School ID Cards, Badges & Accessories

As the UK's largest supplier of school ID cards and accessories to the UK's education sector, our number 1 goal is to ensure you implement the highest standard of safety for your staff, students and visitors. Since 1995 we have been working closely with schools, colleges and universities assisting them with the design, print and issuance of secure student, staff and visitor photo ID cards

Do ID Cards Play a Key Role in an Organisations Safeguarding Responsibilities?

Printed ID cards show that your organisation takes its safeguarding responsibilities seriously.

Not only are ID cards a great security measure for your students and staff, but issuing cards to visitors is also seen as best practice by Ofsted. An organisation that can demonstrate a reliable system already in place to aid safeguarding gives Ofsted inspectors an easier task in determining how well it is performing.

What Security Features Are Essential for My ID Cards and Visitor Passes?

Adding a layer of visual security will not only make your card more durable but also means that any cloned or duplicated attempts are easy to spot. Listed below are our top 4 card security features as used by our current customers within the education sector.

UV printing

UV Ink

UV printing is a discreet way of heightening card security, as the UV ink is transferred onto the card from the ribbon and is not visible to the naked eye. The UV ink will only appear when placed under a UV light.

HoloKote® Watermark

HoloKote® Watermark

The HoloKote is specific to Magicard printers only and prints a secure watermark on to your card’s surface. Once tilted to the light the watermark becomes clear to the eye meaning any cloned attempts can be easily spotted. You can choose from 1 of 4 HoloKote watermarks using the printer driver.

Custom Holokote® Watermark

Custom HoloKote

The Custom HoloKote feature enables you to implement a personalised HoloKote watermark onto the card surface. This watermark could be your organisation’s logo, a unique security design or a piece of text.

Lamination

Lamination

Adding a layer of lamination makes duplicated attempts easier to spot. Lamination coatings traditionally range from 0.6 mil to 1 mil thickness and can be clear or contain fraud-proof holographic images.

What Design Elements Need to Be Visible on My Cards?

Making sure your organisation’s cards and passes stand out, will come from the overall look and feel of the card. The design of a card and the information displayed will play a big part in this. Here our in-house design team have given their top tips on what elements should be on show.

Photo ID and Name card design element

Photo ID and Name

When adding a photo to the card, our advice is for the photo to be no smaller than 35mmx45mm, be set at 300dpi resolution and ideally the image should have a white/light background.

Following these guidelines makes it much easier for staff, visitors and contractors to be easily identified. Further to the image, our advice is to add the person’s name and to make sure this is not obscured by any other form of design element.

Logo and Branding card design element

Logo and Branding

Adding a logo and branding elements gives the card another layer of security making it much harder for your cards to be cloned or duplicated. Another benefit to the above is the overall look of the card or pass is kept in line with any other form of uniform or literature.

Personalisation card design element

Personalisation

Based on our extensive work within the education sector we recommend adding the below fields to the front of the card:

Expiry date
CRB/DBS number
Barcodes
Signature panels.

To the reverse of the card, we recommend adding an
“If found, please return to…” address.

Can I Print Photo ID Directly onto Technology Cards?

We can print directly to the following technology cards -
Mifare HID PAC Paxton Salto TDSI

Proximity and smart cards have multiple uses within the education sector ranging from photo ID, cashless vending and access control right the way through to library management. More organisations are now opting to integrate all of the above applications onto 1 card. We have found that organisations who have opted for this approach have seen major decreases in the number of cards being left at home, lost or damaged as they act as the main driver for a range of applications.

Other Benefits of opting for a technology card include:

  • Significant cost savings on card re-issuance as card quality is increased
  • Ability to monitor and report various applications such as attendance and usage
  • Lowered risk of card duplication and cloning

The Benefits of Printing Your Own ID Badges and Visitor Passes

With security at the top of the agenda, many educational organisations are now opting to print in-house, with the main benefit being the flexibility to print secure ID cards and passes for students, staff and visitors on an ad-hoc basis as and when you require them.

Easybadge System
Plastic ID Badge Printing Made Easy

The EasyBadge bundle was specifically created to help users print in-house. The bundle also comes complete with a free app, so you can quickly and efficiently capture new images from a mobile phone or tablet device. The app allows you to create a new record, and edit an existing record within the system in a matter of seconds.

  • EasyBadge ID Card Printer
  • 200 Print YMCKOUV Colour Ribbon
  • 200 Blank White Plastic Cards
  • EasyBadge ID Card Printing Software
  • EasyBadge App for Mobile & Tablet Devices
Low Cost. Only 25p Per Card Easy To Use. Software & App Quick Start. 5 Minutes Setup Secure. UV Print Overlay Reliable. 5 Year Warranty
OR

I Want Digital ID to Design and Print My Photo ID Cards

Let our in-house teams help you create the perfect ID card for students, staff and visitors. In the initial call, we will discuss your design requirements, the level of visual security you would like added to the card and give you an instant quote.

excel icon

Supplying Your Data

You will receive an email from our team asking you to comprise the key data for your new cards into an excel sheet. The standard information we require is a name, job role and department. However, if you have a bespoke requirement, this can be discussed directly with our team.

photos icon

Sending Your Images

We request that all images are sent as a JPEG format and are 400x500 pixels in size. We also ask that all images are sent in a zip file, and you save each image as the person’s name e.g. Simon Sample.jpg

seaton university logo artwork icon

I Need Help With My Design?

If you don’t have any card design artwork then don’t worry, our dedicated team of in-house designers can create an ID card loyal to your branding colours and logo. Please note your cards will not be printed until sign off on the artwork by yourself.

Benefits of Using Digital ID for Your Photo ID

25 Ribbon
25+
Years of
customer service
excellence
People
60+
In-house ID
card experts
ready to help
School Building
4,320
Educational Organisations trust us to solve their ID card problems.

What Our Customers Think

With over 20,000 happy customers, 500 independent 5* reviews and a price match promise it’s easy to see why we’re the UK’s number 1 supplier of ID cards and consumables to the UK’s education sector. Read our latest customer reviews below.

Kierna profile icon
Kierna

“I could not recommend Digital ID enough”

I could not recommend Digital ID enough, I contacted them over a weekend with a rush job and someone got in touch on Monday morning,

I needed a rush order of lanyards and was able to order them by 3.30 on Monday & had them by 4.30 the next day - this type of next day service is rare for us, so I was so impressed.

Ann profile icon
Ann

“Fantastic company to deal with”

Digital ID are one of the most efficient and cost effective companies I have done business with. Their prices are extremely competitive and I know that when I order (and ordering is so simple via the website) that my printer ribbons will be with me the next day. The other good thing is that I receive regular e-mailed progress reports after placing my order, until delivery.

Barry profile icon
Barry

“Digital ID all the way!”

Digital ID have provided Northumberland College with outstanding customer service, prompt express dispatch for many years now. New art work is presented and signed off in a matter of days from requesting a quote. I have never found a company that can beat them on price, efficiency and quality ....5 stars all the way.