Resin thermal transfer printing is an alternative ID card printing method to the more standard dye sublimation printing technique.  Both use a thermal printhead to transfer color from the ID card printer ribbon to the surface of the blank ID badge.  Dye sublimation ID card printers turn the color from the ribbon into a vapor on its way to the ID card, while resin thermal transfer printers heat the resin-based color ink from the printer ribbon into liquid.  When the liquid comes into contact with the surface of the ID card, the drops of color and the plastic card fuse together.

The images, text, and graphics produced by using a resin thermal transfer printer are extremely durable.  The images printed on the ID cards and badges will be made up of just two colors: the white of the blank ID card and the color that was selected for the ID card printer ribbon.

The economy and speed of the resin thermal transfer process are usually applied to single-color ID cards.  The durability, quality of print, and the limited color palette of ID cards using resin thermal transfer printing make it ideal for primarily printing text and barcodes.  Barcodes printed using resin thermal transfer printers can be read by both visible light and infrared light bar code scanners.