Step 1: Submit Your Information
Filling out this form gives us all the information we need for initial account setup. Because every account is unique and every card design is custom, we manually enter this information. That means that you will not be able to immediately access your account, but will be prompted to give us more design information before proceeding.
Time-Range for Step 1: 0-2 business days
Step 2: Fund Your Account
When you set up your account for the first time, you must initially fund your account for a minimum of $180 (typically covering 25 cards, if you have chosen no options which come with added costs).
If you’d like to learn more as to why we use a declining balance accounting system, watch the video ↓
We will not begin designing your card template until this step is completed.
While our professional template design is indeed free, we require this minimum investment in the product to get going.
If you don’t need 25 cards right away, don’t worry.
- This minimum is necessary to cover the free services of account set-up and custom template design.
- You can order as few or as many cards as you actually need, at any time.
- The funds remaining in your account never expire.
- Any remaining funds will be available for new cards when you hire new employees, or if you need to replace a card.
- Funds in your account may also be used to order accessories (lanyards, badge holders, clips, etc.)
Time-Range for Step 2: depends on client (typically the same day as step 1)
Step 3: Pre-Design Workshop
In this step, you get to choose basic design/technology options.
As mentioned, every card design is unique to each individual client. This step allows you to choose some basic design options which our professional designers will use to create your card template. Additionally, This step allows you to consider the wide range of technology we offer with our cards. From security measures, to smart card technology we will give you the pros, cons, and considerations you need to make the best decisions. If you are unsure about anything, you may elect to speak to a representative.
We will never try and sell you card options you do not need.
Our goal here is to give you straight-talk on every option and ensure you have the perfect ID cards for your business.
Time-Range for Step 3: depends on client (if you would like to speak to a representative allow an additional business day)
Step 4: We Design Your Cards
(Note: You may elect to upload your own card design)
Once you have completed the pre-design form, you will be contacted by our professional designers (who already have the info from the Design Form). Ultimately, the design is yours—these cards represent your business. If you want anything changed, we will be happy to do it.
We are only happy with a design when you are happy with it.
Some businesses require multiple templates (e.g. both an employee badge and a visitors badge). We are happy to do this at no additional cost.
Time-Range for Step 4: 0-2 business days
Thanks for funding your account!
Please fill out the following form so we can create your template.
Yes.
We will provide you with a personalized ftp destination on our site, where you can send all your photos. They will be linked by name to the data submitted in a spreadsheet. We also offer our unique photo-processing service which can process large batches of photos to make them all consistent: same face-fill factor (using facial recognition); same x-y dimensions; same definition & resolution. This is particularly useful when you have a large numbers of pictures coming from a variety of different sources.
At InstantCard we pride ourselves in making custom designs for each of our clients. We prefer to make a custom design for you to best meet your exact needs. This is a free service. If you would like to get some inspiration as to what others in similar fields have done, to give our designer your preferences, please leaf through the card gallery on our site. Your design will be unique, based on your logo, your color scheme, and your layout preferences.
You may also upload any inspirational examples for our designers via the template design form.
Absolutely. In fact, most people prefer to have us design their ID cards. We have expert graphic specialists at InstantCard who would be more than happy to design a custom template for you using your company logo, color scheme, and any other design specifications that you may have. This is a no charge service. And if you decide at a later date to make changes to the design, we typically help you do that in a matter of minutes.
No.
Our online service eliminates email entirely, since this manual process is the source of most errors when dealing with an outside supplier. Our service allows you to just point to the photos for your IDs cards, then automatically embeds them onto your cards. Within your browser window, you will be able to easily adjust which part of the picture you want to show up on the ID (cropping). There is no need to worry about pictures mismatched with employee names, poor pictures, or improper sizing. You’ll see an exact image of card as it will be printed, so you can verify spelling and presentation, before you choose to print the ID card.
If you have a large number of employee pictures, we provide a custom service which automatically re-sizes and crops all your pictures to the appropriate format for your ID cards.
Our service can support 30 different barcode symbologies, including of course the most common ones like Code39 and Code128. Cards can have multiple barcodes on them, on either the front or the back or both.
We fully support QR codes, which can create a linkage between the physical card and the virtual cloud-based information. Or they can be used to allow scanning of contact information.
Yes.
You may make as many changes to card templates as you like, now or in the future. In fact, you can make an unlimited number of card templates, at no extra charge. Many clients use multiple designs, such as for staff and students, or for temporary and permanent employees. If you update the templates, for example with a new expiration date, you will not need to change your personnel data.
Yes.
Our service allows you to define the contents for encoding Track1, Track2, and Track3. There is no extra charge for this service.
We offer a number of options that can greatly increase the security of our ID cards. Some of the options which significantly reduce the risk of fraud or falsification include:
- Print your cards on smart card (chip) cards which can be encoded for enhanced security
- Add a holographic overlay covering the full surface of the cards
- Use micro-printing, which only high-quality high-definition printers can achieve
- Print a ghosted and re-sized picture on the front or back of the card
- Overlay or underlay complex graphics over variable data (photo, name, etc.)
We would be pleased to work with you to define the best security solution to meet your organization’s unique requirements.
Yes! You may absolutely upload a sketch of your idea. Our professional designers will realize it into a complete design. They will work with you to make sure that the design matches your intentions. So, go ahead, scan the back of that envelope. We’ll make it into something you’ll be proud to wear.
No.
You may use whatever software you are comfortable with. Just be aware, if you are uploading a complete design, make sure that it is 1050 pixels (minimum) on the longest side. If you are unsure how to do this, don’t worry—send us what you have and our professional designers can recreate it in high resolution. (If you are using a photo background, make sure you send us the full, high-resolution photo along with your design.)
Currently, we accept graphic files with the following extensions:
.pdf, .doc, .docx, .zip, .jpg, .jpeg, .png, .psd, .cdr, .bmp
If you have something in a format other than that which is supported here, no problem. Simply contact us, and we’ll make sure that we get your template up and running ASAP.
The InstantCard removes email, and therefore manual operations, completely! You will upload employee photos along with employee data directly to the website. Once you have approved your first template design, you will be given login credentials to the InstantCard service. There, you may either enter each employee’s information one-at-a-time or all-at-once via a bulk upload using a spreadsheet.