The software you use alongside your ID card printer is the tool which helps you to not only design and print your cards professionally, but also to include cardholder-specific information, visual security and encoding for specific applications.
Look out for those which have an inbuilt design wizard to help you create an ID that’s unique to your purpose, and one with a user profile feature to allow you to customise permissions around what each user has access to – whether that’s information or parts of a building.
Database integration
Create your own internal database or use integration tools to link to your organisation’s data. These could be anything from simple CSV and text including Microsoft Access and Microsoft Excel right up to Enterprise level databases such as MYSQL, Oracle and ODBC.
Encoding
Whether you’re looking to embrace barcode, magnetic stripe, Smart card & RFID or proximity encoding, remember that each type is designed to hold different sorts or amount of data. Bear in mind that not every type of ID card software on the market has the capability to encode every type of card!…and of course, choose the appropriate reader to access the information stored on the card.
ID peripherals
Your ID card software needs to support the devices you’re using with it. Photographs can be added using webcams, scanners and digital cameras. Signature capture is an option with some versions, and face recognition is becoming increasingly prevalent as is biometric capture, storage and verification.
Click-to-card
Centralised data and license management options keep things simple. You can store all your card layouts, database connections, printer settings, and more in one location. Having shared data enables all users to have the most current information.
If you’d like to find out what ID card software we recommend to optimise your Magicard printer experience, click here.
And for more information about different cards for different uses, visit our blog, Which type of card?
