What's Inside a Print@Home ID Kit? – IDCreator.com

Print@Home Complete ID Kit

The Print@Home Complete ID kits include everything you need to create professional, durable, PVC card quality ID cards from your office or home using any inkjet or laser printer! Simply Print, Punch, and Laminate!

Print: From the IDcreator designer, export your designs to the PDF and print directly onto our 8-up ID card insert micro-perforated synthetic printing sheets using any desktop printer!

Punch: Punch out the ID insert from the sheet and insert them into the seamless butterfly laminating pouches. We also carry pouches with magnetic stripes for your access control needs!

Laminate: Place the card directly into the ID Card Pouch Laminator. In seconds, you will have a durable, waterproof, border-less ID cards that look and feel like professionally printed cards!

Our Print@Home kits produce cards that are 30 mil thick and CR80 sized (2.125”x3.375”), the standard size of cards in your wallet. ID designs printed on our 10 mil thick synthetic printing sheets are punched out to from inserts that are placed between the two 10 mil thick flaps of the butterfly laminating pouch. After being placed in the heated pouch laminator, the synthetic paper and pouch fuse together to form a durable 30 mil thick PVC card-like ID card without the borders or seams that are necessary with common laminating pouches.

Your ID Card Kit Includes:

ID card Pouch Laminators

This laminator is specifically engineered and designed for the purpose of efficient ID card making. Unlike most pouch laminators on the market, ID card pouch laminators are specifically rated to handle the substantial thickness of ID cards. Most pouch laminators are only rated to laminate 3-5 mil pouches used in the common laminating of photos or documents. These laminators may jam under the thickness of 10 mil pouches and also may not be able to heat the pouch to the necessary temperature for lamination fusion. Because ID card pouch Laminators are specially designed for ID making, the rollers are spaced to accommodate up to 33 mils of thickness, giving ample space to safely accommodate 10 mil pouches. The internal heat setting is also set higher, to the optimal temperature for butterfly pouch lamination. The laminators come with the option adding a temperature control. This temperature control lowers the laminating heat to a temperature suitable for 3-5 mil pouches, making the laminator usable for all laminating purposes. ID card pouch laminators also use higher quality rollers/parts than most laminators and are designed to laminate without the need of paper carriers. More information on the ID card pouch Laminators can be seen in the product page HERE

Seamless Butterfly Laminating Pouches

The difference between a butterfly pouch and a traditional laminating pouch is that butterfly pouches allow for an edge-to-edge seal. Conventional laminating pouches require a small border or seam along the perimeter of the card to seal the card during lamination. The result of using a butterfly pouch is that a seamless card is produced that mimics a PVC card of a professional ID card printer. The inside of the lamination pouch is coated with a heat-activated film that adheres to the special synthetic paper ID insert as it runs through the laminator.

Butterfly pouches are offered in both 7 and 10 mil thicknesses. When combined with the 10 mil insert, this makes either thinner 24 mil or thicker 30 mil cards.

Butterfly pouches also come in 2 finishes. Standard glossy pouches have a slightly shiny finish. The Premium Matte Pouches have a matte finish over them which diffuses the direct light, eliminating any glare or reflection. ID cards created with matte pouches look much more similar to professionally printed PVC cards.

All of our pouches are available with the option of a ½” magnetic stripe. These High Corecivity magnetic stripes can be fully encoded in 3 tracks with a magnetic stripe encoder for any access management needs.

Artisyn NanoExtreme and Teslin Synthetic Papers

The main key to creating durable PVC card quality ID cards is the specialized synthetic printing papers known as ArtisynNanoExtreme or Teslin. Ink printed on these silica based printing papers is absorbed and binds irreversibly with the resin of the sheet, creating a durable high quality, waterproof image. The ID insert is then cut out and placed into a butterfly laminating pouch. During lamination, the heat within the laminator causes the synthetic sheet to stiffen and bind tightly with the plastic butterfly pouch forming a stiff durable card.

Artisyn NanoExtreme and Teslin are both offered in 10 mil thickness. Artisyn NanoExtreme tends to product higher quality results with most printers. The Artisyn is very versatile and works with both inkjet and laser printers.

Good results are also achieved with Teslin, however Teslin versatility is determined by the grade. The laser grade of Teslin is recommended for users who have either a laser printer or a higher quality inkjet printer with pigmented ink. The inkjet Teslin is designed for common dye-based inkjet printers and is treated with a special coating to effectively bind to the ink.

The both Artisyn and Teslin come as either blank sheets or perforated sheets. The ID card inserts can easily be cut out with scissors when printing on blank sheets. For your convenience we have micro-perforated sheets which have 8 ID sized inserts that easily tear out cleanly and fit the dimensions of IDcreator’s 8-UP PDF export and the butterfly laminating pouches.

Clear and Holographic Adhesive ID Card Overlays

Transparent overlays enhance the security of the ID card. Since they are applied over the ID card, they help to prevent alterations made to the ID card. They also help prevent against copying and duplicating the card. Lastly, they extend the life of the card by protecting against wear and abrasions. The overlays are available with either full spectrum holographic designs or as a simple clear non-holographic protective finish. All of our holograms are designed to fit our ID cards. The full spectrum hologram’s image can only be seen at certain viewing angles, which allows visibility of the underlying ID card information. The total thickness of each overlay is 2 mil. Each hologram is peel and stick format and are manually applied by hand to the surface of the butterfly pouch after lamination.