowd!

 

Your next step in oversized ID card printing

We really hope that this article has been useful in your decision making. However it also points out that each application has its own unique needs. Now that you understand the key points of these two options, we hope that you reach out so we can together devise the best strategy for your needs. Easy Badges representatives are experienced and committed to configuring the printer, supplies, security, preprinting, and process for each client.

We back that up as well: Easy Badges customers have lifetime unlimited support for setup and configuration. We are ready for their call, and we are ready for yours!