Key takeaways
- A standard ID card (CR80) is 85.6 × 54 mm. On a portrait A4 sheet you can fit 10 landscape cards (2 × 5) or 9 portrait cards (3 × 3).
- Always print at 100% / Actual size. "Fit to page" quietly shrinks every card, and they will no longer fit standard holders.
- For double-sided cards on a long-edge flip, the back sheet must swap the left and right columns, not the rows.
- Print one test sheet on plain paper, measure a card with a ruler, then switch to your real card stock.
You do not need a dedicated card printer to make good ID cards. Most schools, offices and small print shops we work with print on an ordinary inkjet or laser printer, on A4 sheets, and then cut and laminate. The quality comes almost entirely from three things: the layout on the sheet, the print settings, and how carefully you cut.
This guide walks through all three, with the exact numbers.
The size you are printing: CR80
Almost every ID card, bank card and staff badge uses the same format, called CR80 (the ID-1 size in the ISO/IEC 7810 standard):
| Measurement | Value |
|---|---|
| Size in millimetres | 85.6 × 53.98 mm (usually written 85.6 × 54) |
| Size in inches | 3.375 × 2.125 in |
| Size in pixels at 300 DPI | about 1011 × 638 px |
| Corner radius | about 3.18 mm |
| Typical PVC thickness | 0.76 mm (30 mil) |
Keep this size in mind, because every layout decision below comes from it. If your design file is not exactly 85.6 × 54 mm (or the same ratio at 300 DPI), fix that first. A card that is a few millimetres too big will not fit a standard holder, and one that is too small looks cheap and leaves a white border after cutting.
How many ID cards fit on an A4 sheet?
An A4 sheet is 210 × 297 mm. Printers cannot print right to the edge, so plan on a margin of at least 5–7 mm on every side. That leaves roughly 196 × 283 mm to work with.
Here is what fits:
| Layout | Cards per A4 | Grid | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Landscape cards, with cutting gaps | 10 | 2 columns × 5 rows | Best use of the sheet; top and bottom margins get tight (about 7 mm) |
| Landscape cards, relaxed | 8 | 2 × 4 | Wide margins, easier to align for double-sided printing |
| Portrait cards | 9 | 3 × 3 | The usual choice for portrait staff and student cards |
| Landscape cards, shared cut lines | 10 | 2 × 5, no gaps | Fewer cuts, but any misalignment shows on two cards at once |
The 10-up layout works like this: two cards side by side take 171.2 mm of the 210 mm width, and five cards stacked take 270 mm of the 297 mm height. Add a 3 mm gap between rows and a few millimetres between the columns and you still have about 7 mm at the top and bottom, which almost every home and office printer can handle.
Which should you choose? If your cards are landscape, use 10-up for single-sided cards and drop to 8-up if you are printing double-sided on a printer that tends to drift. If your cards are portrait, 9-up is the natural fit.
Tip: Leave a small gap (2–4 mm) between cards rather than butting them together. A gap means a slightly crooked cut lands in the gap, not in someone's photo.
Print settings that keep cards the right size
Most "my cards came out the wrong size" problems are caused by one setting. Go through this list in the print dialog every time, because many printers reset it.
- Scale: 100% or "Actual size". Never use "Fit to page" or "Shrink oversized pages". These shrink the whole page by a few percent, so an 85.6 mm card might come out at 82 mm.
- Paper size: A4, not Letter. If the printer is set to Letter (215.9 × 279.4 mm), the bottom row can be cut off or the page rescaled.
- Borderless printing: off. Borderless mode enlarges the page slightly so the ink reaches the edges, which shifts every card.
- Paper type: match what is loaded. Choose "Glossy photo paper" for photo paper and the printer's matte or "thick paper" setting for card stock. This changes how much ink goes down and avoids smudges.
- Quality: High or Best. Photos and small text on ID cards are tiny. Standard quality can make 6–7 pt text fuzzy.
Before you use expensive card stock, print the sheet once on plain paper and measure one card with a ruler. It should be 85.5–86 mm wide. If it is shorter, a scaling option is still switched on somewhere.
If you print from a phone, the same rules apply. In CardCraft, the A4 sheet is exported as a PDF at 300 DPI with cut marks, so open it in a PDF viewer and make sure the print dialog says 100% before you print.
Double-sided ID cards: lining up the back
Printing the back of a card is where most people waste paper. The rule is simple once you see it.
When you print double-sided on a long-edge flip (the normal setting for portrait A4), the sheet turns over like a book page. The card that was in the left column on the front ends up in the right column on the back. The rows stay in the same order.
So your back sheet must be mirrored left-to-right:
| Front sheet | Back sheet (long-edge flip) |
|---|---|
| Row 1: Card A, Card B | Row 1: Back B, Back A |
| Row 2: Card C, Card D | Row 2: Back D, Back C |
If you use a short-edge flip instead, the columns stay put and the rows reverse (row 1 on the front meets row 5 on the back).
