CR805 Card Printer

CR805 Card Printer

Status	Operational

Manufacturer	Entrust / Datacard
Model	CR805
Owner	nep

This prints ID cards of standard CR80 dimensions. It does overprinting so when designing your image take that in mind (see Administration Guide pg.67 pdf pg.77). Document dimensions should be 2100px X 1344px (3.5in x 2.24in @ 600dpi).

Issues

Currently, the printer has CMYK layer seperation. This creates a chromatic aberration effect on any cards printed in colour. In the manual, it seems they suggest that you "return it for service to re-tension the transfer/ink ribbons. I can't find any details on this process online, nor any service manuals. - Fixed 6/13/25 by Hadn69

The VNC machine is slow as fuck when using it, so don't try to hit that UAC prompt a million times

It also doesn't like being hot-plugged

Make sure the card entry holder is closed all the way

Privacy

This machine uses a transfer ribbon.

A negative image of anything you print is retained inside the machine on the spent ink ribbon.

Do not use this machine to print anything you don't mind leaving inside the machine, and eventually, when the ribbon runs out, the trash.

If using the web UI, your printed files will be stored on the machine very briefly OR for longer periods of time (days). The machine runs Windows, isn't very secure, and can be accessed by anyone in the space, so please keep this in mind!

Printing Guide

Before printing, make sure the printer machine is on! It's the eMachine desktop that sits to the right of the card printer. When it's on, it should be glowing blue above the power button.

Using your PC

Save your document as a 2100x1344 PNG or JPG

Tested working nicely using the windows photo app and printing the system dialog. - Hadn69

Install drivers via link (follow on screen instructions)
Plug in USB cable from the printer
Print to XPS Card Printer
Select the correct orientation for your image
Paper type CR80 Retransfer
Hit print

Using the Web Portal

The card printing machine hosts cardprinterd (git). Simply head to cardprinter.core.devhack.net in your web browser and follow the printing form.

Using VNC and a USB drive

You may also print directly on the machine by plugging in a USB with your PDF. The VNC credentials can be found stickered on the machine.

Prepare your files. Create a PDF of what you want to print with the following page settings: 2.23in x 3.51in at 600dpi.
Put that sucker on a USB or CD and stick it into the desktop.
VNC into it. The details are on the front of the computer.
Open up and print in either Edge or SumatraPDF.

Printing double-sided/duplex

When selecting Double sided (duplex on the web UI), the second side will be in monochrome. If you want both sides to be in color, you will need to do 2 print jobs by running the card through twice.

Orienting Help: Put the already once-printed card at the bottom of the stack with the printed side facing down. The further end of the card will be the top of the print.

Troubleshooting

Message 500: The printer is not available.

If you get this message, there should be a dialog explaining why. You'll need to VNC into the machine to see this dialog. To fix this, try following these steps:

Double-check that the printer is working, then hit OK.
If printing doesn't automatically resume, try clearing the print queue and starting a new print job.
If that still doesn't work, you'll need to reboot the machine.

Service History

Name	Date	Work Done
Tara	11/13/24	Ran cleaning card, Replaced cleaning sleeve, cleaned head
Hadn69	6/13/25	Cleaned head, Replaced Cleaning Roller, Ran ISO Card, General de_dust2