User's Manual

XPS Card Printer Installation and User Guide 71
Color Printing
This section includes:
•
Print Ribbon
•
Managing Color
•
Printing Text
•
Printing Graphics
•
Types of Color Images
•
High Resolution Print Mode
Print Ribbon
Color printing uses a print ribbon with three color
panels Y (yellow), M (magenta), and C (cyan). The
ribbon also includes a black (K) panel and a topcoat (T)
panel. The printer applies the color images to the card
first, prints black components using the panel, and then applies the topcoat (T) which helps
protect the color image from damage.
Color print ribbon is available in full panel or short panel. The
color area for short panel ribbon is 1.57 inches (40mm). The YMC
panels of short panel ribbon are approximately half the length of
a full card.
When printing with short panel print ribbon, the location of the color area is defined in the card
design. Color printing begins when the driver detects a color pixel and continues for the length
of the ymc panels.
For more information on print ribbon, see the
Supplies section of this guide.
Managing Color
Many people think that a color on the monitor and the printed color "should be the same."
Color management is the technical process of making color in two different places (such as on
the PC monitor and printed on the card) as similar as possible. A widely used color standard is
sRGB color, and the card printer also uses sRGB color. (sRGB is the name for the standard Red,
Green, and Blue color space.)
Other color characteristics include brightness and contrast. The Windows driver includes
settings to fine-tune the brightness and contrast for the card. See
Settings for more information.
In a non-Windows environment, color management or graphics software can be used to manage
images.
Printing Text
The printer can print text in any color. Small characters are likely to be more readable if they are
formatted as black and printed with the black (K) panel. The printer supports 6 point or larger
text. with a sans-serif font such as Arial.