NFC Smart Pen Custom Print

Help and Advice

Firstly, if you have any questions about ordering custom printed products, then drop us an email or give us a call. We have worked on hundreds of custom print projects and we are always happy to give help and advice. If you don't see the product you need, just let us know what you want. 

Artwork Preparation

We have prepared a artwork preparation pdf for guidance on how to prepare your artwork for full colour tags. In summary, you need to make sure your artwork is good quality which means either vector artwork or a image of high resolution. If you don't have the experience or software to set your artwork, just email us what you have any any layout ideas you have. We can always help. 

Sizes and Outlines

For many products online there's also a template that you can download which will give you the size to work to. For others where there might be multiple sizes such as express labels, you can create your own outline (say 35mm round) or just ask us for a template of the size you need. 

The Process

If you are sure of your size and product, you can order online here and email us your artwork with your order reference number. If you aren't sure or want a proof first, then send us your artwork before you place the order. We can then check it's all good before you go forward. 

Once we have your artwork, we will typically produce a pdf proof to show you how the tags will look. This usually only take 24 hours but often you will get this back in the same day. You can then make sure you are happy with what we are going to print and we go to production. 

Unique ID/QR Code Elements

A unique element is something that is printed unique to each tag. For example, each tag might have it's own ID number and/or QR code. In these cases, you would prepare your artwork with an example QR/ID to show us the layout. We then remove this and use your data. You don't need to generate the QR codes - we do that automatically. You just supply a spreadsheet to us with the list of ID/QR Code data and we use that. 

Encoding Yourself

You can encode your tags with a smartphone and it's quick and easy.

1. Download the NFC tools app - it's free for both iPhone and Android users
2. Open the app and tap 'Write', then add a record
3. Tap 'Custom URL/URI', and then copy and paste your URL into the given text box.
4. Tap OK, and then tap 'Write'
5. Hold your phone over the tag, and your tag will encode. That's it !

For more information, have a look at our How to encode tags with an iPhone and How to encode tags with an Android phone pages. 

Encoding by Seritag

Seritag have fast and accurate encoding services when you need a large number of tags encoded or you want to be absolutely sure that the encoding is handled correctly. 

For full information on how to order your NFC tags encoded by Seritag, read our Ordering NFC Tags with Encoding advice page. 

Encoding for ixkio

If you are using our ixkio NFC tag management platform, then you can select 'Encode for ixkio' as the encoding option and we will encode to work with your ixkio account. We do not charge encoding fees for ixkio customers on labels (inc. NTAG424 authentication encoding) so if you see zero setup and unit cost, it's not a mistake ! 

TapStart is an easy to use system which allows you to set and then change the destination link of your NFC tags without having to encode or use an app. No need to buy new tags, just update the links on the ones you have !

How TapStart works

When you order tags with TapStart, we pre-encode the tags and securely permanently lock them to the TapStart URL (tapstart.io). Each tag has it's own unique encoding. 

You also need a TapStart Control Card to manage the tags. However, you only need one Control Card for all the TapStart tags (of any type) you want to manage. 

To set the destination URL on your tags, just scan the Control Card, scan your tag and enter your link. That's it. 

To view the number of scans your tag has had, scan your Control Card and tap the stats button. You can even give your tags names/descriptions so if you are managing multiple tags, you can see which has been scanned. 

To change the destination, scan the Control Card again, then the tag and update. 

Key features

• No complicated encoding or apps required
• Built-in stats to allow you to view the number of scans on your tags. 
• No login or subscription* required, just scan and use
• Change your tag destination as often as you like
• Integrated with ixkio if you need more features or advanced tag management

*TapStart has no monthly or annual fees for two years. After this, you can choose to either renew your Control Card each year (7.50 GBP, 9.75 USD, 8.55 EUR) or upgrade to one of our ixkio subscription plans. 

Using TapStart tags for contact sharing

A popular use case for many of our marketing products is for sharing contacts. Using TapStart allows you to test and try different contact sharing sites and change whenever you want. Additionally, adding more tags to a Control Card is much cheaper than buying some of the bespoke contact sharing products. 

Find out which contact sharing site might work for you. 

What is tag management ?

NFC tag management allows you to dynamically control the destination URL of your NFC tags. It provides tracking and stats, authentication services for anti-counterfiet tags, and a host of features to assist in getting the right tags in the right locations or products. Ixkio even allows you to encode your own NTAG213, iCODE or NTAG424 tags with our mobile App. 

Using ixkio

Ixkio is designed as an engine for your NFC tags and works alongside your existing ecommerce or marketing website. You don't need to spend time and money to recreate your branding or content. Ixkio can be used as an API system for authentication or more commonly a redirect system - managing dynamic links. Of course, you can attach your own domain so the tags are encoded with your brand. 

Tags can be encoded by us at supply (free of charge for labels) or you can encode your own tags - including NTAG424 - usng our mobile app or your own mehtods. You can then manage and alter the tag destination using rules and dynamic data features to display pages from your exiting website. 

Ixkio provides additional powerful tools to protect your landing page when using authentication tags and can even pass tag related information from ixkio - such as serial numbers or prodict information - to be dynamically displayed on your page. We have even built a Shopify App to make integration easier for Shopify users. 

Can ixkio be used for Digital Product Passports (DPP) ?

Absolutely. Ixkio has a comprehensuve data factilities engineered to allow extensive product information to be connected to your tags. This data can then be dynamcially passed to your existing website for display if required. 

Getting started

Ixkio subscriptions can be purchased online at ixkio.com or contact us for more information.