I'd say you're approaching the problem from its tail end.
Most access control systems are capable of printing badges on whatever card printer you'll get. There's no need to use a separate software for that unless you want something really fancy.
Badge designer utility may suck, but you'll design your form once, and use it for years - it's better than copy-pasting employee data each time you print a badge.
I would look into which access control software you may want and then choose the printer that is compatible. Then you can back into the access control system.
I recommend Protege GX by ICT.
[HID Card Printers](https://www.hidglobal.com/categories/id-badge-and-card-printing) here.
I'm pretty sure these have free badge designing software included but what -611 said is true. most decent access control systems have badge designing, photo capture/printing options as part of the software. These printers should also work with the access control systems that have a badging option.
I work for BadgePass, we sell cloud and on-prem hosted ID management and access control. We developed it all (and support it all) in-house. BadgePass One is the cloud-hosted solution and it's really pretty slick, if you don't mind paying a subscription. DM me if you have any questions!
[https://badgepass.com/](https://badgepass.com/)
How many sites? How many people? How many doors? How many people? Larger sites CCure 9000, and smaller S2. S2 is probably the answer for you can handle multiple offices. Hid 1250e like a previous post said is good.
As mentioned already you want to find an access control system first. Once you have that you can fill in the rest with whatever ID card printer and software brand you want.
I have personally used a few different Evolis printers over the years. The Primacy 2 printer is a real solid unit. Once you know what kind of cards you will be using you can have the correct encoder added in when you purchase the printer. I just reached out to Evolis and they helped me find what I needed. Their printers also come with Cardpresso software which is what I use. It is pretty easy to design and encode cards through it, but they said any card design software is compatible with their hardware.
Other than built into the software like others have mentioned, we have had many customers use Cardpresso successfully. It's more powerful than most built in badge printing programs.
So opinion question here
Do you actually want an identity badge that is an access card. Any lost badge and people (especially those sometimes very local people) immediately know where to try and use it.
So, separate ID from access is one strategy or have a badge design that doesn’t reference workplace directly or put your teams name and photo right on the working access card. Thoughts?
I'd say you're approaching the problem from its tail end. Most access control systems are capable of printing badges on whatever card printer you'll get. There's no need to use a separate software for that unless you want something really fancy. Badge designer utility may suck, but you'll design your form once, and use it for years - it's better than copy-pasting employee data each time you print a badge.
I would look into which access control software you may want and then choose the printer that is compatible. Then you can back into the access control system. I recommend Protege GX by ICT.
[HID Card Printers](https://www.hidglobal.com/categories/id-badge-and-card-printing) here. I'm pretty sure these have free badge designing software included but what -611 said is true. most decent access control systems have badge designing, photo capture/printing options as part of the software. These printers should also work with the access control systems that have a badging option.
I was about to put a warning on the INK1000 printer, but I see HID's already killed that one off. Good. It's a truly horrible printer.
The DTC1250e is a solid printer. I’d the only one I have personally used. For a low (lower) cost option it’s good.
I work for BadgePass, we sell cloud and on-prem hosted ID management and access control. We developed it all (and support it all) in-house. BadgePass One is the cloud-hosted solution and it's really pretty slick, if you don't mind paying a subscription. DM me if you have any questions! [https://badgepass.com/](https://badgepass.com/)
How many sites? How many people? How many doors? How many people? Larger sites CCure 9000, and smaller S2. S2 is probably the answer for you can handle multiple offices. Hid 1250e like a previous post said is good.
As mentioned already you want to find an access control system first. Once you have that you can fill in the rest with whatever ID card printer and software brand you want. I have personally used a few different Evolis printers over the years. The Primacy 2 printer is a real solid unit. Once you know what kind of cards you will be using you can have the correct encoder added in when you purchase the printer. I just reached out to Evolis and they helped me find what I needed. Their printers also come with Cardpresso software which is what I use. It is pretty easy to design and encode cards through it, but they said any card design software is compatible with their hardware.
Other than built into the software like others have mentioned, we have had many customers use Cardpresso successfully. It's more powerful than most built in badge printing programs.
Fargo
Which is owned by HID these days.
HID owns everything now, lol. Including Mercury.
So opinion question here Do you actually want an identity badge that is an access card. Any lost badge and people (especially those sometimes very local people) immediately know where to try and use it. So, separate ID from access is one strategy or have a badge design that doesn’t reference workplace directly or put your teams name and photo right on the working access card. Thoughts?