Card Material - DataCard Sp35 Installation Manual

Typically, card bow must be less than the thickness of the card.

Card material

Use cards made of the following types of material:
• Glossy PVC surface, either 100% PVC cards or composite cards with a PVC surface.
• Cards with a magnetic stripe on one side of the card.
• Cards with a smart card chip on the top of the card. Depending on the module installed in the printer, contact-
type, contactless, or both types of smart card chips can be programmed.
Embossed cards cannot be processed in the SP Series printer.
StickiCards
Datacard® StickiCard™ adhesive-backed cards, part number 597640-001, can be used. StickiCards are used to
make personalized cards that can be adhered to proximity cards when the card surface is not flat enough to print.
The printing surface of the StickiCard (white side) meets the material requirements for use in the printer.
When using StickiCards, follow these guidelines:
• Store cards in a cool place (such as a refrigerator) to avoid adhesive migration.
• Fan cards before loading them in the input hopper.
• Clean the printer's card tracks to remove any adhesive residue. Use the printhead cleaning pen or isopropanol
and a swab to remove the residue.
• Use a print margin of 0.1 or 0.05 inch with StickiCards.
• Do not apply laminator material to Stickicards.
Contactless smart cards
Contactless smart cards are also called RF (radio frequency) cards and proximity cards. Contactless smart cards
can have an irregular surface where the internal components of the card are located. You might modify the card
design to avoid printing photos or other images over the internal components of the card.
Pre-punched cards
Datacard® recommends that you punch cards after printing them. However, you can use pre-punched cards with
the SP Series printer as long as the hole is free of raised areas or burrs. In the following illustration, the gray area
shows where punched areas are allowed.
• The cards can only have a punched area within 1.0 in (25.4 mm) of the left-hand edge, as the cards are loaded
in the input hopper. (This dimension includes tolerance.)
• If the card has a magnetic stripe, the card cannot be punched anywhere in the stripe.
SP Series Supply e-Guide
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