How to check your printer:
- Print the front sheet on plain paper.
- Put it back in the tray and print the back sheet (or use automatic duplex).
- Hold it up to a window or a bright light. The outlines of the front and back cards should sit on top of each other.
- If everything is shifted by the same amount (often 1–2 mm), adjust the margin of the back sheet by that amount, or use the 8-up layout so a small shift stays inside the gap.
Good ID card software handles this layout for you. CardCraft exports matching front and back A4 sheets with cut marks, but every printer feeds paper a little differently, so do the light test once per printer.
Choosing paper and finishing
What you print on decides how long the cards last. Here are the common options, from cheapest to most durable.
| Material | How you finish it | Good for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plain 80–100 gsm paper | Laminate in a pouch, then cut | Event passes, one-day visitor cards | Feels thin; needs lamination to survive a lanyard |
| Matte card stock (200–300 gsm) | Cut, optionally laminate | Name badges in holders | Check your printer's maximum paper weight |
| Glossy photo paper (180–260 gsm) | Laminate, then cut | Staff and student cards with photos | Let the ink dry fully before laminating |
| Inkjet PVC sheets (A4) | Heat-laminate onto a PVC core, then punch or cut | Cards that feel like real plastic | Needs a compatible inkjet and a laminator; more steps |
| Pre-cut inkjet PVC cards | Print in a card tray (some inkjet printers) | Small batches of plastic cards | Only certain printers have a card tray |
In Bangladesh, blank PVC cards are cheap. Listings on local marketplaces in 2026 show blank inkjet-coated PVC cards from about ৳6 each and Zebra CR80 blanks around ৳8. Dedicated card printers start much higher; single-sided Zebra models are listed from about ৳82,000. For most schools and offices printing a few hundred cards a year, A4 printing plus lamination is far cheaper. We will cover the full cost comparison in a separate guide.
Cutting the cards neatly
A perfect print can still look home-made if the cut is wavy. A few habits make a big difference:
- Use the cut marks. Print with crop marks (short lines outside each card). Line your ruler or trimmer up with the marks, not with the edge of the coloured design.
- Use a rotary or guillotine paper trimmer rather than scissors. A metal ruler and a sharp craft knife also work well; change the blade often.
- Cut long lines first. Cut the sheet into strips (rows), then cut each strip into cards. Fewer moves means fewer mistakes.
- Laminate before the final cut if you are using pouches. Cut through the laminated sheet, leaving a 1–2 mm sealed edge around each card so it does not peel.
- Round the corners. A cheap corner rounder (R3 or about 3 mm) makes cards look professional and stops sharp corners from catching.
A quick checklist before you print a whole batch
- Card design is exactly 85.6 × 54 mm (or 1011 × 638 px at 300 DPI or more).
- Important text and photos are at least 3 mm inside the card edge (the "safe zone").
- Printer is set to A4, 100% scale, borderless off, correct paper type.
- One test sheet printed on plain paper and measured with a ruler.
- For double-sided cards: back sheet mirrored correctly and checked against a light.
- Names, ID numbers and photos proofread by someone else. Reprinting one card on a full sheet wastes the other nine spaces.
Frequently asked questions
How many ID cards can I print on one A4 sheet?
Ten standard landscape ID cards (85.6 × 54 mm) fit on a portrait A4 sheet in a 2 × 5 grid with small cutting gaps. Portrait cards fit nine to a sheet in a 3 × 3 grid. If you want wider margins for easier double-sided alignment, use eight landscape cards (2 × 4).
Why do my ID cards print smaller than they should?
The print dialog is almost always set to "Fit to page" or a similar shrink option. Set the scale to 100% or "Actual size", make sure the paper size is A4, and turn off borderless printing. Then print a test page and measure a card; it should be about 85.6 mm wide.
Can I print PVC ID cards on a normal inkjet printer?
Yes, with the right material. You can print on inkjet PVC sheets and heat-laminate them onto a PVC core, or use pre-cut inkjet PVC cards if your printer has a card tray. Inkjet PVC materials are made for inkjet ink, so check the packaging before trying them in a laser printer.
How do I line up the front and back of ID cards when printing double-sided?
For a long-edge flip on portrait A4, mirror the back sheet left-to-right: the card in the left column on the front must be in the right column on the back. For a short-edge flip, reverse the row order instead. Print a plain-paper test and hold it up to the light to confirm.
What resolution should an ID card design be for printing?
Use at least 300 DPI, which is about 1011 × 638 pixels for a CR80 card. Photos should be sharp at that size; a phone photo is usually more than enough as long as it is in focus and well lit.
