Evolis Primacy Webinar: Watch the replay

On May 30th took place the Evolis Primacy webinar to introduce this new id card printer. During this webinar, Christophe Peraudeau, Product Manager and Eric Bouvard, Product Marketing Manager answered to your questions about Evolis Primacy.

I.    PRODUCT POSITIONNING, USE & SPECIFICATIONS

1.    What is delivered in the Primacy printer box?

• Primacy printer
• Power supply – SWITCHBOX Type F10723-A
• Power cord
• USB cable
• Reject box
• Installation, documentation and software CD-ROM
• Starter cleaning kit
• Quick Start guide
• Warranty notice
• Box, polystyrene calibrations

2.    Is the memory capacity of the CPU sufficient?

The 16MB printer’s RAM is sufficient to store 2 designs of dual-sided color card. The data downloading is performed during the card insertion or the card transportation between two card side printing (as a background task).
The storage of the card designs to be printed is performed from the computer (through the spooler); this allows simplifying the software integration job in case of using specific applications. In addition, it is not necessary to consider the printer internal memory dump management and the misprints.

3.    What is the print resolution of the printer?

The resolution, i.e. the image details, is of 300 dpi (11.8 dots/mm).

4.    What are the differences between Pebble/Dualys & Primacy?

These are the main new features and benefits offered by Primacy

• One unique product to replace both Pebble and Dualys.
• The dual-side feature can be on-site upgraded in a few seconds.
• Faster: less than 19 sec to print a full color card! (improved by more than 20%, and makes it the fastest printer in the market)
• Card printing quality has still been improved with a better image processing and result
• A new 250-card color ribbon, and the quality & convenience offered by the Evolis High Trust range of consumables (ribbon cassette, ribbon recognition & auto-setting, perfect image quality)
• The unique Evolis Premium Suite, for instant information and unmatched user-friendliness
• A reject slot and tray for error cards
• New add-on encoding modules already available with Zenius for easy and quick product upgrade
• Eco-designed, in particular with key improvements in terms of energy consumption. The only range in the market compliant with the stringent ErP directive.
• But still the market-proven quality and the reliability, backed up by the best warranty in the market

5.    The new Evolis range benefits from an architecture fully based on plastic. Does this printer offer the proven quality and reliability of printers such as Pebble4?

Evolis has progressively introduced new plastic parts into its products over the past years (Pebble4, Tattoo2 and QB10 for banking applications), and has sound experience in this area. Printers such as Pebble4 did keep selected parts in metal (back metal sheet, plates, printing module), but such parts would only build up perceived quality rather than offering true quality and reliability benefits.
To match the level of quality offered by our existing Pebble4 or Dualys3 printers, Evolis has carried out a redesign process with different orientations.

We no longer use the back metal sheet and have replaced it with premium quality plastic, while all parts that are subject to wear and tear are now of improved quality compared to the Pebble4 Here are a few examples:

• The Primacy chassis is now single piece and no longer uses the central chassis with the 2 plates. This new design will help reducing scattering.
• The printing module uses a polycarbonate plastic with carbon fiber. This material provides several benefits: reduced weight (density of 1.26), electrical conductivity, sturdiness, increased precision thanks to low shrinkness further to injection, and a consistent geometric shape.
• All plastic bearings are proven to be more resilient than the bronze bearings installed in current machines.
• The gears and friction parts are made of POM (Polyoxymethylene), similar to Pebble4’s one.
• Rollers are made of machine-cut steel and injected EPDM (same as for Pebble4) for improved precision and durability. The head roller now uses a ball bearing, making wear and tear insignificant.
• Parts that support heavy loads (came, head kit) are made of Zamac (ultra sturdy alloy).
• We have kept the same main motor and improved its management. The new geared motor has been designed and tested during 2 years, in partnership with Johnson Electric, the worldwide leader in motor manufacturing.

