FARGO DTC1250e ID Card Printer

FARGO DTC1250e Overview

With a printing time of just 16 seconds per card, the HID FARGO DTC1250e is one of the fastest plastic card printers in its class and ideal for schools, small businesses or local government that need high-quality ID cards quickly without a dedicated printing team or complex infrastructure.

It arrives ready to produce employee badges, student cards, membership credentials and visitor passes straight out of the box when you order a ribbon with it. The printer ships as single-sided and can be field-upgraded to dual-sided printing and smart card encoding as your programme grows, so you are not locked into a configuration on day one.

Specifications

What's Included:

• Power supply and mains cord
• USB cable
• Input and output card hoppers
• Driver installation disc and guide
• Swift ID embedded badging software
• FARGO Workbench diagnostic utility with Color Assist

Print speed and card output for working programmes

The DTC1250e prints a full-colour single-sided card in 16 seconds, making it one of the fastest card printers in its class. That works out to 225 full-colour cards an hour. If you print monochrome only, the speed rises to 6 seconds a card, giving you up to 600 cards an hour for plain text or barcode passes.

The 30-card output hopper suits a typical on-demand or registration-desk printing environment rather than bulk overnight runs. For dual-sided printing, the output hopper holds up to 100 cards and each YMCKOK card takes 24 seconds, because the printer lays down a second resin black panel for the reverse. If you need colour graphics on the front and text or a barcode on the back, dual-sided is the straightforward option to upgrade now or in the future.

The printer produces high-quality prints at up to 16.7 million colours and reproduces photos, logos, barcodes and variable text at 300 dpi as standard, rising to 300 × 600 dpi in optimised mode. Card stock feeds from a 100-card input hopper so you can set up a run and step away.

Card security: AES-256 encryption and Resin Scramble

Security matters on any ID card programme, and the DTC1250e addresses it at two levels. Data sent to the printer travels over AES-256-GCM encryption, so card images can’t be read if they are intercepted in transit. Once printed, the Resin Scramble option renders any personal information left behind on the resin panel of the used ribbon unreadable. Together, these features keep names, photos and encoded data confidential on employee access cards, student credentials and any other card programme.

The optional iCLASS SE encoder lets you produce secure, personalised photo ID cards and encode contactless smart card chips in a single pass. Magnetic stripe encoding is also available as an upgrade, covering both high- and low-coercivity stripes. For Ethernet-enabled printers, a Wi-Fi accessory gives wireless printing from compatible devices.

Before fitting the current HID ribbon range (45030 for YMCKO; 45031 for YMCKOK), update the printer firmware to version 3.7.0.8 and driver to version 5.6.0.8 or later. Our team can advise on this if needed when the printer arrives.

Supplies, warranty and what to order alongside the printer

Ribbons and blank cards are not included with the printer. The standard full-colour ribbon for single-sided photo ID is the HID FARGO EZ 45030 YMCKO ribbon, which replaces the older 45000. For dual-sided printing, the 45031 YMCKOK ribbon (250 prints) adds the second black panel for reverse printing. Monochrome ribbons, including Standard Black (45102) and Premium Black (45101), are also available from Plastic ID and can be found on our FARGO DTC1250e Ribbons page.

Each ribbon cartridge carries an integrated cleaning roller that is replaced automatically with every ribbon change, so the printhead and card path stay free of dust and debris without a separate maintenance step.

For blank card stock, CR-80 plain white PVC cards are available in 760 micron (30 mil) and 480 micron packs of 100, both the correct CR-80 size (85.6 × 54 mm) for the DTC1250e. CR-79 adhesive-backed cards are also supported for clamshell credentials.

The three-year warranty covers both the printer and the printhead, including one no-questions-asked printhead replacement. Printing exclusively on HID UltraCard stock extends printhead coverage without a pass limit.

The FARGO DTC4250e suits programmes that are likely to grow in volume or need lamination for added card durability. It steps up with a larger dual input hopper, a built-in Ethernet connection and an optional lamination module.

Who the FARGO DTC1250e was Designed for

The DTC1250e is the right printing solution for organisations that need to issue professional photo ID cards reliably, affordably and without a dedicated IT or print team to manage the process.

• Small businesses: producing employee badges, visitor passes and membership cards on demand from a single desktop printer.
• Schools and colleges: issuing student ID cards and staff passes for daily use, access control and event management.
• Local governments: printing staff credentials, resident cards and permit passes where card security and data encryption are required.
• HR and facilities teams: managing on-site badging at registration desks, where a 16-second print time keeps queues short.
• Organisations starting a card programme: the field-upgradeable design means encoding and dual-sided printing can be added later without replacing the printer.