At ABC Office we sell a wide variety of employee time clocks, designed to keep track of employee time worked for payroll purposes. One popular technology used with many of our time cards is proximity cards. So how exactly does a proximity card work? I’ll explain in this article.

To begin with, you may have noticed that proximity cards are a little thicker than your standard ID badge or credit card. This is because integrated circuitry is embedded and sandwiched between several plastic layers. This circuitry communicates with other devices such as time clocks using a special radio / wireless frequency.

Most proximity cards are powered by using resonant energy transfer in conjunction with a passive chip that is found inside the proximity card itself, although some are powered using small batteries. Non-powered proximity cards typically have a smaller storage capacity than powered cards.

Resonant energy transfer, used in non-powered proximity cards, is very similar to RFID technology and transponder technology found in many modern car keys. This allows the card to operate without have any battery inside. The proximity card reader emits pulses of a wireless radio frequency that the built-in passive chip uses to power the proximity card.

One of the biggest advantages of proximity cards is convenience. They operate by holding the card anywhere from 0-3 inches in front of the card readers. There is no password or special keypad interaction. It is that easy, and for that reason, proximity card are huge for use with building security, time cards and for a variety of business applications.

Proximity cards use special chips that are embedded into the circuit board that contain unique identifying data. This unique identifying data, embedded on the proximity card, can then be tied to a specific person or employee. In the situation of a time clock, the proximity card may contain unique information identifying the employee. When waved in front of a proximity-based time clock, that employee is logged in or out.

Setting up a proximity card is pretty easy. In the instance of an employee time clock, a blank proximity card can be read and then linked with a specific employee. This is typically the case with a building security system as well.

So how do pictures and ID information get placed on a proximity card? This is often done by using a 10-mil CR-79 ID card with an adhesive back. Basically the employee’s picture, company logo, ID number and other information is printed on the CR-79 card using a digital ID card printer. This thin 10-mil card is then stuck onto the surface of the proximity card. You can find our blank CR-79 adhesive cards here.

So there you have it. Proximity cards are extremely handy and utilize some pretty unique technology. You can find our entire selection of time clocks, including proximity time clocks, here.

If you own a store or shop that takes passport pictures for customers, you probably want to make a good impression. Few things will turn off a customer more than a pinned up bedsheet as a backdrop. In order to produce professional passport photos, you need to use a passport backdrop. We offer a few options that should keep your customers happy.

The Federal Government states that passport pictures should be taken in front of a backdrop. They specifically state, “…the background should be plain white or off-white.”

You can read more about passport picture requirements and specifications straight from the U.S. Government here.

At ABC Office we offer a few backdrops that are perfect for taking passport pictures. We offer a few professional cloth options and a few retractable backdrops.

Multi-Color Cloth Backdrop – This kit comes with a variety of different backdrops. Some can be used for passports where others are ideal for photo identification badges.

WC-33 Ceiling / Wall Mounted Backdrop – This backdrop can be attached to a ceiling or a wall and is retractable. This is convenient and especially nice for saving space.

TB-33 Freestanding Retractable Backdrop – This retractable backdrop is ideal for mobility and saving space. It compacts down into a portable format and can easily be moved from one area to another.

Once you’re passport pictures have been taken, you will need to cut them down to a 2″ x 2″ size. Rather than using scissors that can leave crooked edges, consider using a passport photo ID die cutter.

Once the picture has been cut out, you will probably want to place the pictures is a passport holder / folder. Passport folders look professional, protect the pictures and are far more professional than placing the photos in an envelope or bag.

So there you have it! Some great tips on creating a professional passport photo. If you still have questions, feel free to speak with one of our passport specialists at 1-800-658-8788.

If you have been shopping around for an ID card printer, you have probably run across the term dye sublimation several times. So what makes dye sublimation superior for printing ID cards? I’ll explain some of its benefits.

To begin with, ID card printers that use dye sublimation printing usually utilize some sort of a printer ribbon. The ribbon itself looks like a thin strip of plastic, usually consisting CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black) colored panels. Ribbons that feature CMYKO have an overlay panel (O) for added scratch protection.

