HID® ELEMENT – The Next Evolution in Industrial Card Personalization

The HID® ELEMENT™ system represents a major step forward in high-volume, high-security ID and financial card personalization. Designed for demanding government programs, financial institutions, service bureaus, and enterprise environments, it combines UV inkjet printing, precision laser engraving, and flexible encoding in a compact, modular desktop device.

What Makes HID ELEMENT Different?

HID ELEMENT bridges the gap between traditional desktop card printers and expensive central issuance equipment. It offers industrial-grade power, speed, and durability while remaining simple to operate, easy to maintain, and highly scalable.

Key Capabilities

• High-resolution UV inkjet card printing (600–1200 dpi)
• Optional precision laser engraving (3W or 8W DPSS)
• Multiple inline encoding options for contactless, contact, magstripe and PACS programmer modules
• High-capacity input/output options of up to 1,600 cards per unit
• Field-upgradeable modules for future scalability

Lower Cost Per Card and Lower Total Cost of Ownership

HID ELEMENT uses drop-on-demand UV inkjet technology, which applies ink only where needed. Unlike ribbon printers that waste unused ribbon panels, UV inkjet reduces consumable waste and significantly lowers the cost per card.

Because the system is modular and simple to operate, organisations save on maintenance costs, staffing requirements, and infrastructure compared to central issuance machines.

UV Inkjet Printing: Vivid, Durable, and Edge-to-Edge

The UV inkjet print engine supports full-colour graphics, monochrome text, fluorescing inks and optional clear ink overlays. Cards cure instantly under UV light, resulting in crisp, smudge-proof images on PVC, composite, polycarbonate, and metal-core card types.

Laser Engraving for Advanced Security

The optional laser engraving module adds a powerful layer of tamper resistance. Personal data is etched into the card body, making it extremely difficult to alter or counterfeit.

Available security features include:

• Sub-surface ghost images
• Tactile raised characters
• Multiple Laser Images (MLI)
• Changeable Laser Images (CLI)
• Microtext for covert authentication

Flexible Encoding Options

HID ELEMENT supports a wide range of encoding technologies, allowing organisations to personalise cards that work with HID and non-HID access control systems. Modules are fully field-upgradeable.

• Contactless encoding: iCLASS Seos®, HID Prox®, iCLASS SE®, MIFARE Classic®, MIFARE DESFire®
• Contact chip encoding (ISO 7816)
• Magstripe encoding (ISO 7811, Hi-Co and Lo-Co)
• PACS programmer encoding for HID Access Control Applications
• Smartware® third-party encoding options

Designed for Industrial Throughput

HID ELEMENT is built for continuous printing and engraving. It can run 24/7 and produce millions of cards over its lifetime. Multiple ELEMENT units can be deployed to replace a single central issuance system, reducing risk and ensuring uptime if a unit requires maintenance.

Scalable Input and Output Capacity

The system supports up to four input modules and four output stackers, each holding 400 cards. This allows a single HID ELEMENT to manage up to 1,600 cards at a time, ideal for long print runs and high-output environments.

Typical Use Cases

• Government-to-Citizen (G2C): national IDs, driver’s licenses, voter IDs, health cards, vehicle registration cards
• Government-to-Employee (G2E): staff ID badges and secure access credentials
• Financial institutions: credit, debit, and prepaid card personalization
• Commercial and service bureaus: transit cards, loyalty cards, retail cards and high-volume photo ID production

User-Friendly Operation

A large 10-inch colour touchscreen provides real-time system feedback, ink levels, maintenance guidance, and operational status. Despite industrial capability, HID ELEMENT is easy to operate and requires minimal training.

Technical Snapshot

• Resolution: 600–1200 dpi UV inkjet
• Laser Options: 3W or 8W DPSS
• Ink Channels: Six configurable channels including clear and fluorescents
• Card Capacity: Up to 1,600 cards with optional modules
• User Interface: 10” full-colour touchscreen
• Operation: Built for continuous 24/7 industrial use

Why HID ELEMENT Is the Ideal High-Security Printing Solution

With its modular architecture, low consumable costs, advanced security features, and industrial output capability, the HID ELEMENT system is one of the most powerful and cost-effective solutions on the market for large-scale card issuance.

It delivers the perfect balance of security, flexibility, performance, and value, whether you are printing national ID cards, financial cards, or enterprise credentials.