When your organization decides to add identification cards to it's business processes, a determination of the organizational needs will make printer selection an easy process. Following are the key questions that need to be considered prior to aquiring a badge printing system.

1. How will the identification card be laid out? Will the card design be vertical or horizontal?

The layout of the badge typically is basied on the information printed on the badge. The organizational logo, picture, bar code and needed text may fit together better using one layout over another. A horizontal badge allows for longer and larger text fields on the badge which makes long strings of text readable. The disadvantage to horizontal badges is that the wide card is often in the way more often than the sleek vertical card.

2. Will there be a photo on the id badge? How will photos be taken or acquired?

Photos can be taken in house. The camera used may be a standard digital camera that will produce picture files that are downloaded into the id badge software database. Some camera and software options allow direct importing of the picture into the badging software for immediate printing. This method sometimes requires special software to interface between the camera and the computer software.

3. What personal information will be printed on the card?

Generally, the lessor amount of personal information is preferred on an organizational id badge. To protect the privacy concerns of the badgeholder, only critical information necessary when using the card should be placed on the badge. If information needs to be kept with the profile of the cardholder, it can be kept in the database with the printed id card information, but not actually printed on the card.

4. Will the back of the card be printed on?

It is more economical to produce single sided cards for id purposes. The extra real estate of the back side is often not needed as bar codes can be placed on the front of a card. Items that are sometimes found on the back of the card may be company or organizational address information and a mission statement.

5. Will the card be used for a dual purpose?

Often id cards are used solely for identification purposes. WIth more frequency, companies wish to combine the identification purpose with another function such as access control, time clock funtions or to debit a prepaid account. With the understanding of what functions the card needs to handle, the correct printer, software and even type of card can be determined.

Once these answers are analyzed, a review of which printers will work best for your situation can occur. Following are the components to the systems that will need to be selected.

Card Printer

Standard ID card printers print on cards like your VISA or Mastercard. Printers print full color or single color on either the front side or both sides of the card. Various card printers have the capabilities of bar code printing, mag stripe encoding, and adding additional security layers to the card for specialized organizational needs. Most printers are capable of printing thousands of cards. Recent printer models have manufacturer warranties of more than one year.

Software

The software is where the design of the id badge is laid out. Logos are imported and fields are set up for various data that will be added to each card prior to printing.

Many manufacturers provide software options that maintain a database of cards made for easy reprints.

Some software comes with the ability to import and print signatures and fingerprints. Enhanced versions of some software packages allow connection to MySQL databases for easy importing of data.

Camera

If your card contains photographs of the students, there are a number of ways that they can be obtained. Pictures taken in house can easily be taken with any digital camera that will create a .jpg image. Pictures taken from a standard digital camera can be saved onto the computer hard drive and can be manually imported into the correct badge prior to printing. Specialized cameras and software will automatically import the pictures onto the badge.

Supplies

The appropriate number of card printer ribbons and PVC cards can be obtained with your system to produce the number of identification cards needed. Various badge attachments are available to allow members to easily display their badges in a way useful to the organizational processes.

A company that specializes in identification card systems is able to provide system options that are available for specific school needs. Follow up technical support and questions can be provided by the company's technical staff.

With planning and assistance from your vendor, a company identification program can be an easy process and will provide benefits to your organization.