6.    How does the Primacy gain its reliability for volume printing when compared with the Zenius? Stronger motors?

Zenius has been designed for instant issuance and card personalization in low quantities while Primacy has been designed for medium and large runs. The two printers share a common engine and have many similar parts. Thus all common parts have been designed and tested for batch printing and large quantities while specific parts of Zenius (e.g. card feeder) have been made only based on product positioning and use.
As a reminder, Zenius has a 2-year warranty and Primacy a 3-year warranty. MTBF data for both printers will be released by the end of the year.

7.    Is there any larger feeder available?

One of the main benefits of Primacy is the full 100-card capacity. Indeed, the printer can store up to 100 cards in both its feeder and output hopper. This is enough to cover most of the uses and needs in the market. For higher needs, Quantum should be a very good product, with a 500-card capacity and many unique features in the market.

8.    What is the printing speed and how do you calculate it?

The printing speed is 190 cards/hour for a full card printed in YMCKO.
Depending on actual configuration and needs, Primacy can reach up to 210 cards per hour for color printing.

9.    What type of cards can I use with Primacy?

PVC, composite PVC, PET, ABS1, and special varnished1cards can be used with Primacy.
Primacy supports ISO CR80 norm cards (53.98 mm x 85.60 mm) and cards thicknesses from 0.25mm (10 mil) to 1.25 mm (50 mil).

NB: paper cards cannot be used, and 0.25mm (10 mil) cards can be used only for monochrome printing.

10.    What types of ports are available on Primacy?

Primacy offers a USB 1.1 port (compatible 2.0) type A and type B and Ethernet TCP/IP 10BaseT, 100BaseT (Traffic Led) port in standard.

11.    Is the duplex upgrade kit supposed to be removed or always attached to the printer? If there is a firmware upgrade on the printer, is it necessary to re-use the duplex activation kit?

The duplex on-site upgrade can be performed thanks to a “key” with a smart chip. This upgrade/activation has to be performed only once in the product lifespan as the printer will store in several locations the data concerning this activation. The key should be removed after the upgrade as it is impossible to have it in the printer together with a ribbon.

12.    For each Primacy printer we are supposed to have its own RFID activation key or there is some kind of master activation key?

The duplex activation kit is valid for a single use.

13.    Is the Primacy cleaning cycle different from the Pebble/Dualys one?

Yes, for Primacy (as well as for Zenius) there are now two different types of cleaning cycles:

• A regular cleaning (mandatory) for typically maintaining the cleaning roller
• An advanced cleaning (optional) for typically maintaining the transport rollers.

We recommend running a regular cleaning every time you change the ribbon and/or every time the cleaning alert is notified (every 1,000 inserted cards).
For a deeper cleaning, we recommend to make an advanced cleaning every five cycles of periodic cleaning (every 5,000 inserted cards).
There are two specific cleaning kits to perform these cleaning cycles:

• The Regular Cleaning Kit which includes 5 adhesive cards and 5 swabs
• The Advanced Cleaning Kit which includes 2 pre-saturated T-cards, 2 adhesive cards, 1 cleaning pen and 1 box of 60 wipes

The adhesive cards, the pre-saturated T-cards, the pens and the swabs can be also ordered separately.

14.    Can we use the re-writable card on primacy or only works with ribbon?

Primacy has been designed for color-dye sublimation and monochrome thermal transfer. The Evolis offer for rewritable cards is TattooRW, a dedicated product for Direct thermal printing and erasing on rewritable material. This product is based on the Evolis strong experience on the “RW” market.
Most of our competitors do offer a dual printer: Color and Rewrite. Evolis, on purpose, decided not to go this way since the erasing quality on rewrite is very poor, less efficient and gives a poor image of the rewritable technology.

II.    CONSUMABLES

1.    What are the new ribbons for Primacy printer? What is their capacity?

There are two color ribbons dedicated to Primacy: one YMCKO with 250 prints and one YMCKOK with 200 prints and a black monochrome ribbon KO with 600 prints.
All the other ribbons can be used with both printers.

