How to make employee ID badges

What to put on an employee ID badge

Put on what helps people identify the wearer and what your systems need to scan, and nothing a stranger could misuse if the badge is lost.

Keep the design simple: high contrast, a big readable name, and plenty of white space around the code so a camera can find it.

Standard ID badge size: CR80

The standard size for employee ID badges is CR80: 3.375 × 2.125 inches (85.6 × 54 mm), the same as a credit card. It's the ID-1 size in the ISO/IEC 7810 standard, so it fits standard badge holders, card printers, wallets and slot punches. PVC cards at this size are usually 30 mil (0.76 mm) thick.

CR80 badges fit eight to a letter page. Two columns of 3.375 inches make 6.75 inches across an 8.5-inch page, and four rows of 2.125 inches make 8.5 inches down an 11-inch page, which leaves room for margins. Events sometimes use larger badges, such as CR100 (about 3.88 × 2.63 inches), but for a work badge clipped on all day, CR80 is the norm.

Paper, card stock or PVC?

Card stock in a badge holder is enough for most crews. PVC makes sense when badges must last for years or double as door-access cards.

These are rough US prices and vary by supplier. Print a test page first: some printers struggle with heavy card stock, so check the printer's maximum paper weight and use the rear or manual feed if it has one.

Holders, lanyards, clips and reels

The holder protects the badge, and the attachment decides whether people actually wear it.

• Clear vinyl holders are cheap and flexible, and fine indoors.
• Rigid plastic holders protect against bending, rain and dust on job sites.
• Lanyards are easy to see but can catch on machinery; around moving equipment, use a breakaway lanyard or a clip instead.
• Badge clips attach to a pocket, collar or belt and stay out of the way.
• Retractable reels let people hold the badge up to a scanner without unclipping it.
• Armbands suit work where gloves and gear make lanyards impractical.

Match the holder to the badge's orientation: badges printed landscape need horizontal holders.

Photo or no photo?

Use a photo when people who don't know each other need to confirm identity, such as at a large plant, a hospital or a secured site. Skip it when a supervisor knows the crew by sight, when the badge is mainly for scanning, or when you'd rather not manage photos for seasonal staff. Photos add work: taking them, retaking them, and reprinting when people change. For a time clock where a supervisor scans each badge in person, the supervisor's own eyes do the job a photo would.

What the QR code on a badge should encode

The QR code should hold an opaque ID, a random code that means nothing outside your system, rather than personal data. Your time clock or access system looks up the person from that code. This matters for three reasons:

• A lost badge leaks nothing. A random code doesn't reveal a name, phone number or employee record.
• You can retire it. Disable the code and the badge stops working, without changing anything else about the person.
• It's hard to forge. A sequential number like 1001, 1002, 1003 is easy to guess and print; a long random code isn't.

For reliable scanning, print the code at least about 0.75 to 1 inch square, black on white, with a clear margin around it. The QR standard calls for a quiet zone four modules wide (the small squares in the code) on every side. Glossy laminate directly over the code can cause glare under bright lights; matte pouches or holders scan more reliably.

How to make employee ID badges, step by step

1. 1Decide what the badge is for. A time clock badge needs a name and a code; a security badge may also need a photo and expiration date.
2. 2List your people. Put names, plus photos or titles if you use them, in one spreadsheet.
3. 3Generate a unique code per person. Use your time clock or access system so each code maps to exactly one person.
4. 4Lay out the badges at CR80 size. Eight fit on a letter page; a QR badge maker does the layout for you.
5. 5Print at actual size. Choose 100% or actual size, not "fit to page," print on card stock, and measure one badge with a ruler.
6. 6Cut them out. A paper trimmer or rotary cutter gives straighter edges than scissors.
7. 7Protect them. Laminate each badge or slip it into a holder, and add a clip, lanyard or reel.
8. 8Test-scan every badge. Scan each one with the phone or tablet you'll actually use before you hand it out.
9. 9Record who has which badge. You'll need it when one goes missing.

Reissuing lost or damaged badges

Badges get lost, washed and run over. Plan for it:

• Retire the old code as soon as a badge is reported lost, so a found badge can't be used.
• Give the person a fallback, such as a PIN or a supervisor's override, until the new badge is printed.
• Keep a few spare holders and blank card stock on site.
• Think twice before charging for replacements. Under federal law, a deduction for a replacement badge can't cut into minimum wage or required overtime pay (29 CFR 531.35), and some states restrict wage deductions further.

Worked example: badges for a 14-person crew

A landscaping company with 14 people prints two letter pages of card stock: 16 badges, which leaves two spares for testing. They cut them on a paper trimmer and put each one in a rigid holder with a clip, at about $1 to $2 per holder and clip. The total is under $35 and about half an hour of work. When a badge goes through the wash in July, they reprint that one badge and retire the old code.

Badges that double as a time clock

If the main job of your badges is clocking in, TrackBadges prints them for you: credit-card-size QR badges, eight per letter page, each with the person's name and a PIN. A supervisor scans them with any phone or tablet to clock people in and out. If one is lost, reissue it in one click and the old badge stops working; the PIN works on the scanner in the meantime. You can also lay out badges with the free QR badge maker, and see how scanning works in how QR code time clocks work.