Plastic ID Cards: Names, Numbers and Photos
Plastic ID cards are 86 x 54mm PVC cards carrying your branding and each person’s name, role and number. We supply them in batches from 25, with the details printed from your spreadsheet and photos sealed on by photoseal. If you need a photo printed on each card as people join, a desktop ID card printer suits better.
This guide is for anyone ordering staff, volunteer, school or nursery ID in a batch.
The short versionOrder cards if you need 25 or more, with each person’s name, role and number from a spreadsheet. Names arriving in ones and twos? We hold your printed cards and add them as you send them. Photos go on by photoseal, not print. A 15 x 3mm slot or a 5mm hole takes a clip or lanyard.
What do you get when you order plastic ID cards?
A batch of cards with your design on every one and the details that change printed from your file. The full colour print is sealed between bonded clear PVC sheets, so it can’t scratch or wear off.
| Detail | What we supply |
|---|---|
| Size | 86 x 54mm, portrait or landscape at the same price |
| Thickness | 760 microns |
| Full colour on both sides, sealed under clear PVC | |
| Can change on each card | Name, role, number, barcode, QR code, expiry date |
| Minimum order | 25 cards |
| Production | 7 working days from proof approval and payment. Express takes 3 to 4 working days: ask us for cost and availability |
What should go on a plastic ID card?
Who the person is, who they’re with, and how to check. This is our advice: if your sector has its own rules about what ID must show, those come first.
- Slot. 15 x 3mm, centred on the top edge, with wording kept clear.
- Organisation. Your logo and name.
- Name and role. Names read well at 10 to 14pt, and nothing should go below 6pt: see font size on plastic cards.
- Number and expiry date. A unique number to check against your list. With an expiry or review date, cards held by people who have left run out on their own.
- Return and check line. A number to return the card or check it, and an emergency line if your scheme needs one.
- Write-on panel. For a signature, with its label printed above it.
- Barcode. Across the card, with the number underneath.
A photo is optional, and goes on by photoseal: see how photos work. Print only what the card needs. A home address or date of birth on a card that might be lost is personal data you’re responsible for under UK GDPR.
How do you get each person’s name on the card?
There are three ways: printed from your spreadsheet with the order, written by hand on a panel, or added later by our bureau service.
| Row | A | B | C |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Name | Role | Staff no. |
| 2 | Amara Osei | Support Worker | 00418 |
| 3 | Tom Hughes | Driver | 00419 |
| 4 | Joan Pritchard | Team Leader | 00420 |
| Best when | On the card | Worth knowing | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Printed from your spreadsheet | You have every name when you order | Any CMYK colour, anywhere on either side, sealed under clear PVC with the design | One row per card, on the whole order, from 25 cards |
| Write-on panel | You want a lower cost card, filled in at your desk | An ordinary ballpoint pen, on a panel that sits on top of the surface | A typical strip is 75 x 8mm, shorter on a portrait back. It stops at least 4mm from the edge and works best on white |
| Bureau personalisation | New starters arrive in ones and twos | One colour (black, white, metallic gold or metallic silver) on one side, printed onto the surface of the finished card | Stock printed from 25, then no minimum call-off. Allow 3 working days. Postage and packing are charged on each file you send, not each card: see the rates. Cards come to you to hand out, never direct to staff. Stock is held for a year |
- Format every column as Text before you type or paste anything in. Otherwise Excel drops the zeros from a number like 00418.
- Type each name exactly as it should print. See our Excel file guidelines.
- Check your spreadsheet before you send it, because our artwork check is technical and doesn’t cover names or spelling. Your free proof shows where the names and numbers sit.
Can you print ID cards with photos?
Not as a printed photo: we can’t print a different photo on each card. What we supply instead is a photoseal, a clear seal that fixes a passport-sized photo to the card and covers one side of it.
- Attach them yourself, or ask us to. They’re easy to attach, and our photoseals page has a short video. Send us the photos and we can attach them for you.
- Partly attach them before people join. With the seal part fixed in advance, a new starter’s photo goes on quickly on the day.
- Leave room in the design. A photoseal holds a passport-sized photo, and a UK passport photo is 35 x 45mm. On a portrait card it sits above the name, on a landscape card beside it.
- Use the other side for anything written. The seal covers one side, so a write-on panel belongs on the side without it.
Need a printed photo on every card? See the comparison below. Or a QR code on each card can open the person’s online record, with the photo held there.
How do staff wear ID cards?
On a lanyard or badge clip, through a slot or hole punched in the card. Slots are 15 x 3mm, usually centred on an edge. Holes are 5mm across, 6mm in from the edge. Both take a lanyard, and a slot also takes a badge clip.
- Portrait or landscape? Portrait if the card hangs: a slot in the short edge hangs it straight. Landscape if it lives in a wallet. Our guide to portrait or landscape cards shows both.
- Lanyards. We sell lanyards in plain colours and with Staff, Visitor, Student and NHS printed on them. They’re sold separately, and can arrive in one order with the cards.
- A slot and a photoseal on one card? The seal covers one whole side, so ask us before you design it: sales@cpcards.co.uk.
Can an ID card have a barcode or an RFID chip?
Yes to both, but a chip rules out a slot or hole. A barcode is the simpler choice for signing in: it can go anywhere on the card at the size you need, and each card can have its own from your file. Our guide to membership cards with barcodes covers size and scanner checks, and an ID barcode works the same way. Code 39 is the most popular type.
