Employee ID card maker for IDs your security team can trust

An employee ID card maker is software that lets HR, office or security teams design a staff ID template once and produce a card for every employee from their records. CardDeck combines the design, the data import and a live verification page in one tool.

What CardDeck handles

• Design: a company template with logo, colors, photo frame and fields, built in the card designer. Admins can lock it so every ID matches.
• Data: names, titles, departments and employee numbers imported from a spreadsheet, with photos matched automatically.
• Codes: a unique QR code for verification and an optional barcode per employee.
• Output: print-ready PDFs for card printers, and a digital ID each employee can open on their phone.
• Lifecycle: reissue lost cards, update changed details and deactivate leavers.

What CardDeck does not do

CardDeck is not a door access system and does not encode RFID or smart-card chips. If your doors use RFID, your card printer or access-control vendor encodes the chip; CardDeck supplies the printed design and the QR or barcode. If your readers scan barcodes, CardDeck can generate the barcode for them.

Who uses it

• Companies onboarding new staff every month
• Retailers and restaurants with shift staff across locations
• Agencies issuing contractor and visitor IDs
• Organizations replacing a slow vendor order process with in-house printing

An employee ID card should show enough to identify the person at a glance and verify them with a scan, without exposing personal data. Keep the front uncluttered and put policies on the back.

Front of the card

• Photo: recent, front-facing, head and shoulders, on a plain background.
• Full name: the name colleagues and security will use.
• Job title and department: short forms if space is tight.
• Employee number: the unique ID that also links the card to its record.
• Company logo and colors: so the card is recognizable from a distance.
• QR code or barcode: for verification or existing scanners.
• Validity or issue date: optional, useful for contractors and temporary staff.

Back of the card

• Emergency contact number for the company, not the employee's family
• A return address in case the card is found
• Short access or acceptable-use notes required by your security policy
• Optionally, a barcode if the front is full

What to leave off

• Home addresses and personal phone numbers
• Date of birth, unless a regulation requires it
• Salary grade or internal codes that reveal more than needed

Color coding

Many organizations use a colored band to show staff type at a glance: for example one color for employees, another for contractors and another for visitors. In CardDeck, build these as variants of one template so the layout stays identical.

To make employee ID cards in bulk, set up a locked template, import a spreadsheet of staff, match photos, review flagged rows and export. A company of 300 people can be done in an afternoon.

1. Create a team workspace and add your brand kit: logo, colors and fonts.
2. Choose an ID template from the ID card templates and adjust fields, photo frame and QR placement. Decide portrait or landscape.
3. Lock the template so only data fields change from card to card.
4. Prepare your spreadsheet with one row per employee and columns such as name, title, department, employee_number and photo. Save as XLSX or CSV (UTF-8, so accented and non-Latin names stay intact).
5. Prepare photos as a ZIP, each named by employee number, for example NWL-0428.jpg.
6. Upload to the [batch generator](/batch-generator), map columns to template fields and save the mapping for next time.
7. Fix flagged rows. The importer flags missing photos, duplicate IDs, empty required fields and values too long for the layout.
8. Proof a sample. Print five cards and check spelling, cropping and scanning.
9. Export or issue. Download print-ready PDFs, issue digital IDs, or both.

Updating later

Re-import the same spreadsheet with the same employee number column. CardDeck updates changed rows instead of creating duplicates. For a full walkthrough, read how to make ID cards from Excel.

Batch limits

Rows per job are 2,000 on Team and 25,000 on Business, which covers most single imports.

The standard employee ID card size is CR80: 85.6 × 54 mm (3.375 × 2.125 in), the same as a bank card. It matches the ID-1 format in ISO/IEC 7810, with a standard thickness of 0.76 mm (30 mil).

Print-ready settings

• Bleed: CardDeck exports with bleed so color runs to the edge after trimming or edge-to-edge printing.
• Safe zone: keep text and codes at least 3 mm inside the edge.
• Resolution: photos should be at least 300 dpi at printed size. A 25 × 32 mm photo frame needs roughly 300 × 380 pixels; more is better.
• Slot punch: if cards hang on a lanyard, leave the top 8–10 mm clear in portrait layouts.

