Evolis Zenius 2 Single-Sided ID Card Printer with USB

Evolis Zenius 2 Overview

The Evolis Zenius 2 is an intuitive, compact, single-sided ID card printer built for organisations that need to produce employee ID cards, visitor badges, membership cards and loyalty cards on demand. It fits on a desk, connects over USB or Ethernet and handles colour and monochrome printing without needing a dedicated print room or specialist operator.

The Zenius 2 Classic connects over USB only. The Zenius 2 Expert adds Ethernet connectivity and supports optional encoding modules. Both carry a 3-year manufacturer warranty and are supplied with the ID-ALL Starter Edition card design software developed by CARDPRESSO.

Specifications

What's Included:

• Evolis Zenius 2 ID card printer
• Power supply and cable
• USB cable
• ID-ALL Starter Edition card design software licence (CARDPRESSO)
• Evolis Premium Suite 2 driver

Print quality and speed for a working card programme

The Zenius 2 uses direct-to-card dye-sublimation printing to produce full-colour PVC cards edge-to-edge. Logos, photos and barcodes reach right to the card border with no white margin. Standard resolution is 300 dpi, and you can raise this to 300×600 dpi for enhanced colour detail. Monochrome work can go further still, to 300×1200 dpi, which gives crisp text and sharp barcodes on black-only cards.

Speed in practice

At up to 180 colour cards per hour, the Zenius 2 suits on-demand and small-to-medium batch printing without creating a backlog. If your programme runs predominantly monochrome, such as security passes or visitor cards with black text only, the printer reaches 700 cards per hour. The 50-card input feeder means you can load a batch and walk away. A card-by-card insertion slot is also available when you need a single card printed immediately.

Rewrite capability

The Zenius 2 supports rewritable card stock. Cards can be erased and reprinted when temporary access or visitor details change, so you're not discarding a card every time.

Classic vs Expert: choosing the right version

Both versions share the same print engine, speed, warranty and software. The difference comes down to connectivity and security.

Zenius 2 Classic connects over USB only. It suits a single workstation setup where one person manages card printing directly from their desk or where a workstation is set up for the sole purpose of plastic card printing.

Zenius 2 Expert adds Ethernet connectivity so the printer can sit on your network and be accessed from multiple workstations. It also supports encoding modules for contactless chips, contact chips and magnetic stripe cards. A single print run can personalise the card visually and write data to the chip or stripe at the same time. The Expert is also compatible with the YMCKOO ribbon, which adds a UV effect panel and a second overlay layer. The UV panel lets you print a hidden security feature visible only under UV light. Cards printed with the double overlay have three times the abrasion resistance of those printed with a standard YMCKO ribbon, so they hold up better when handled every day.

Digital erasing is built into both versions. After each job, the printer automatically overwrites the stored image data, so card artwork and personal details are not left on the device.

Software, warranty and ongoing supplies

Evolis Premium Suite 2 is the Windows and macOS driver suite included with both versions. It manages colour profiles and print settings and is the interface through which most organisations will send print jobs.

ID-ALL Starter Edition, developed by CARDPRESSO, is included with every Zenius 2. It covers basic card design, internal records for up to 50 entries, plus Code 39 and 128 barcodes, giving you everything needed to design and print a standard ID card without purchasing additional software.

The 3-year warranty covers both the printer and the print head, with no cap on the number of passes. To keep the warranty valid and maintain print quality, Evolis recommends running a cleaning cycle each time the ribbon is changed. Evolis cleaning kits are available separately.

Compatible Evolis ribbons and blank PVC cards for the Zenius 2 are available from Castlemount alongside the printer. Genuine Evolis consumables are tested against the print head and guarantee consistent print quality over the life of the printer.

Who the Evolis Zenius 2 was Designed for

The Zenius 2 is the right choice for any organisation that needs reliable, on-demand single-sided card printing without a high-volume throughput requirement.

• HR and operations teams: producing employee ID cards and access badges individually or in small batches as staff join or move roles.
• Receptionists and front-of-house staff: issuing visitor badges on the spot, particularly with rewritable card stock that can be erased and reused after each visit.
• Educational institutions: printing student IDs and staff passes in-house, with the option to encode library or access credentials directly onto the card via the Expert version.
• Membership and leisure organisations: creating membership cards and loyalty cards with full-colour branding without sending work to an external bureau.
• Small to medium-sized businesses: running a cost-effective in-house card programme where print volumes fit comfortably within the 50-card feeder and an annual requirement of a few hundred to a few thousand cards.