Resin Thermal Transfer uses a single-color ribbon to print sharp black text and crisp bar codes on plastic pvc cards, which can be read by both infrared and visible-light bar code scanners (readers). Other colors available are red, green, blue, yellow, silver, and gold. This process uses the same thermal printhead as dye-sublimation; however solid dots of color are transferred rather than a combination of colors.
While composite colors such as facial images on ID cards or security badges, the resin thermal transfer process will not be as clear as with dye-sublimation printing; an advantage of resin thermal transfer is that it does not require an overcoat to prevent fading. It therefore requires only a single pass through the printer. This means that cards may be produced quickly, the completed card will cost less and ribbon changes will be less frequent.