Matica XID8600 Retransfer Card Printer Dual Sided

Matica XID8600 Retransfer ID Card Printer Overview

The XID8600 is a 600dpi dual-sided retransfer printer that prints clean, edge-to-edge colour on every card material from standard PVC to polycarbonate. It holds microtext down to 1.3pt on the finished card, sharp enough to carry visual security elements. Organisations printing in the tens of thousands per year, including councils, universities, security contractors, government departments and healthcare trusts, use the XID8600 where card quality and built-in security both have to be right.

Specifications

What's Included:

• Matica XID8600 retransfer card printer (dual-sided, flipper module factory-fitted)
• Power supply
• USB cable

600dpi retransfer printing and what it means for card quality

Retransfer printing works differently to direct-to-card. The image is printed onto a clear film first, and that film is then thermally fused to the card surface. The result is true over-the-edge coverage with no white border, and a surface that is more resistant to wear and UV fade than a direct-to-card print.

At 600dpi, the XID8600’s printhead can hold text as small as 1.3pt on the finished card. That matters because fine security detail, such as microtext, guilloche patterns and UV-reactive elements, has to be at a resolution where it reads correctly under magnification and is difficult to reproduce by copying. The 600dpi resolution is also why the XID8600 is used in national ID and driver’s licence programmes, where the card itself is a security document.

Contact chips and contactless antennas create a raised or uneven card surface. A direct-to-card printhead can produce an uneven result over the chip area; retransfer covers it cleanly, so the XID8600 prints consistently regardless of what is embedded in the card.

Security features and encoding options

Built-in printer security: The XID8600 has a Kensington lock slot, an electronic lock and IPsec-encrypted data transfer as standard. Together, these protect the printer itself from physical access and the card data in transit.

Security printing: The 600dpi printhead supports microtext and covert UV printing. UV-reactive elements are invisible under normal light and show only under a UV lamp, which adds a verification layer without changing how the card looks in daily use. UV printing requires a YMCK-UV ribbon; the Matica YMCK-UV Colour Ribbon DIC10313 is compatible with the XID8600.

Encoding options: Magnetic stripe encoding (ISO 7811 HiCo/LoCo) is available as a factory-fitted option. Contact chip and contactless smart card encoding can also be added, covering MIFARE, DESFire, HID iClass and related standards. If the card needs to function as an access credential as well as a printed ID, specify the encoding option at the time of order. Encoding modules are factory-fitted and configured when the printer is built.

Inline lamination: The XID8600 can be connected to Matica’s ILM-LS (single-sided) or ILM-DS (dual-sided) inline lamination modules for extended card durability and additional tamper-resistance. Lamination is an external module and is priced separately.

Card materials and ribbon consumables

The XID8600 accepts standard CR-80 cards (85.60 × 53.98mm) in PVC, Composite PVC, ABS, PET and Polycarbonate. Polycarbonate and ABS are the materials typically specified for high-security government credentials; PVC covers the majority of staff badge and access card programmes.

Because the XID8600 is a retransfer printer, it needs both a colour ribbon and a retransfer film to print. The ribbon carries the image; the film is the carrier that fuses to the card surface. You need both in stock at all times. The Matica ART Retransfer Film DIC10319 is the standard retransfer film for the XID8600, yielding 1,000 prints per roll. For full-colour work, the Matica YMCK Colour Ribbon DIC10216 covers 1,000 single-sided images per roll. The full range of compatible ribbons and films is listed on the Matica Printer Ribbons page.

The 36-month printer warranty and the lifetime printhead warranty both depend on using genuine EDIsecure® (chromXpert) materials. Running a third-party ribbon through the XID8600 risks voiding both.

Who the Matica XID8600 was Designed for

The XID8600 suits organisations whose card programmes require 600dpi retransfer quality, dual-sided printing and the option to encode chips or magnetic stripes. It is built as a desktop unit that can handle mid-to-high volume without interruption.

• Government and public sector bodies: National ID, driver’s licence and citizen credential programmes where the card is itself a security document.
• Universities and large colleges: Student cards that combine a photo ID with access control encoding, printed in volume at the start of each academic year.
• Corporate security teams and contract security firms: Staff passes and accreditation cards where dual-sided design, edge-to-edge coverage and chip encoding are all required at once.
• Healthcare trusts and NHS sites: High-volume staff ID that carries access credentials and stands up to the daily wear of a clinical environment.
• Local authorities and councils: Multi-purpose identity and access cards issued across large workforces, where print quality and card durability are both non-negotiable.