Access Control Cards 
Plastic cards used to gain access to premises, usually associated with magnetic stripe and proximity cards.
 
Bar Code 
An array of machine-readable rectangular bars and spaces arranged in a specific way defined in international standards to represent letters, numbers, and other human-readable symbols.
 
Digital Imaging 
Scanning or otherwise capturing images which may be subsequently edited, filed, displayed, or printed on a plastic card.
 
Dye Sublimation 
An imaging method for transferring controlled quantities of printer ribbon dye onto a plastic card. With the 300 dpi print head resolution, near-photographic quality results.
 
Encoding 
The process of electronically "writing" information on magnetic stripes or smart card chips.
 
Font 
A character set (alphabet and numerals) of a specified design and size.
 
Hologram 
A unique photographic printing that provides a three-dimensional effect on a flat surface. Holograms cannot be easily copied and are used for security and aesthetic purposes on cards.
 
Image Capture System 
A hardware and software system used to obtain and save personal data and cardholder photographic images.
 
Lamination 
The process of combining lamination material and core material using time, heat and pressure. Laminate patches used in card printers come on rolls, with and without carriers/liners.
 
Machine-Readable 
A code or characters that can be read by machines.
 
Magnetic Stripe 
Magnetic material, applied as a strip in the surface of a card, used to encode cardholder information.
 
Memory Card 
A type of smart card. Also known as a synchronous card, it features 256 bit or 32 byte memory and is suitable for use as a token card or identification card.
 
Microprocessor Card 
A type of smart card, also known as an asynchronous card. Features 1 kilobyte to 64 Kbytes of memory and is suitable for portable or confidential files, identification, tokens, electronic purse, or any combination of uses.
 
Overlay Varnish 
A thin transparent layer applied (using the print head) to cards to resist scratching and fading from exposure to UV radiation.
 
Prox Card 
Short for Proximity card; a form of contactless smart card used for access control applications. Embedded in the card is a metallic antenna coil, which allows it to communicate with an external antenna. Because the cards require only close "proximity" to an RF antenna to be read, they are also referred to as contactless cards.
 
PVC 
Polyvinyl Chloride. The primary material used for typical plastic cards.
 
Resolution 
Dimension of the smallest element of an image that can be printed. Usually stated as dots-per-inch (dpi).
 
Smart Card/Contact Smart Card 
Also called a "chip" card or IC card. A plastic card with an embedded microchip, which may be used to store information about the cardholder or record card transactions as they occur.
 
Thermal Print Head 
An electronic device which uses heat to transfer a digitized image from a special ribbon to the flat surface of a plastic card.
 
Thermal Printing 
The process of creating an image on a plastic card using a heated print head.
 
YMC 
Yellow, Magenta, and Cyan (YMC) are the primary print colors for cards. The three colors are combined in varying degrees to make a full spectrum of colors. 
 
YMCKO 
YMCKO is the same as YMC plus Black (K) and Overlay (O) panels. 
 
YMCKOK
YMCKOK is the same as YMCKO plus an additional Black (K) panel for printing on the back side of a card.