Make Your Own ID Cards – Everything You Need

ID cards are a necessity for many businesses, organisations and schools/colleges. Whether all your employees carry them or they’re only for visitors or they’re handed out to members when they join, most businesses use ID cards to some extent. If you’re looking to make your own ID cards, then here are the products you’ll need, as well as some handy tips and tricks.

Why use ID cards?

Some may be left in the dark as to why they actually need ID cards, and this could depend on what type of business you have.

For office workers, ID cards may be needed for visitors so they can be easily identified and it’s obvious they have permission to be on the premises even if they don’t work there. This may also be the cases for areas such as building sites. You can’t have just anyone wandering around, so it’s important to be able to identify if a visitor should be there or not.

If you or your employees are delivering products, collecting items or approaching members of the public, then it’s essential to prove your identity and put people’s minds at ease.

Another use of ID is as membership cards. Places such as gyms, universities and libraries may provide membership cards to customers. This acts as a level of security, proves membership and can also provide branding opportunities.

Printing your own Photo ID

Photo ID is a great way of boosting workplace security, as it is easy to see if someone is who they say they are. It’s also useful for membership cards to ensure only one person can use it, which is important if someone’s card has been lost or stolen or just to prevent people passing their card around.

Creating photo ID may sound like a time-consuming process and something that you can’t just do on a whim, but you might be surprised. By using a webcam, you can quickly take photos of customers on the spot and by using an ID card printer, it can be done on the spot.

This piece of kit comes with the necessary computer software, ribbon, an ID card printer and the cards themselves.

If you are taking your own ID photos, ensure you have plenty of light available, so that the photos come out well first time. Also, don’t show it to the person or there’s every chance they’ll ask you to retake it over and over again!

Attaching your ID cards

So you’ve made your ID card, but now what? If it’s a membership card, then it can be slipped snugly into a person’s wallet, but ID badges need to be attached to something so they are clearly visible.

How you go about attaching the cards is largely up to you, with various clips and straps available. For example, printed printed lanyards will sit nicely around someone’s neck, whereas strap clips will attach to clothing. You could make your IDs more distinctive by using pre-printed visitor, student or staff lanyards.

If your ID card works as a keycard as well, then you might want to consider using retractable badge reels, so they can easily be extended to open doors.

Keep organised with a visitor book

When you have visitors coming into your place of work, it’s important to keep track of who’s coming and going. You can number your identification cards and get visitors to sign a book when they arrive and leave to ensure you know who’s in the building. Not only is this important for security but it’s a legal requirement for fire regulations.

Take a look at our visitor books and refills.

If you would like any assistance with printing your own ID cards, please get in touch.