There are three major options for printing ID cards: direct-to-card printing (DTR), thermal retransfer printing (TR), and offset printing (OP).

Direct-to-Card Printing

DTC is inexpensive and is the process often used for in-house and budget operations. Despite the price, there are several disadvantages to DTC printing. When printing directly to PVC the color rendering is not very sharp. Small imperfections in the plastic prevent a complete coating of the material, and the plastic itself is resistant to the dye. Additionally, DTC does not offer true edge-to-edge printing—there is always a thin white band at the edge of the card.

Thermal Retransfer Printing

The TR process has the card image first printed to a thin film which is then fixed to the card using a heat process. This has several advantages. The color quality is based on how film takes the dye. It is more durable (dye doesn’t scratch off the film easily). TR allows printing to the edge of the card. InstantCard uses this process due to its quality and flexibility.
Read more on TR printing.

Offset Printing

OP is of slightly higher quality than TR. However, OP may only be implemented where the PVC stock is being produced. Additionally, it does not allow you to print to either prox or RFID cards (or any sort of textured cards).

Yes. It is possible to take perfectly good employee ID badge photos with a phone camera. However, while the size and quality of today’s phoneimages is more than enough, phones often struggle in low light. To take a good ID photo with a small sensor, make sure to have plenty of light. You should also make sure the light is flat (diffused) to eliminate shadows.

An employee ID badge is used by companies to efficiently track the identities of employees that work throughout their organization. Employee ID badges generally utilize basic features such as an employee photo, name, and ID number. Advanced features include smart chip cards and holographic printing.

There are many reasons to use ID badges in your business, whether it’s large or small:  

• Improved Security
  The first, and perhaps most obvious reason to use ID badges is to safeguard the security within your business. This is because ID cards come with barcodes or chips that can be scanned to check the level of access the wearer has been granted. What this means is it makes protecting high-security areas, or data from being breached much easier, and more efficient. In turn, making your business more secure and minimizing the level of risk you need to account for.
• Customer confidence
  Another important reason to use ID badges in your company is that they can help to boost the credibility and authority of your employees when they are interacting with your customers. Indeed, when a customer sees someone with an official ID badge, they know immediately, that they can be trusted, and that they are the right person to be talking to about their issue.
• Accountability
  Many businesses also find ID cards useful because they help them hold their employees accountable for their actions. This is because by using systems where ID cards have to be scanned or swiped a business can easily track the movements of their staff, ensuring that they clock in and out on time, and are in the locations for which they have clearance. This can make identifying any problems much faster, and easier, as well as provide your business with advanced warning of small issues that could become bigger problems if left unchecked.
• Showing that each employee is part of the team
  ID cards also serve the important purpose of demonstrating that the wearer is an accepted member of the team. In a similar way to how a sports kit demonstrates membership and can contribute to identity and teamwork, so can providing an ID badge with a logo.
• Professionalism
  Next, investing in ID badges is well worthwhile because of the impact of professionalism that they encourage. Indeed, when individuals wear ID badges with the logo of the company that they work for on them it can help them to remember that they are in the workplace and to act accordingly.
• Branding opportunities
  Last, of all, ID badges can be another arm of your branding strategy, as they will be visible to members of the public when worn outside of the office. In turn, this means they can ignite curiosity in those that see them, and even be a catalyst for a conversation about your business bringing it to the attention of someone new.

A good ID badge will always have: 

• Logo and branding of your business
  Your ID badges should be instantly recognizable as part of your brand, even from a distance.
• ID Photo
  photo ID badges are much more secure than ones that do not have a photo. Make sure that the image is high resolution so it can be checked against the identity of the wearer easily. 
• Encoded data
  as previously mentioned ID badges are more secure when they have either a barcode or encoded chip that contains specific information about the cardholder.  QR codes are a simple way to verify information using any device.
• Additional security
  To preserve the integrity of the card and prevent unauthorized copies, they can have additional security features such as holographic overlays 

The first option is to make your own ID badges in-house. Unfortunately, this option is not as easy and convenient as it first seems. This is because making your own in-house ID badges can be a great deal of hassle, incur high costs, require lots of specialist equipment including special ink, and end up taking staff away from other valuable tasks. 

Additionally, when you make your own ID badges in-house, they are not crafted by experts in the field, and can also be less secure. After all, if some of your staff have direct access to manufacturing badges there is always the risk that one could be made that allows unauthorized entry. 

Fortunately, the good news is that by outsourcing your ID badge production to InstantCard you can ensure you have professional-looking badges, that are well designed, and reach your business quickly because they are shipped same-day.