ID printers have a special thermal print head that heats up these panels and burns them onto a blank PVC card. The panel transitions from a solid to a gaseous state in the process, hence the term sublimation. For those of you who are not chemistry buffs, sublimation occurs when a solid transitions to a gaseous state without ever becoming a liquid.

Dye sublimation ID card printing produces some of the clearest and most professional-looking images available. Because the images are fused onto the PVC card using heat and multiple colored panels, the image has an extremely long lifespan. This is ideal for identification purposes as ID cards can be placed in pockets, wallets, purses and typically experience a lot of wear and tear.

We carry dye sublimation ID card printers from Fargo, Polaroid, Eltron, Magicard and many other manufacturers. You can find most of our dye sublimation printer ribbons here and dye sublimation ID card printers here.

Do you still have questions? Call one of our photo ID experts at 1-800-658-8788.

There are a lot of different sizes and colors of PVC cards available today for creating photo ID cards. A lot of people get confused as to which size, thickness and style they should use. Here is the advice I give our customers.

To begin with, most ID card printers print on plastic PVC cards. The size that is most common is referred to as a CR-80. This size is exactly the same size as a credit card. It fits in most badge holders, can be slot punched for use with lanyards and continues to be the best all-round size for ID cards.

The thickness of PVC ID cards is measured in mils. A mil is a thousandth of an inch. The most common thickness of ID card used today is 30 mils thick. As with the size, the 30 mil thickness is the same as a credit card.

So why do we offer thinner 10 mil cards? For one, they cost less and are nice for temporary ID cards. The most common use of the 10 mil ID card, however, is with proximity cards.

We offer a 10 mil thick CR-80 that has an adhesive back. What many people do is print their ID on the 10-mil adhesive card and then stick it on the surface of a thicker proximity card. This is a great way to put an ID on a proximity or key card.

CR-80 PVC cards are available in multiple colors, but white continues to be the most popular color. White cards, much like white paper, allow the printing of just about anything. Blank PVC cards are also available with magnetic stripes (high & low coercivity) for encoding data and information. Most of our CR-80 cards ship in 500 or 1,000 quantity boxes.

You can find our entire selection of blank CR-80 PVC ID cards here. You can also find our entire selection of digital photo ID printers here.

Do you manage an office, run a business or have employees that need to attach a lanyard to an ID card or badge? Try as you might, a hole punch simply is not going to cut it (pardon the pun). What you are going to need is what’s known as a slot punch.

Slot punches are designed to punch a rectangular-shaped hole, typical 1/8″ tall by ½” wide. These slots are designed to accept most normal-sized lanyards, badge straps and badge reels. Slot punches are extremely easy to use.

If you are only cutting a few ID badges a day, you’ll be fine with a handheld slot punch. If you plan on punching hundreds to thousands a day, you may want to consider an electric-powered slot punch.

Slot punches, depending on the model, are also available with and without guides. The advantage of a guide is that it makes alignment easy and center slot punching a piece of cake.

Most slot punches can handle CR-80 PVC cards and some of the more robust models can even slot punch proximity cards.

You can find our entire selection of manual and electric slot punches here. You can find our entire selection of lanyards, badge clips and badge reels here.

Questions? Give us a call at 1-800-658-8788 to speak with one of our ID card specialists.

Several years ago we used to offer a wide variety of instant film passport ID cameras. You pointed the camera, took the picture and pulled the film out the side of the camera. It took anywhere from 1-2 minutes for the film to develop. The end results looked good, but with the coming of digital cameras, our old systems were all discontinued. In walks the Fujifilm IP-10 digital passport camera system.

The new Fujifilm IP-10 digital passport system creates the same results as the old Polaroid instant film cameras, but has since adapted to modern-day technology. While there are now two pieces of equipment used, rather than just one, the new digital system is actually faster.

The Fujifilm IP-10 uses a FinePix I-10 ID printer and a FinePix J38 12.2 megapixel camera. Both pieces of equipment are highly rated pieces of technology, and combined, create brilliant photographs.

