How PVC Card Printing Works

Short answer: A printed PVC card is produced by printing the design in full colour on the card layer, bonding the layers (together with the chip and antenna layer for chip cards) with a clear protective layer under heat and pressure (lamination), and cutting it from the sheet to 85.6 × 54 mm. After ordering, you upload your design and approve the print proof; production starts after approval.

Printed PVC cards are credit-card-sized (ISO CR80, 85.6 × 54 mm) plastic cards. In chip cards the chip and antenna sit between the card's layers; the print is also protected inside the same layered structure. Below we describe the stages a card order goes through from design to delivery.

1. Design file

Size: the card is 85.6 × 54 mm; prepare the design with a bleed on every edge so that no white edge remains after cutting.
Safe area: keep text, logos and photos inside, away from the edges; because of cutting tolerance, elements too close to the edge may be cut off.
Resolution and format: use PDF or high-resolution PNG; keep text at a readable size.

You can check your file with the cut line and safe area in the card design preview tool. You can download the template as a PDF from the product pages.

2. Printing

The design is printed in full colour on the layer that will form the card's surface. With single-sided printing the back stays white; with double-sided printing additional information such as terms of use, contact details or a barcode can be placed on the back.

3. Lamination and cutting

The printed layers and, if needed, the chip / antenna layer are stacked and bonded with heat and pressure. The clear protective top layer (overlay) protects the print against scratching and rubbing off. The cards are then cut from the sheet to card size.

4. Personalisation

If each card will have a different name, number, barcode, QR code or photo, the variable data version is chosen; you upload the name list and photos after ordering.