Since the inception of the Fargo HDP5000 Card Printer, there has been available the Clear Transfer Film, which is necessary for this card printer to operate, essentially to print cards.

The transfer film is made with 2 ends or pieces, one end is yellow, and the other is green.  The yellow end has the new/unused transfer film, the green end has the used film. 
When Fargo began manufacturing their clear transfer film, the green end (we'll call it the green core) was green on one end, and grey on the other.

This transfer film caused (and still causes) a lot of problems, because it was made with 2 separate pieces. 

For some time now, Fargo has been making a NEW version of the film, where the green core is one whole piece, green from one end to the other.

This is the transfer film you want, not the old version!
We see the OLD film still in circulation from time to time, even though Fargo has not made it for many years, which would mean these rolls of film are very old.

The most common issue surrounding the OLD transfer film, is that it would 'walk' to one side.

When the HDP5000 printer goes through it's print phase, the color ribbon and transfer film move together, and thus both must move smoothly and consistently while the image is being printed on to the film.

If the film has started to 'walk' to one side, it has shifted, and is not rolling centered on to the green core (which is the used film). If you try and roll/spin the film, while holding the cartridge in your hands, and you feel resistance and tension, that the film is not moving smoothly, this is exactly the problem, and you will encounter many different errors from the printer, such as 'card jam' and 'check film' and others.

It's not to say that the OLD film will not work, because many or most of them can and will work just fine, but if you run into these errors and problems, it may be some bad OLD film, which you can then simply replace with a new roll, and/or make some adjustments to try and center the film.

We have also seen the NEW film 'walk' to one side, whether using an OLD or NEW model of HDP5000 printer.  Fargo technicians have advised us, that when we see this happen, and where not many transfers from the roll have been used, then this roll is simply deemed 'defective', to notify them, and they will replace this defective roll of film at no charge.

So no matter which Fargo HDP5000 printer model you're using, avoid using the OLD clear transfer film!

They are in fact...OLD...