Just about everyone has seen a plastic ID card at one time or another of their lives. Be it a library ID card, or an access card to an exclusive fitness club, plastic cards are certainly popular, mainly due to their durability and strength. Plastic cards have been known to last multiple years without showing any signs of wear and tear, but the process of creating them is also a little more complicated than that of creating regular ID cards. The same special ID software is used, and plastic card printing also uses specialised printers, just like with a regular ID, but the cards also need to be laminated afterward.
The lamination process covers the entire surface of the card and makes it as durable as possible. Liquids will simply slide off the card, while dirt and other particles will have a tough time trying to remain on the card as well. Tearing the card is close to impossible, so after being laminated the card is in no real danger of being damaged, either accidentally or intentionally.
This makes plastic laminated cards extremely important in institutions where security is vital. The fact that they cannot be easily damaged and the fact that the security features of the card are also kept safe, are two very important elements for most large corporations and high security institutions.
For those who do not know, creating an ID card requires specialised equipment, and this is not something that most corporations have in their offices, so they contact external companies to handle the creation of the ID cards. Such companies have all the equipment needed, and some also sell it, along with other accessories such as lanyards or card holders.
Special printers are used to create the ID cards, after a special template that the client selects. The template determines what information gets printed on the cards, and what security features each card has. It is also necessary to use special software to go with the printers, which requires some expert knowledge. A photo ID is also inserted for each ID card, for identification purposes. Some companies use outdated printing techniques which require that a basic card be printed first, and then personalized. These techniques take a lot of time, and since the details are added afterward, they are not a part of the card.
However, the best companies use advanced techniques that allow them to print and process all the information at the same time. This means that everything from the photo ID, to the background of the card and the security features, is printed at the same time. This saves a lot of time and money, and the information printed like this becomes an integral part of the card. The lamination process then covers it in plastic for extra durability, as mentioned above. Testing of each ID card with advanced security features is required, to ensure that everything is working as it should and that there were no errors when the card was created.
Security features that can be used are quite diverse, and range from chips, to barcodes, to magnetic stripes, or even to biometric data. Each of these security features plays an extremely important role in the security of the card, and they are worth using by companies that value security over everything else.
If the chip or the magnetic stripes are used, the company also handles the encoding process, to make sure that everything functions just as it should. Contacting a well known company, with experience, is highly recommended, as experience plays a major role in making sure that everything goes smoothly and that the ID cards are ready to use immediately after creation.
The special ID software used by such companies can also be purchased, if there are companies looking to handle the creation process themselves, but a trained person to use it is also required. While plastic card printing may sound easy, this is only because most people just see the finished result and imagine that it cannot be that difficult to create a laminated card with a photo on it. Those who have ever been involved in creating plastic cards know exactly how long the process takes and how complicated things can get.
Sarah Shore writes articles for IDPro, an online supplier of personal ID and access cards. With a range of printers available for in house plastic card printing, IDPro also include id software in their bundles, for the creation of premium security plastic cards.
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