Since 2010, Magicard, through its channel partners in China, has been working closely with Chinese Authorities in the production of temporary residence identity cards.
The card, used to monitor the movement of migrant workers around the country, is used for identity as well as a permit to show who is legally living and working in each province of China.
At the point of issuance, a photograph and the biographical information are printed in full colour.
A rewritable panel on the card is also used for the temporary address and date of validity fields.
Migrant workers then need to return to have their card rewritten for an extension to their stay or if they have a change of address.
Initially, provinces would use kiosk integrations encompassing one printer to print the colour elements on the card and another to do the rewrite. Provinces are now requesting to do both the print and rewrite on the same printer.
Normally, to rewrite using a dye sublimation printer, the colour film has to first be removed. Some manufacturers tried to overcome this by using a dye film that is thinner that the normal width, leaving a space at the bottom of the card for rewrite.
John Honeysett, Applications Manager at Magicard, said: “The method our competitors were using left room for error during the printing process and had limitations in that the rewrite panel would always have to be located at the bottom of the card – which is not necessarily the case. We looked at this and, working with our dye film suppliers, have created a more robust solution for our users”.
Magicard has developed a special YMC-N-KO film that enables cards to be printed in colour and for rewrite panels to be overwritten, all in the same process. The ‘N panel’ of the printer ribbon is completely blank and consists only of the polyester ‘carrier’ that holds the film together.
The printhead can write and rewrite through this layer, enabling the part of the process to be achieved without removing the colour ribbon. Meaning the requests for creation on a single printer have been met.
This new dye film is available from all certified Magicard Retailers with immediate effect.
