Printing an ID card for your employees or contractors represents an investment in your organization. There is of course an objective value to this investment, which is represented by the cost to create the card, and the value of the time of your staff who perform the printing process and maintain security records. However, there is also the subjective value of enhanced security for your organization. The latter is harder to evaluate, because increased security doesn’t just protect physical and intellectual assets, but ultimately protects human life – a value beyond quantification.
Because printed ID cards are such a vital part of organizational security, it’s essential to protect your investment to ensure card longevity and, most importantly, to avoid security lapses due to card deterioration or forgery.
In this installment, the ID Edge team offers some practical guidance on the best ways to protect your printed ID card, to extend its useful life.
Badge Holders for ID Card Protection
The simplest way to protect your printed ID card is through the use of badge holders. There are many types of holders, but they typically serve several purposes:
- Surface Protection: Badge holders create a physical barrier between the information printed on your ID card and the outside world. This means that the images and text will encounter less physical rubbing or scratching, thus prolonging the life of the card.
- Breakage Protection: Some ID badge holders are made with hard plastic, which prevents the ID card from bending. Of course, such holders are not necessary in all environments and provide most value in construction or other hazardous settings.
- UV Protection: UV radiation from the sun will inevitably fade the ink pigment on the card’s surface. (In fact, government agencies and contractors are required to have ID cards that are able to withstand a certain amount of sunlight before they fade.) Clear badge holders can help provide UV protection to extend the life of the images and text on the card.
Lamination for ID Cards
Laminating ID cards is a very effective way to provide enhanced security, protect against physical wear and tear, and to reduce UV damage to pigment. There are several ways to achieve effective lamination:
- Laminating Printers: If you have a printer with laminating capabilities, then you can apply laminate to one or both sides of the card to create a clear, see-thru protective barrier that keeps the text and images on the card secure.
- Manually Applied Lamination: For situations where a printer doesn’t have laminating capabilities, peel and stick manual lamination patch can do the trick. These patches can be applied without special equipment. However, they are less secure and the laminate can potentially be removed by a counterfeiter.
In addition to physically protecting the printed information on the card, lamination also provides a deterrent for forgeries. When applied as part of the printing process, the laminate becomes fused with the card surface, which makes it impossible to remove without damaging the printed information underneath. Therefore, a thief or a forger will not be able to substitute a different photo, or other information, onto a stolen card.
For added security, laminates can even have holographic watermarks that create further barriers to forgery.
A Note of Caution on Lamination
If you do choose lamination to secure your ID cards, you must account for any encoding technology used on the card. For example, magnetic stripes or smart chips will not work if they are covered with laminate. Therefore, you must use the right laminate type that has cutouts to accommodate any security technology.
Which Solution is Right for You?
If you have questions about protecting your printed ID cards or would like to learn more about badge or lamination options, please give us a call! You can reach our expert technicians at (800) 798-3343 or by using the Contact Form to send us an email!