Printing options

• Desktop PVC card printer: the usual choice for in-house printing. Print CardDeck's CR80 PDF directly, single or double-sided.
• Print service: send the PDF to a local printer or online card service.
• A4 or Letter sheets: for temporary or visitor cards, print imposed sheets on card stock and laminate.

Portrait or landscape?

Portrait is common for lanyards and clips because the photo sits at the top. Landscape suits wallets and card holders. CardDeck supports both.

Durability

PVC cards with an overlay laminate last longer for daily use. Digital IDs never wear out, which is one reason many companies issue both from the same record.

Each CardDeck employee ID has a unique QR code that opens a verification page. The page shows whether the card is currently active, with the employee's photo and name, so anyone checking can confirm the ID is genuine and current.

What the guard or receptionist does

1. Scan the QR code with any phone camera.
2. The verification page opens in the browser.
3. Check that the photo matches the person, and that the status reads Active.

No special app or scanner is needed.

What the verification page shows

• Photo, name, job title and department
• Card status: active or deactivated
• Optionally, the validity date

You choose which fields appear. Keep it minimal: enough to verify, not a staff directory.

Why this matters

A printed card looks valid forever. A verification page reflects the record now. If someone has left, been suspended, or reported the card lost, the page changes to Deactivated the moment an admin updates it.

Visual checks still matter

QR verification complements the human check, it does not replace it. Train staff to compare the photo, check the status, and escalate if the page does not load or the URL looks different from your company's usual verification address.

Employee IDs from CardDeck can work with access systems that read barcodes or QR codes. For RFID or smart-card doors, your card printer or access vendor encodes the chip and CardDeck provides the printed design.

Barcode-based systems

Many time clocks, canteen terminals, libraries and older door readers scan 1D barcodes. Add a barcode field to your template and encode the employee number. Code 128 is the usual choice because it encodes letters, numbers and symbols compactly; see the Code 128 barcode generator for format details. Test with your actual reader before printing in bulk.

QR-based systems

Some visitor management and attendance tools scan QR codes. If they need the QR code to contain a specific value rather than a verification link, check with that vendor what format they expect.

RFID and smart cards

• Buy blank PVC cards with the chip type your doors use.
• Print the CardDeck design on them.
• Encode the chip with your access system's software, usually at the card printer.

One record, many uses

Because the barcode value and the QR verification come from the same employee record, deactivating someone in CardDeck changes their verification status immediately. Remember to revoke their access in the door system too; the two are separate.

Most organizations need both: printed PVC cards for building access and visual checks, and digital IDs for remote staff, contractors and field teams. CardDeck produces both from the same record so they never disagree.

When printed IDs are best

• Staff work on site and wear an ID all day
• Doors, turnstiles or time clocks need a physical card
• Regulations or clients require a visible badge

When digital IDs are best

• Remote and hybrid staff who visit offices occasionally
• Field teams who need to prove who they are at a customer site
• Contractors and temporary staff with short assignments
• Replacing a lost card while a new one is printed

How digital IDs work

Each employee gets a private link to their ID, which opens on any phone. They can save it to their home screen. Showing the screen, or letting someone scan the QR code, opens the verification page.

Keeping them consistent

Because both versions come from one record, a change in department, title or photo updates the digital ID immediately and appears on the next printed card. Deactivation applies to both: the printed card's QR code stops verifying at the same moment.

Deactivate IDs on an employee's last working day, reissue lost cards with a fresh record, and collect only the data the card actually needs. These three habits remove most ID card risk.

Offboarding

• Add ID deactivation to your offboarding checklist, next to email and system access.
• Deactivated IDs show Deactivated on the verification page instantly.
• Ask for the physical card back, but do not rely on it.

Lost and stolen cards

1. Deactivate the lost card so its QR code no longer verifies.
2. Reissue the employee's card; regenerate a single card without touching the batch.
3. Print the replacement or send the digital ID immediately.

Privacy

• Store only fields that appear on the card or are needed to issue it.
• Keep personal details off the verification page.
• Restrict who in your workspace can edit or export staff data, using roles and permissions.
• Delete records you no longer need when people leave.

Plans and pricing

Employee IDs are included on the Team plan ($6 per seat per month, or $5 billed yearly, minimum 3 seats) and on Business, which adds 25,000-row batch jobs, multiple brands, SSO and API access. Large organizations can read more on the enterprise solution page.