The speed at which the IP-10 system operates really depends on the operator. The step-by-step process is simple:

1. Shoot the picture
2. Select the picture
3. Print the picture

The FinePix IP-10 printer uses Fujifilm’s proprietary Image Intelligence software. This software is designed to offer “intelligent” color adjustments to pictures. The printer is able to automatically detect faces in the image and optimize face coloring for top-quality prints. Here are a few more details on the printer:

• Printing Method: Dye-sublimation thermal transfer (with overcoating)
• Resolution: 300 x 300dpi, CMY with 256 gradations / color
• Print Size: 4 x 6inch – 10 x 15cm (10 x 18cm before cutting)
• Print Speed: Approx. 70 sec. (start of paper feed to finish)

The Fujifilm FinePix J38 camera produces 12.2 megapixel images and features the latest in technology. This includes facial recognition technology, precision auto focusing and anti-blur capabilities.

Combined, the IP-10 printer and J-38 camera produce pictures that are clearer, more colorful and crisper than any of the old “instant film” cameras that we used to offer. I consider this to be a huge improvement and customers will be happy with the results.

While having a “nice looking” passport picture isn’t a requirement by the U.S. government, nobody wants a bad picture. The IP-10 passport & id card camera system can be used in just about any store or passport picture-taking business. The entire system only weighs 10 pounds shipped, making it extremely portable.

Overall I consider the Fujifilm IP-10 passport ID system a perfect solution for any business looking to upgrade or start taking passport pictures for customers.

You can find the Fujifilm IP-10 digital passport camera system here. You can find our entire selection of ID card creation equipment here. Feel free to call us at 1-800-658-8788 to ask more questions about our ID and passport systems.

Are you in the market for a digital ID card or badge printer, but don’t know exactly what you need to get up and going? It isn’t complicated, but you do need to be aware of a few things before you make your purchase. Here are a few tips that should help you get on your feet and become more familiar with digital ID card printers in general. Enjoy!

Digital ID Printers – First off, let’s cover the printers. The digital ID card printer is the core of the ID card creation process. Printers come in full-color and monochrome designs. Most full color printers can print monochrome, but monochrome printers cannot print full color.

Printers also come in single-sided and double sided designs. This depends on the type of card you will be printing . Single sided printers can be used for double-sided printing, but require the card to be flipped. This increases time, is more inconvenient and increases the risk of the card being scratched.

ID card printers can be customized to be fitted with magnetic stripe encoders, smart card encoders and proximity card encoding. Printers should state on the product page whether they are available with these features.  You can find our ID card printers here.

PVC Cards – Most ID card printers use a CR-80 size plastic PVC card in a 30 mil thickness. While cards sizes may vary, this is by far the most common size used today. The 30 mil thickness is the same thickness as a credit card. Thinner cards are available, and usually include an adhesive back for use with proximity cards. While most CR-80 cards are white, multi-colored cards are available. You can find our blank CR-80 PVC cards here.

Card Creation Software – ID card printers will require some sort of software to assist with the card creation process. While I have spoken with people that have used MS Word and Photoshop to create cards, card creation software is much faster. Some printers come with software, but most require a separate software suite to be used.

I have found, however, that more and more printer manufacturers are including software with their printers. You can find our ID card software here.

Printer Ribbons - Most ID card printers use a multi-panel color ribbon that is fused to plastic PVC cards through a process called dye sublimation. The thermal print head will fuse one color to the card, then another and then another. Most full-color cards use a YMCK (yellow, magneto, cyan, black) process, often with a clear laminate overlay to protect the print. These prints hold up well with daily use. You can find our ID card printer ribbons here.

Cleaning Kits – It is recommended to clean your printer after frequent use or when flaws begin to appear. These cleaning kits typically clean the thermal printing head. This includes wipes, cleaning pens and cleaning cards. Cleaning kits can be found on the printer ribbon supply pages for the brand of printer being used.

This is a basic breakdown on how an ID card printer works and what is needed to get one up and running. Please feel free to contact one of our photo ID specialists at 1-800-658-8788 with answers to more questions. You can find our entire selection of photo ID equipment and supplies here. This includes lanyards, badge holders, reels and more.

Does your business, school or organization need ID cards for security and organizational purposes? There are a few ways you can go about doing this. One of the most popular, and modern ways, is by using a digital ID card printer. If you decide to go this route, you should take a serious look at the Polaroid P3000E digital ID card printer.

