Digital plastic card printers offer the ability to create smart cards tailored to the application or to customize and personalize cards on demand, right at the point of issuance. Closely integrated with image capture systems (digital cameras, etc.) and computer database systems, the printer provides the delivery point of a highly integrated system. The printing process is fast (just a few seconds per card) so that cards are generated and personalized while the customer cardholder waits, quickly connecting the customer or cardholder to the issuing organization or program.

Digitally printed plastic cards provide numerous technological features, but start with a blank plastic card that can be printed with any combination of artwork, graphics, text, digital photograph, bar codes, logos, etc., limited only by the issuer's imagination. Additional machine readable information can be encoded such as magnetic stripes and smart card chips.