If the card opens doors, an RFID card carries a chip inside it. We supply them unencoded. Holes and slots aren’t available on RFID cards, so plan how they’ll be carried. See RFID ID cards for matching the chip and wearing them without a hole.
No printed card is impossible to copy, and a barcode can be photocopied. What protects you is a unique number checked against your records, a photo or signature, and someone who actually checks: see how to stop cards being copied.
Should you order ID cards or print your own?
Buy a printer if you need cards one at a time, on the day, with each person’s photo printed on them. Order cards if you need 25 or more of one design, with names, numbers or barcodes from a spreadsheet. Many organisations do both.
| A desktop card printer | Cards ordered from us | |
|---|---|---|
| A different photo on each card | Yes, printed on the card | By photoseal, not printed |
| How many | One at a time, from one card | From 25 cards |
| How soon | Minutes | 7 working days from proof approval and payment, or 3 to 4 with express |
| Where the print is | On the surface, under a thin clear film | Sealed between two clear PVC sheets |
| Cost | Around £574 to £747 +vat for an entry-level single-sided printer, plus about 29p a card in ribbon and blank card for one printed side (UK reseller prices, October 2026). Printing both sides needs a dual-sided printer | £75.00 +vat for 25 or £245.00 +vat for 1,000, printed on both sides, before names and extras. No equipment to buy |
Our guide to ID card printers or printed cards has the full running costs and a flowchart to settle it.
Which ID cards do different organisations order?
The card is the same: what changes is what it says and how new people get theirs.
| Who | What usually suits |
|---|---|
| Volunteers | Name, role and a review date, with bureau personalisation for people joining all year |
| Carers | Name, number, the issuing service, a review date and an emergency number, with nothing about the person cared for |
| Schools | Staff names and roles from a spreadsheet, with a photo by photoseal |
| Nurseries | Parent cards at registration, with a number or barcode. On a card that could be lost, a number tells a finder less than a child’s name. Staff cards work as on the schools row |
| Gyms | A member number and barcode for the door, with a photo by photoseal where cards get lent |
| Visitors | A numbered pass with no name on it, logged at reception and handed back on the way out |
How much do plastic ID cards cost, and how do you order?
The cards start at £75.00 +vat for 25. Names, numbers, barcodes, slots and photoseals are optional extras, priced in your quote with the cards. The price per card falls as the quantity goes up, because much of the work in an order is the same whatever the quantity.
| Quantity | Price |
|---|---|
| 25 | £75.00 +vat £3.00 each |
| 50 | £79.00 +vat £1.58 each |
| 100 | £85.00 +vat 85p each |
| 200 | £99.00 +vat 49.5p each |
| 250 | £109.00 +vat 43.6p each |
| 500 | £175.00 +vat 35p each |
| 1,000 | £245.00 +vat 24.5p each |
- QuoteEmail sales@cpcards.co.uk or use our quote form. We often reply within minutes, 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.
- SendYour artwork and spreadsheet. No artwork yet? Our design service is £29 +vat, with no limit on reasonable amends.
- ProofWe email a free proof so you can check the layout and wording. The colours on the proof are a guide only, because every screen shows colour differently.
- PrintYour cards are printed in England, in 7 working days from proof approval and payment.
To test a barcode on your own scanner, or if a colour has to be right, add a postal proof to your order: a few real cards for £65 +vat, in around 5 working days.
Questions & Answers
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Can you print ID cards with photos?
Not as a printed photo: we can’t print a different photo on each card. A photoseal fixes a passport-sized photo to the card instead, and you can attach them yourself or send us the photos and we’ll attach them for you. If every card must carry its own printed photo, a desktop ID card printer is the better route.
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How do you get a different name on each ID card?
You send one design and one spreadsheet, with a row for each card and a column for each detail that changes. Each card is printed from its row, so names, roles and numbers can all differ. Check your spreadsheet before you send it, because our artwork check is technical and doesn’t cover names or spelling.
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Can I order ID cards one at a time as people join?
Yes, with our bureau personalisation service. Your cards are printed as one order, from 25, and held for you. You email a file when people join, and we add their details and post those cards to you, with no minimum call-off. Postage and packing are charged on each file you send, not each card.
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How do staff wear plastic ID cards?
On a lanyard or badge clip, through a slot or hole punched in the card. A slot is 15 x 3mm and a hole is 5mm across. A portrait card with a slot centred on its short edge hangs straight. We also sell lanyards.
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Can an ID card have a barcode?
Yes, in the position and at the size you need, and each card can have its own from your file. Code 39 is the most popular type. Place it in a white box with the number underneath, and on a portrait card set it across the card, clear of the slot.
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Where can I get plastic ID cards in the UK?
CP Cards supplies them, printed in England, with names, roles and numbers from your spreadsheet and a minimum order of 25 cards. The cards start at £75.00 +vat for 25, before names and extras are added. Delivery is free within Great Britain, and our delivery prices list the charges for Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and the Channel Islands. Every order has a free email proof. To get a quote, email sales@cpcards.co.uk or use our quote form: we work by email, wherever you are.
Ready to order your ID cards?
Tell us how many cards you need, what changes on each one, and whether you need photos, a slot or lanyards. We’ll quote by email, often within minutes, 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.
Your free photorealistic proof shows both sides of the card, so you can check the layout and wording before anything is printed.