ID Card Printers

Investing in an ID card printer gives you and your business complete control over your printing requirements, allowing for card to be created on demand. From printing photo ID badges to creating secure access cards for events, overtime an in-house ID printer reduces costs and helps with efficiency.

• Easily print cards on demand.
• Personalise each card with logos, photos, text, and more.
• No need to outsource your printing.
• Cost-effective in the long term.

When you begin your ID card printing journey, you may have a design in mind. The type of ID badge printer you need will differ depending on your requirements, and there are a number of different features available between printers to keep costs low without compromising on the printed ID you're looking for. We stock a range of plastic card printers as well as printers that can print on paper, with single sided and dual sided features, as well as options for oversized cards, laminated cards, and encoded cards.

Single sided ID card printers are ideal if you only need to print on one side of the card. They can often be upgraded after purchase to grow with your business, ensuring you are not limited.

To add information on the back of your card, a double-sided printer (also known as dual-sided) printer is ideal. This can be upgraded after purchase, or is available pre-configured.

If you need to include additional information to your card design, there are oversized card printers available that print larger than standard cards. Ideal for events and ticketing.

If you require ID cards or membership cards with added durability, we offer a range of laminated ID card printers that add an additional protective layer on top of your design.

When producing photo ID cards, the type of printing technology you require depends on what you need your cards and badges to look like. These types of technology produce different results, and have benefits depending on the card surface you are printing onto.

Also known as DTC printers, some of the cheapest ID card printers utilise dye sublimation technology, which is where the printhead heats the ink to fuse it directly to the card's surface.

Direct-to-card ID card printers (DTC) work in the same way as dye sublimation. The heating process creates million shades of YMCK for lifelike colour printing.

Suitable for printing onto the surface of access control cards, retransfer ID card printers print colour designs onto a clear film that is then fused onto the plastic card.

Rewrite printers offer capabilities for creating and reusing ID cards, using heat technology and specialised cards to create a monochrome blue or black design that can be erased.

Turn your photo ID cards into access control cards with a range of card printers capable of producing encoded cards, with technology available such as Elatec, HID, SpringCard, MIFARE and more.

We stock a large range of printers from all major and popular ID card printer brands and manufacturers. Feel free to browse by printer brand. Each printer brand will then further allow you to filter by printer type.

The right ID card printer depends on your organisation’s size, budget, and printing requirements.

• For entry level ID printing, the IDP Smart 21 is a reliable and affordable option for small businesses.
• For high-quality, mid-range printing with fast print speeds and large volumes, the Magicard 300 or Evolis Primacy 2 are popular choices.
• Need high-volume badge production. The Zebra ZC300 and Fargo DTC1250e models are designed for speed and durability.
• Specialist industries needing enhanced smart card security features will benefit from Matica or HID FARGO plastic card printers.

We highly recommend you taking a look at our best ID card printers of 2025 blog to help you choose the right printer.

There are two main types:

• Direct-To-Card Printers (DTC): Prints directly onto the card surface.
• Retransfer Printers: Use a film layer for higher print quality and edge-to-edge printing.

The type of ID card depends on the security system that you have in place. If you're looking to print basic photo ID cards, our blank white ID cards are perfect. For access control card printing, there are many solutions such as contact cards, proximity cards and multiple branded cards for you to choose from.

Many of our photo ID card printers support encoding such as magnetic stripe and contactless card encoding, making them easy to integrate into your systems. The setup process is easy as we provide everything needed for straight out of the box printing.

Secure printing has never been easier with modern card printers. Some of the popular options include:

• Smart card encoding (Contactless chips)
• MIFARE®, DESFire®
• Magnetic stripe encoding module (Contact chip)
• Additional features include: watermark printing, UV printing, holographic overlays, and custom laminates for anti-counterfeit protection.

ID card printers need maintaining regularly (every couple months) to ensure you receive the best printer performance possible. Take a look at our maintenance cleaning kits and printer upgrades.

• Free ID Card Design Software (Software types vary depending on printer price)
• Free Shipping as Standard
• Printer Warranty with Every Printer

If you only need to print cards for a shorter period, we offer ID card printer rentals as a alternative solution. Simply choose a rental date that suits you and we will ship it out with free UK delivery!