What are card sleeves printer? A Card Sleeve Printer is a printer that specializes in custom card sleeve patterns. Our card sleeve printer utilizes advanced UV printing technology, allowing for direct inkjet printing that quickly creates vivid and detailed designs on the card sleeve surface.
You can use it to print on various types of card sleeves, such as access card sleeves, ID card sleeves, and trade show badge holders. The printed patterns are resistant to fading even under prolonged sun exposure, and they are also scratch-resistant and durable.
The card sleeve printer is highly compatible with many types of materials. In the following video, we will demonstrate the printing process on plastic card sleeves:
Step 1: Design the desired pattern and import it into the output software. With this software, you can freely adjust the ink volume to control the color intensity of the image, modify the position of the design, and more.
Step 2: Place all the card sleeves onto the printing tray. Depending on your needs, you can choose to print on a single card sleeve or multiple card sleeves at once.
Step 3: Click the “Start” button in the output software, and the printer will begin the printing process. During printing, the UV lamp will instantly cure the ink, forming a vibrant and durable design.
Step 4: When the printhead and UV lamp return to their original positions, it indicates that the printing is complete and your high-quality design has been successfully printed.
We offer a variety of card sleeve printer sizes for you to choose from. You can simply select the one that best suits your specific requirements. Currently, the smallest card sleeve printer available from our factory is the A4-size model X2030, with a printable area of 20 x 30 centimeters. For users who do not require high-volume printing, one X2030 card sleeve printer is generally sufficient to meet their needs. If you are looking for higher production efficiency, we also offer machines with printable sizes of 30 x 40 cm, 40 x 60 cm, and more to meet your printing demands.
Rectangular card sleeves are currently the most common, but as users increasingly seek personalized designs, card sleeves in various shapes have become more popular. As a result, the demand for card sleeves in multiple shapes continues to grow. A card sleeve printer places no limitations on the shape of the card sleeves. As long as the shape fits within the printer’s printable area, it can meet your printing needs, regardless of the form.
It is commonly used for custom credit card sleeves, employee ID card sleeves, and trade show card sleeves, making it one of the most widely used types of card sleeves today.
Compared to traditional rectangular sleeves, round card sleeves offer a more flexible and stylish look. They are ideal for access cards or keychain-style cards. You can print room numbers, floor information, or other identifying details directly onto the surface for easy recognition.
These are often used for specific occasions, such as Valentine’s Day. Card sleeve companies can print brand logos, greeting messages, or decorative designs on heart-shaped sleeves to enhance their commemorative value.
Although card sleeves are commonly seen and may seem like an ordinary accessory in daily life, they can actually serve more than just a protective function. You can print a wide variety of designs on their surface to enhance their functionality and tailor them for different occasions.
You can print company logos, event slogans, or QR codes on card sleeves, making them widely applicable for trade show badges, corporate ID holders, and membership card sleeves. By scanning the QR code, users can access company profiles,
For fans of collectible game cards, a custom card sleeve not only protects cards from wear and tear but also helps organize decks. Printing different colors or anime characters on the sleeves makes it easier to distinguish between main decks, side decks, and backups.
In addition to text and animated designs, you can also print personal portraits—such as couple photos or family members—onto the card sleeves, giving them sentimental and commemorative value.
Access cards, hotel keycards, and similar items can easily get mixed up due to their large quantities. In such cases, printing room numbers, floor numbers, or barcodes on the card sleeves becomes especially important, as it helps with quick identification and prevents confusion.
The card sleeve printer uses UV ink, which is known for its excellent adhesion properties, allowing it to firmly bond to the surface of a wide range of materials. As a result, it can easily adapt to many commonly used card sleeve materials available on the market, including plastic, leather, metal, and coated paper card sleeves. Thanks to the UV ink’s “instant-dry” feature, the printed patterns cure immediately under ultraviolet light exposure, eliminating the need for drying time and greatly improving printing efficiency. Whether it’s fine line designs or full-surface image coverage, the direct-to-substrate printing technology ensures the ink adheres precisely to the card sleeve’s surface.
Plastic card sleeves are low-cost, lightweight, and easy to carry, making them one of the most common types of card sleeves today. These sleeves are typically thin and allow visibility of the important information printed on the card inside. If you want to use plastic card sleeves but also prefer to cover up sensitive information, you can selectively print designs on the sleeve’s surface using the card sleeve printer. This not only helps protect the card but also enhances the sleeve’s appearance and adds a personalized touch.
Leather card sleeves offer a soft and comfortable feel, are resistant to friction, and feature unique natural textures. Compared to plastic sleeves, they have a much longer lifespan and can often be used for several years. Printing patterns on them with a card sleeve printer makes them a great choice—whether you’re giving one as a gift to a friend or keeping it for personal use.
The hard texture of metal provides excellent protection against bending and wear, making metal sleeves ideal for safeguarding chip-enabled cards such as IC cards. Additionally, metal sleeves often have a sleek, glossy appearance that looks minimalist and premium, making them well-suited for business settings.
Paper card sleeves are inexpensive to produce and are ideal for temporary or short-term use. For example, at trade shows, promotional events, or large-scale conferences, businesses or organizers can use a card sleeve printer to quickly print logos, event details, or branding messages onto paper card sleeves. These can then be distributed to consumers or participants as giveaways, leaving a lasting impression and serving as a low-cost but highly effective marketing tool.
Card sleeves come in a wide range of colors—so can a card sleeve printer handle them all, even dark-colored ones? Absolutely. Whether it’s light or dark, our card sleeve printer delivers high-quality results on any color sleeve. For dark-colored sleeves, we apply a white ink layer first before printing the color design. This ensures that the dark background doesn’t affect the color vibrancy or clarity. For light-colored sleeves (such as white ones), the color layer can be printed directly without a white base, since the background has minimal impact on color accuracy.
Many machines can print full-color designs on card sleeves—so what sets the UV card sleeve printer apart from the rest? Unlike traditional methods such as screen printing or heat transfer, the UV card sleeve printer uses CMYKW five-color ink, enabling it to print everything from simple text to intricate graphics with excellent precision. It doesn’t require the plate-making process of screen printing, nor the heat application needed in heat transfer methods. With a UV card sleeve printer, you simply upload your design, and printing begins right away.
In addition to vibrant full-color printing, the UV card sleeve printer supports embossed effects through white ink layering, giving your design a raised, textured feel. With dual printheads, it can even apply a glossy finish using varnish. In short, one UV card sleeve printer can deliver full-color output, embossed effects, and glossy finishes—making it the ideal solution for high-end, personalized card sleeve printing.
Different materials result in different card sleeves thicknesses—paper and plastic are usually thin, while metal and leather options are generally thicker. Our card sleeve printer can handle card sleeves of various thicknesses. For example, our X2030 A4 UV printer supports a maximum print height of up to 8 centimeters. That means it can print on items ranging from 1 millimeter to 8 centimeters thick, making it compatible with nearly all types of card sleeves. The printer’s platform is fully adjustable, so you can set the right height based on your card sleeve’s thickness. This helps maintain the ideal printing distance and ensures high-quality results every time.
If you are looking for a machine to personalize and customize card sleeves, choose our UV card sleeve printer! We are professional manufacturers of card sleeve printers, and the UV card sleeve printers we supply can handle a wide range of card sleeve sizes, from standard to oversized. It is currently one of the easiest machines to operate and can print multiple effects, significantly improving production efficiency and providing strong support for your custom card sleeve business.
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