Modern “id card printer software” (that’s the software that talks to the printer and tells it how to print your id card) has come a long way in the area of id card design. But, you may not be the one who will actually be setting up the id card design in the id card printer software.  Or maybe you are having your id cards outsourced.  In that case you may want to create a design in third party graphic design software.

Adobe Photoshop as well as other graphics software give end users a ton of creativity and design tools to work with that only professional graphic artists had access to in the past.  So with all that power you can create some awesome looking and functional id card designs.

There is one thing to keep in mind when creating your design in such software.  Photoshop and others are graphically driven and id card software is database driven.  They just don’t work the same way.  You could never track all of your employees in Photoshop and you will never create great graphic art in id card software.
 
With that said, they do have some similarities.  The biggest of which is they both use layers.  Layers are like panes of glass stacked on top of each other.  The first layer (or pane of glass) might have a nice background image.  The next layer might have a logo or some other type of graphic.  The third layer may have the photo box where you want the employee picture to appear.  The fourth layer may have all of the text needed on the id card.

With all the layers stacked one over the other you have a complete id card design.  Each layer is a design element for the id card.  Each one of these elements can be separated from the total design and put into the id card software design as a graphic layer.  Once all of the graphic layers are put in the id card software design you are ready to produce id cards.

With a little nuts and bolts understanding of how each software package works they can be used in conjunction quite effectively.  Just remember to use those layers, without them all your hard work may be for nothing.

Tips & Tactics
Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• Try to avoid solid spot colors as the background in your design. Any imperfection in your pvc card will show in printing.
• Put all of your text in one layer. Chances are the text will have to be recreated in the id card software. It will print much sharper this way instead of being part of a graphic.
• You do not have to create a design for every employee picture. That's what the id card software does. It uses your design as a template to enter variable graphics and text like names and pictures. It then stores the information in a database for future use.
• Keep in mind that there may be differences in color from your design and the way a card prints. You may have to tweak your design for color or adjust your id card printer driver.
• When you create your design keep in mind there may be a slot at the top where a lanyard or badge reel attaches.