Plastic ID Card

The mil size of a card denotes how thick it is. 30mil cards are the standard and most supported by all printers. This card is the same thickness as a standard credit card. 10mil cards are much thinner and more flexible. Many printers do not support these thinner cards and you will need to confirm if your printer supports them.

No. Magnetic stripes are embedded into the card before you purchase them. In order to create cards with magnetic stripes you will need to buy card stock that has them already, and you must have a printer that supports magnetic encoding.

Hi-Co and Lo-Co are referring to the coercivity of the magnetic stripe on the card. When you encode a magnetic stripe on the card, you are changing the pattern of magnetic fields. Coercivity is a measure of the strength of the magnetic pattern and the duration of the stored information. A Hi-Co card lasts longer and is best for permanent applications like employee ID and credit cards. Lo-Co cards are easy to erase and re-write information for temporary uses.

Most blank PVC cards are white since it allows you to print any kind of design that you want. However, colored cards can help reduce ribbon usage if your design uses a single color background, help distinguish your ID cards from others and make your design simpler.

A Proximity (Prox) card is an ID card that has an embedded contactless integrated circuit. This allows the card to be read wirelessly with a suitable reader from contact to a couple inches. There are 2 frequency ranges that Prox cards are available in and are normally used for applications that need greater security and traceability within your facility. With each card having a unique identifier it is more difficult to forge when compared to barcodes and magnetic stripes. We can help ensure the Prox cards you use are compatible with your printers and access control system.