What is Needed to Make Employee Photo ID Badges?

Providing photo identification badges for your employees maintains professionalism and allows for better security at your facility. While you may have already decided that an ID policy benefits both the company and employees, figuring out the process of designing and printing photo ID badges may seem daunting.

Step 1: Consider your ID Badge Needs

What do you want on your company ID badge? Things to consider are: branding, company information, employee information, and what will the ID badge be used for?

• Do you want to have your company logo and colors on the ID badge?
• What information are you displaying for the employee? First name? Full name? Title? Department? Photo?
• Does your company have an access control system?
• Does your company use barcodes or mag stripe for things like time/attendance or tracking?
• Are you printing on one side of the card or both sides?
• How secure do you want the ID badges? Which features do you require?
• What environment will these badges be in? For harsher environments, you may require lamination or composite cards.

Answers to these questions will help determine the type of printer recommended for your employee photo ID badge program. There are many vendors and models of ID card printers in the market today, and a lot of them offer similar options and features. However, there are unique advantages for different brands, including advanced security features, print speed, print quality, and equipment warranty. 

Step 2: Purchase Photo ID System

In general, there are five things you will need to begin printing your own employee ID badges: an ID card printer, printer ribbon, ID card printer software, camera (if you are including photos of people on your ID badges), and cards. The combination of these items are generally referred to as a photo ID system, which can be purchased as a package or separately. For the photo ID system to work, you will need a laptop or computer.

Step 3: ID Software and ID Card Printer Setup

The installation and setup process for the ID software and ID card printer varies, because not every photo ID badge program is the same for all companies. Some companies integrate ID software with an existing HR employee database to help automate the employee badging process, whereas other companies may want to print badges manually and on-demand. Additionally, the software and/or printer may require special configuration or adjustments, based on compatibility, integration, or features required for the photo ID badges (camera, sig pad, access control integration, lamination, encoding, and more).

Step 4: Create and Print the ID Badges

After the initial installation and setup of the equipment and software, you're ready to design your ID badge template in the ID software. Many ID software will come with various pre-loaded designs that you can make your own, or you can start from scratch with your internal marketing department. When the system is set up properly, the badges will print in a matter of seconds with just a click of a button.

We're Here to Help!

IdentiSys is here to help you at every step of the way, from choosing the right photo ID system to training people at your company who will be issuing employee ID badges. As the largest full-service identification solutions provider in North America, IdentiSys has many years of experience providing employee photo ID badge systems for companies, from simple standalone systems for a small office to enterprise solutions for multi-location businesses with thousands of employees scattered around the world.

Contact us today to get your employee badge program started.