Rethink Your Long-Life Card Printing

Reliable Printing. Long-Lasting Quality.

Whether creating ID badges for campuses and hospitals, printing retail loyalty cards, or issuing banking or government-grade cards, lasting print quality is essential. Zebra offers a quality, cost-effective alternative to lamination.

The ZC300 Series card printers and Long-Life Ribbons extend the durability of printed cards, more than doubling the life of standard card printing. With a lower total cost of ownership, you get a greater return on investment. Enhance security by pairing them with custom cards for added protection against fraud and counterfeiting.

• Education

  On a daily basis, faculty, staff, and students use cards to:

  • Enter buildings and dorms
  • Pay in cafeterias and campus convenience stores
  • Gain access to restricted areas
  • Use transportation
  • Purchase books or retail

  This type of regular use means cards wear quickly, requiring frequent, costly replacements.

• Healthcare

  In fast-paced healthcare environments, caregivers can't waste time with faulty or damaged cards. They rely on them to:

  • Securely log in to systems
  • Access restricted areas
  • Retrieve important equipment
  • Administer necessary medications
  • Transport patients

  Additionally, their cards need to sustain frequent sterilizations and constant wear.

• Banking

  Clients expect the highest level of service and security to protect their sensitive information. They want:

  • Cashless payments
  • Seamless online purchasing
  • Fraud protection
  • Reliable chip and stripe functionality
  • Rapid replacement when necessary

  Without proper security features, accounts could be exposed to theft.

• Retail and Hospitality

  From gym memberships to loyalty cards, durability is necessary for frequent use to:

  • Give access to rooms, membership facilities, etc.
  • Be used by multiple people over time
  • Prove membership status
  • Make payment

  Repeat use increases wear and tear on cards and shortens their lifespan.

• Government

  Government agencies issue essential documents needed for:

  • Proof of identification
  • Domestic and international travel
  • Access to government facilities, buildings, municipalities, etc.
  • Registrations, applications, and certifications
  • Age-restricted purchases

  It is critical for these cards to prevent fraud and tampering and last through expiration.

Why You Need Advanced Durability

Protect your investment from:

• Wear and tear: Frequent use, abrasion, oils, and chemicals can damage cards.
• Security breaches: Improper security features leave sensitive personal and financial information subject to theft.
• Missed sale opportunities: Damaged or defective cards mean dissatisfied customers and missed sales.
• Frequent replacements: Card replacement is time-consuming and costly, plus it frustrates users.
• Time-intensive processes: Other larger, more complex printers are more difficult to use, requiring longer setup and significant training.
• Dissatisfied customers: Unreliable cards and delayed replacement cards erode customer loyalty and trust.

The standard life of a printed card is 2 years, but most transitional cards need to be replaced every 3-5 years. Extend the life of your card to improve your return on your card printing investment.

Extend the Life of Your Cards with Long-Life Ribbons

Combat the wear and tear of frequent use with Zebra's Long-Life Ribbons. Add years of life and security features to cards without the high cost of lamination, using double, reinforced overlay panels.

• Enhanced security

  • Custom security marks
  • Opacity mark printing
  • Watermarks

• Advanced features

  • Color, monochromatic, or special color effects*
  • Single- or dual-sided printing in one process

• Durable for daily use

  • Can last up to five years**
  • Rugged protective layer
  • Edge-to-edge coverage

*Special color effects require use of additional specialty ribbons.

**Research conducted by third-party tests. Results are available upon request.

Start Off Smart with the Right Card Supplies

Maximize your security benefits by pairing Long-Life Ribbons with the advanced features of Zebra ISO-compliant PVC and composite PVC plastic cards.

• Smart-card options
• Increased readability
• Overt, covert, and forensic security features: photo box, guilloche pattern, clear window, magnetic stripe
• UHF Gen 2 RFID cards
• Reduced card printer wear and tear for lower maintenance cost

Your Winning Printing Combination

Get the greatest value by combining the ZC300 Series* printers with Long-Life Ribbons and card features. Together, they are ready to tackle nearly any application.

• Award-winning, space-saving design
• Quick plug-and-play integration
• Intuitive color interface for easy operation
• 100-card input and output hoppers, and saloon-style doors for easy access
• Fool-proof ribbon replacement with smart chip
• Card feeder automatically adjusts to card thickness
• Cover lock to prevent theft of cards and ribbons
• Smart-card encoding options, including HF and UHF RFID
• Deploy in multiple locations or run simultaneously for improved efficiency

Top 5 reasons to choose Long-Life Ribbon

1. Improved total cost of ownership: Lower capital costs and cost per card than lamination.
2. Simplified customization: Create and modify simple or complex designs as needed on the spot.
3. Easy to use and maintain: Fool-proof ribbon cartridge with smart chip makes media swaps simple.
4. Smaller footprint: Fits anywhere with a space-saving hopper and no laminator required.
5. Extended durability: Print durable cards with up to a five-year lifespan with less waste and energy consumption than a printer/laminator combination.

*In North America, Long-Life Ribbon is only available for ZC350.

Experience long-lasting card printing with less cost than lamination. Learn more at zebra.com/zc300-series