2.    Will you still carry the consumables for the old printer lines?

Evolis will of course continue providing consumables (ribbons and cleaning kits) for the old printer range and this up to 10 years starting from the date of the printer withdrawal.

3.    Are the Primacy & Zenius ribbons the same?

The ribbons for Primacy are the same as the ones for Zenius, except a YMCKO available in 250 prints, a YMCKOK in 200 prints and a KO in 600 prints.

4.    Will custom holograms be available for Zenius / Primacy?

Custom holograms are now available for the new Zenius and Primacy printers. Please ask your Evolis Sales Representative for more information.

5.    Can I use the previous pre-saturated cleaning cards with Primacy?

Actually, it is not possible. We completely reviewed the cleaning approach for Zenius & Primacy in order to improve printer’s quality and reliability:

• An adhesive card replaces the existing pre-saturated cleaning card. It is used for regular cleaning in order to maintain the cleaning roller dust free. This cleaning cycle is mandatory and the print head warranty is directly linked to it.
• A T-card will be used to manage an advanced cleaning of the transport rollers on-site. This cleaning cycle is optional and is very useful in case of heavy-duty card production.
• A pen is now offered for print head’s advanced cleaning

III.    ENCODING OPTIONS/ENCODERS

1.    What are the available options on Primacy?

At this stage, Primacy and Zenius do share exactly the same encoding options:

• Magnetic ISO or JIS2 encoder
• Smart contact station with encoder or with DB9 connection
• Contactless encoder incl. remote RFID antenna
• Metal plate to mount the encoders in the printer (not to forget to order this one)

All of them can be installed by the distributor or the reseller on-demand. All encoder combinations are possible. An End-User may perform the upgrade by himself later on, if required.

Encoders available are:

• Magnetic ISO 3-track and magnetic JIS2 (Japan only)
• Gemalto GEMPC USB-TR (aka Gemtwin – contact reader)
• Evolis-SCM dual contact & contactless
• Springcard Crazy Writer
• HID Omnikey Cardman 5121 (only available as ‘factory mounted’ until further notice)

2.    Can I use Zenius upgrade kits in Primacy printer?

The encoding options, upgradeable on site, are the same references for Zenius and Primacy printers. No difference. The installation of the different options is exactly the same for both printers.

IV.    SOFTWARE

1.    Is there any software delivered with the printer?

Primacy is delivered with a CD-Rom including the Evolis Premium Suite® components:

• Printer driver for Windows XP, Vista and 7
• Printer driver for Mac OS X (from 10.5 onwards)
• Evolis Print Center
• Evolis Printer Manager

In addition, an unlimited version of eMedia CS Card Designer® software, Standard Edition is available on the CD-Rom.

2.    Which languages are available?

The Evolis Premium Suite® is available in 11 languages (English, German, Italian, Portuguese, French, Spanish, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Russian)

The User’s guide is also available in the same languages, and also in Arabic. The Evolis Premium Suite will be available in Arabic and Farsi in Q4 2012.

3.    Number of printers on one single PC station

There will be one driver instance per printer physically connected to a PC. Assuming the station is powerful enough to support such a device quantity, the suggested maximum number of printer is 10.
However, since there is a new software architecture, the Print Center itself is not limited and will allow a user to monitor as many printers as required, regardless they are connected or not to his own PC.

4.    Is there an online help available from the software?

When an alert or an error is notified through the splash screen of the Printer Manager, there is always a question mark button linked to the Evolis web support. The user should have an access to Internet. The system will select the help page language according to the printer manager selected language.

