If the program has the magnetic encoding option enabled and it has been configured (see the Configuration chapter, Setting Magnetic Encoding Information) then the radio buttons in the section will be available.
There are 3 options:
1. Off - magnetic encoding will not take place
2. On - magnetic encoding will take place
3. Encode Only - magnetic encoding will take place but no printing will be performed.
If magnetic encoding takes place, the printer will automatically verify that the magnetic stripe has been correctly encoded.
If printing is suppressed a previously printed badge can be (re-)encoded without further printing. There are some considerations when doing this however. Depending upon the printer driver, a set of color panels on the ribbon may get “consumed” even though no printing occurs. Also an overlay panel may be laid down anyway. Some drivers allow the overlay to be turned off and you might want to do this when Encode Only is being used.
If magnetic encoding has not been set up or this option is not enabled, the buttons in this area will be disabled. The Configure button can be used to set up magnetic encoding directly from this dialog.
The validity of data being sent to the magnetic stripe is checked as each badge is printed. If data is detected which is inconsistent with the requirements of each track, a warning dialog will appear and the magnetic stripe will not be encoded. For more information on the various tracks and the data they can contain, see the Configuration chapter, under Setting Magnetic Encoding Information.