Abstract: A personalized card printer includes a card printing station with a thermal printhead that has a first resolution, and the card printing station is controlled so that the resulting printing on the personalized card by the thermal printhead has a resolution that is lower than the first resolution. The lower resolution printing may be achieved by controlling the transport speed to increase the transport speed past the printhead. The transport speed is increased compared to what the transport speed past the printhead would be to print at the first, higher resolution of the thermal printhead.

Abstract: Sterile packaging of pens for use in a medical environment may include labels packaged along with a pen in a pen and label (PAL) kit. The present invention also relates to methods of packaging a pen and/or the PAL kit. In particular, the method of packaging includes the steps of placing a writing instrument into packaging configured to be sealed such that the writing instrument is contained in a sealed portion of the packaging, sealing the package, and sterilizing the writing instrument and the package using gamma sterilization such that all portions of the writing instrument are sterilized.