5.    Which version of eMedia is delivered with Primacy?

Primacy is delivered with eMedia-CS Standard Edition. This version offers a wide range of features to help you design superior graphics. When personalizing a badge, you can add images, logos and even ID pictures from an existing database, or from a device that instantly captures a picture of the holder. By leveraging MS-Excel, eMedia CS Standard Edition offers a database environment that is familiar to users, and guarantees easy and worry-free management of data.

6.    Is Primacy compatible with “old” versions of eMedia?

Primacy can be used with former version of eMedia. The use of the older eMedia 6 versions is recommended for the Windows XP users but is not supported by Evolis.

7.    Where can we get escape commands to make tests on Primacy and Zenius?

The escape commands are available from Evolis Services. Please contact them.

8.    Is there any SDK for Primacy? Is it free of charge?

Primacy SDK is the same than Zenius and Pebble/ Dualys. It is available today from the Evolis Service team FOC. A new release, dedicated to Zenius and Primacy additional features is under development and should be available by the end of 2012. This new release won’t support the legacy printers such as Tattoo, Pebble and Dualys.

9.    Is Primacy’s SDK manual same as Pebble4′s SDK ?

Yes, as long as developments have been based on IOMEM guidelines, applications developed for Pebble should run with Zenius and Primacy. However, it is mandatory to perform a full range of tests to re-assess the software integrity and card issuance process execution.

10.    Will the Mac driver automatically detect the ribbon type?

No, at this stage, the MAC drivers, as well as the Linux ones have to be set manually, like you do with Tattoo, Pebble and Dualys.

11.    What are the supported Operating Systems?

At this stage, Primacy and Zenius support:

• Windows XP SP3, Windows Vista, Win 7
• MAC OS X from 10.5 onwards
• Linux distributions, available in September 2012: Ubuntu 12.04 (Debian family), Fedora 16 (Red Hat family), OpenSuse 12.1 (Slackware family),  other distributions upon request

There are investigations in progress to support new coming version: Win 8 and MAC OS X 10.8 (also called Mountain Lion) as soon as possible after the availability.
In addition, the Evolis Premium Suite Release 4 will be available in Q4-2012, aimed at supporting Windows printer sharing mechanism, including Windows Server versions. More details to come after summer 2012.

V.    SUPPORT/SPARES PART

1.    When is the Spare Parts list available?

A new issue of the spare parts list is available, it includes the Primacy key parts. Additional Spare Parts will be added along the product lifecycle, when required.

2.    What are the warranty conditions?

Primacy is covered by a three-year warranty, including printer and printing head (unlimited print). This warranty is valid as long as the cleaning process is performed, on-time when requested by the system, and certified consumables (Evolis High Trust) are used.

3.    What are the Spare Part warranty conditions?

The Spare part warranty depends on the regions and commercial agreements. Please come to your Evolis Services contact to get a copy of your warranty conditions.

4.    What is a Wear and Tear part and what is its warranty period?

A wear and Tear part is a part which is affected by the quantity of cards issued during the printer lifecycle. Its warranty may be managed differently than a Spare Part.

As an example:

• A printer cleaning roller may have to be replaced after some tenth of thousands prints. It is a normal behavior so this one is classified as a wear and tear part.
• The LED panel is designed to last the entire printer lifecycle. A break of such a part is not expected, so it is covered by the printer’s warranty.

The same applies in car industry with mechanical parts and wear and tear parts such as braking components.

5.    Does Primacy support print head from other model?

Printing head Spare Part is the same module for both Primacy and Zenius. It cannot be used on any other printer.

6.    How long are the Spare Parts of Pebble & Dualys available?

The Spare Parts will be available 5 years after the last commercialization date (end of December 2012), i.e. end of December 2017. This 5-year period applies for any Evolis printer once it is entering the phase out milestone.

VI.    Miscellaneous

1.    Can the rear hopper be used for output for standard cards, or only for rejected cards?

The slot located at the back of the printer can be used for any kind of cards. The main purpose is to isolate “error cards”, but there is a field in the Evolis Print Center to determine the output location for all printed cards.