High Volume Ribbons

Thermal-transfer and dye sublimation ribbons are a key component of central issuance personalization, enabling secure, high-quality data and image printing across a wide range of card applications.

By selecting the appropriate ribbon technology, issuers can balance visual quality, durability, and security to meet the exact needs of their program.

Resin ribbons deliver extremely sharp, precise printing, making them ideal for fine characters and high-density barcodes, including text as small as 3 mm. They also provide strong resistance to abrasion, chemicals, and daily wear.

Dye-based ribbons provide vibrant, high-quality color for photos and branding elements, ensuring strong adhesion to common card substrates and a polished, professional appearance. They are also available in half-panel variants to support cost-efficient printing when only part of the card requires full-color imagery.

Metallic ribbons — most commonly gold or silver — are widely used in payment card personalization to create a premium, distinctive finish. They enhance readability and elevate card design, especially when applied to embossed or flat-printed data.

Specialist ribbons also include Unichroma™, which acts as a seed layer on polycarbonate cards to enable high-quality printing on materials normally incompatible with standard dye-printing techniques. Scratch-off ribbons are another specialist option, used to conceal confidential information such as PINs or activation codes until the end user removes the coating.