How to Make ID Cards for Home School Students

If you have access to an expensive ID printer that cost $5,000 or more, use it to make ID cards. Otherwise, there are several inexpensive methods to make an ID card. 

1.  Epson Printer: Unless you are only making a few ID cards, I recommend using one of the Epson inkjet printers such as the R280 because it requires minimal effort and gives very good results. Inkjet ID cards are durable enough that you cannot scratch the ink and coating off with your fingernail, but you can make scratch marks with your fingernail similar to how you make scratch marks on painted walls. Inkjet ID cards are almost waterproof especially the 5 colors. The black is slightly less waterproof.

Applying clear and/or hologram overlays to inkjet ID cards will make the inkjet ID cards completely waterproof and as durable as any ID card. 

 

2. Print to clear appliqué film with a laser printer and attach to blank PVC ID cards. You can also print to matte appliqué film. That has the advantage of hiding the air bubbles that invariable get between the appliqué film and the PVC ID card. However, the matte appliqué film doesn’t have the shinny appearance of most ID cards.  

 You can also use an inkjet printer and print to inkjet appliqué film. However, inkjet appliqué film requires a coating to absorb the ink and the coating is not water proof. If you need water proof IDs and don’t have a laser printer, print to photo quality paper, take the paper and the clear appliqué film to Kinko’s and copy to the appliqué film. Don’t ask permission; just do it or ask an Kinko's employee to print it.

To make an ID card using appliqué film, have the following items: The printed image on clear appliqué film, a bottle of rubbing alcohol, a clean work surface such as a countertop, and a sheet of plain white paper.

a.   Cut out the ID image that you printed on appliqué film with an extra half inch border all around.

b.   Place the sheet of white paper on the clean countertop or work surface and place a PVC ID card on the white paper. Make certain the ID card is spotlessly clean. Any speck of dust will result in bump on the appliqué film.

c.   Spread two or three drops of rubbing alcohol and visually check that there is no dust that has settled. The rubbing alcohol will temporarily coat the adhesive on the back of the appliqué film making it slippery and easy to slide into position on the ID card.

d.   Place the appliqué film with the image of your ID card on the PVC ID card, slide into position, and press the overlapping edges onto the paper, thereby locking the appliqué film into position on the ID card.

e.   From center outward press out all the air and alcohol bubbles. Let it set for two hours so that the adhesive will start bonding to the ID card. Then press out any air bubbles that may have formed at the edges of the ID and let it set up for another eight or more hours. By then most of the alcohol will have been absorbed into the adhesive or at least the bond will be strong enough to work with.

f.   Take a pair of very good scissors such as Fiskars Razor Edged and trim to the edge of the ID card. Take care not to cut the ID card. You can sand the edges with emery cloth. However, if you trim well, that will not be necessary.

g.   Turn the ID card over and repeat for the back side. It may take another week before all the alcohol has evaporated and you have a good enough bond to subject the ID card to hard usage. An advantage with this method is that you can use a couple of drops of alcohol to slide a hologram overlay into position and eliminate any air bubbles that may have otherwise formed. You cannot use alcohol with inkjet ID cards. However, take care to prevent too much sliding and rubbing when applying a hologram. The laser printed ID card image may not as alcohol proof as it is water proof.

3. Print to 10 mil synthetic paper such as iGage, Teslin, or Artisyn. In some ways this produces the best ID cards. It is waterproof and is the most durable. Also, if you apply a clear or hologram overlay, you don’t have the problem of air bubbles. 

I prefer this method to number 2, printing to appliqué film.  It is more durable and, if you apply a hologram or clear overlay, you eliminate the hassle of using alcohol to align and prevent air bubbles.  Printing to synthetic paper does result in a less shinny or dull finish. However, with a hologram overlay, the appearance will be identical to PVC ID cards. The back side probably doesn’t matter and if you believe it needs to be more glossy, just apply a clear ID card overlay, appliqué film overlay, or buy a $3 can of clear spray and give it several light coatings. Other than the labor involved, the only disadvantage is that the resulting ID card is only half as stiff as a PVC ID card. The instructions to make a fake ID card with 10 mil synthetic paper are as follows:

a.   Print the front side of one to four ID card images to plain bond paper. Turn the paper over and print the back side.

b.   Printers are not perfect. Therefore, it is likely that you will need to make a small adjustment to margin when printing the back side so that the front and back sides overlay perfectly.

c.   When the front and back side overlay perfectly, print the front side to a sheet of synthetic paper and the back side to another sheet and turn that sheet over.

d.   Place a third sheet of synthetic paper between the two sheets with front and backs sides out. After stacking or lining up the paper, staple two rows of staples, a couple of inches apart, along the bottom. This will hold the three sheets of synthetic paper with the images in position.

e.   Cut two pieces of paper large enough to cover all the printed images and tape around the printed images. This will protect the images from dirt and the 3M Super 77 adhesive spray which somehow finds a way to get on surfaces where it is unwanted.

f.    Lift the top two sheets spray 3M Super 77 adhesive on the insides of the bottom two sheets. Lift the top sheet and spray 3M Super 77 adhesive on the insides of the top two sheets. When gluing with 3M Super 77 adhesive, for the strongest bond, the adhesive should be applied to both sides that go together. Press the sheets together following instructions on the can. That will form an excellent bond and the adhesive will fuse the three sheets together so that after trimming, the edges will not have visible layers.

g.   You can then remove the protective paper on the front and back and cut the images to make you ID cards. I prefer to overlay the image with an ID card, using it as a guide to cut the ID to the exact size. Take care that the ID card doesn’t slip when trimming and that you don’t cut the ID card. You may need to sand the edges, especially the round corners, with emery cloth.