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Set up card printers

This article describes how to set up card printers in Configuration Manager for Nexus Card SDK.

If you have already installed a printer for ID card production under Windows, you can select it here and configure it as a production printer for your ID card system. IConfiguration Manager, the installed printers are shown in the Value / Setting column for the Card Printer property.

Prerequisites

The printers that you use for ID card production must have been installed as Windows printers.

Step-by-step instruction

Start the Configuration Manager
  1. Start the Configuration Manager for Card SDK from the Start menu in Windows.
Add ID card printer
  1. Open the Card Printer property. The Printer Setup dialog box opens.
  2. Click Add... to add a new printer (that has been installed under Windows) to the list of printers available for your ID card system. The Select Printer dialog box opens.
  3. Select a printer and click OK.
Edit ID card printer
  1. Open the Card Printer property. The Printer Setup dialog box opens.
  2. Select a printer from the list and click Edit...
  3. In the Printer Properties dialog box that opens, these settings can be made:

    FunctionDescription
    Printer NameChange the printer name if required (for example, "Card Printer for Single-Sided Blanks").
    Printer FamilyThe printer family determines the printer control when using integrated encoding, magnetic stripe encoding or special print features like UV print. It is determined automatically and generally requires no modification. Only in rare cases a manual selection may be needed.
    Print Offset and OrientationHere you can set the print offset for the printer area using the reference point left top corner. If you set negative values, it can also be moved to the left and upwards.
    Encoding PositionsIf the printer contains multiple RFID encoders, you can configure the encoding positions by clicking Encoding Positions. A detail window opens, in which the encoding positions are already displayed, depending of the printer family. For each encoding type, you can now specify the corresponding encoding position (for example, Legic at position 1 and Mifare at position 2). Note: Configurations are only required in rare cases and only then, when the printer is actually equipped with the according encoding units. For further information please refer to the configuration description that is provided with the printer.
    Default Printer SettingsSelect this option to use the default printer settings as defined in Windows for your ID card printers.
    Specific Printer SettingsSelect this option to set specific printer settings for card printing with the ID card system’s production components. Note that this will not change the general Windows Printer Settings.
Delete ID card printer
  1. Open the Card Printer property. The Printer Setup dialog box opens.
  2. Select a printer from the list and click Delete.

    This will only delete printers from the list of printers available for your ID card system. It will NOT delete any printers installed under Windows.

Configure ID card printer
  1. Open the Card Printer property. The Printer Setup dialog box opens.
  2. Select a printer from the list, and make any configurations:

    1. Click Set As Default to set the currently selected printer as the default printer. This status is indicated by a check mark next to the printer in the Default Printer column. Click the button again to cancel this setting.

      • All the card types that have been designed in CardDesigner and to which no specific printer has been assigned will be printed to this default printer.

      • Card types to which a specific printer has been assigned will continue to be printed to the assigned printer. In this case, the Set As Default option will have no effect.

      • If more than one printer has been defined, but none of them has been set as the default printer, you will be prompted to select the required printer when producing card types to which the default printer has been assigned. A selection menu with all available printers will appear, allowing you to choose the printer you wish to print to on a case by case basis.

    2. Click Print Test Page to print the test page generated by the printer driver.

    3. The Alternate Printing option is only available if more than one printer has been set up.

      • Enabling this option will disable the Set As Default setting.

      • If this option is enabled, then the card types to which the default printer has been assigned will be printed alternately to the next free printer on the list of printers.
        Card types to which a specific printer has been assigned will continue to be printed to the assigned printer.

    4. In Show Production, you set if a preview of the ID card shall be shown for each print job. You have these options: 
      • With Print View
      • Only Progress Indicator
      • Without Visualization

It is recommended to configure your system for the use of a default printer. You should only make assignments of specific printers to individual card types if it is really required.

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