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RESTRICTED USE ONLY Fargo Electronics, Inc.
HDP5000 High Definition Card Printer/Encoder User Guide (Rev. 1.4)
2-16
Functional Specifications
The Card Printer utilizes two different, yet closely related printing technologies to achieve its
remarkable print quality for dye-sublimation and resin thermal transfer. See previous section
as needed.
The following describes how each of these technologies works:
Function Description
Dye-
Sublimation
Dye-Sublimation is the print method the Card Printer uses to produce
smooth, continuous-tone images that look photographic. (Note: This
process uses a dye-based Ribbon roll that is partitioned by a number of
consecutive color Panels.)
• Process colors: The Panels are grouped in a repeating Series of
three process colors - yellow, magenta and cyan (YMC), along the
entire length of the Print Ribbon.
• Panels: The Printer always prints the yellow Panel first, followed by
the magenta Panel and the cyan Panel.
• Printhead: As the Print Ribbon passes beneath the Printhead,
hundreds of thermal elements within the Printhead heat the dyes on
the Ribbon. (Note: When these dyes are heated, they vaporize and
diffuse into the surface of the film and then the film is laminated onto
the card surface. A separate pass is made for each of the three color
Panels on the Ribbon.)
• Color Shades: By combining the colors of each Panel and by
varying the heat used to transfer these colors, it is possible to print up
to 16.7 million different shades of color. (Note: This blends one color
smoothly into the next, producing photo-quality images with
absolutely no dot pattern.)
• Dye-Diffusion Thermal Transfer: It is the process of heating a dye
suspended in a cellulous substrate until the dye can flow, diffusing
into the dye receptive surface of the card or InTM. This produces the
image in the surface of the card.