Years ago people used to take pictures using a Polaroid ID camera, with instant film, to create ID cards. This process usually involved die cutting the picture, gluing it to a card and laminating it. Polaroid now makes ID card printers that ultimately do the same thing, but print everything in full color on and PVC card. The end results look professional.

The Polaroid P3000E id card printer is a single-sided full color printer that is one of the most affordable models we offer that is capable of printing full color edge-to-edge at a speed of 160 full-color cards per minute. It can print text, full-color photos, bar codes and much more.

While designed for single-sided printing, you can do double-sided printing by flipping the cards and printing on the other side. The disadvantage to doing this is decreased speed (versus a double-sided ID printer) and the potential of scratching the printed side while printing the other.

This ID card printer is available in both monochrome and full-color designs. You can also get it with or without a magnetic stripe encoder. It is connected to a computer via a USB cable and works with Windows 2000, XP, Vista and Windows 7. The printer itself is as easy to set up as an inkjet printer. Drivers are included.

The quality on the Polaroid ID card printers is considered to be some of the best available and the print holds up well with use and time. The cards produced by the Polaroid P3000E ID card printer can be placed in a wallet, be put in a badge holder or be slot-punched for use with a lanyard.

One thing many people complain about with ID card printers is the printer ribbon. The Polaroid P3000E makes ribbon changing easy. Simply pull out the used cartridge and put the new one in. There is no difficult feeding or loading involved. I would compare it to being as easy as changing out the ink cartridge in your inkjet printer.

The Polaroid P3000E includes its own ID Card Maker photo ID software. For more complex Photo ID software needs, we do offer Card 5 ID card software, Asure ID software and EPISuite ID card software. You can find all our available ID card software here.

Overall the Polaroid P3000E is a great system to have. It can be used in most schools, businesses and organizations. You shouldn’t be intimidated by the idea of making your own ID cards in-house. It is remarkably easy to do and the P3000E simplifies the process even more.

You can find the Polaroid P3000E digital ID card printer here. You can find our entire selection of ID card printers here.

Do you have an ID card printer system but don’t have an effective way to add a lanyard? The easiest way to do this is by adding an oval hole by use of a slot punch. One slot punch you may want to consider using is the 3943-1010 hand held slot punch. I have used this slot punch on many occasions and this is my review.

The 3943-1010 is primarily used for adding slots to PVC ID cards or laminated ID cards. It works much like a hole punch. It is made out of solid metal and the build quality is about as good as it gets.

While many comparable slot punches struggle to punch through 30-mil PVC cards, the 3943-1010 slot punch does this without a problem. The slot hole size ends up being 1/2″ x 1/8″ (13 x 3mm). This is perfect for most lanyards.

The 3943-1010 includes a guide, which makes it very easy to center a slot on the long or short side of a PVC card. This punch is also available as the 3943-1000 slot punch (found here), but does not include a guide. While some people can “eyeball” where the slot needs to go, I can’t, which is why I prefer to use the 3943-1010.

I highly recommend the 3943-1010 slot punch for anyone who makes their own ID cards and other badges in-house. The slot punch is ready to use right out of the box and requires no special training to set up or use.

You can find the 3943-1010 hand-held slot punch here. You can find our entire selection of ID card slot punches here.

As many of you may already know, Polaroid discontinued their line of 669 film and it is no longer available. You may still be able to track down some old packages online, but it isn’t being manufactured anymore. The replacement that we are using for our Polaroid 669 cameras is FujiFilm FP-100C. It is a direct fit replacement.

Many people have asked me how the quality compares. Polaroid was known for making high quality instant film. From what I have seen, the FujiFilm FP-100C quality is just as good as the Polaroid 669 film and seems to hold up just as well. Each cartridge holds 10 film sheets.

This should come as some relief to many of you who have instant film cameras that used Polaroid 669. We have been selling FujiFilm FP-100C for over a year now as a replacement and there are absolutely no complaints from our customers. None whatsoever.

You can find our FujiFilm FP-100C cartridges by going here. Do you still have questions about Polaroid 669 film and FujiFilm FP-100C? Call us at 1-800-658-8788 to speak with one of our photo ID specialists.