If you have ever designed an ID card that came out blurry, cropped, or simply the wrong shape, the cause is almost always a size or resolution problem. ID cards follow a small set of international standards, and once you know them, getting a clean, print-ready result is straightforward. This guide explains the standard sizes, the exact dimensions in millimetres, inches, and pixels, and the bleed and margins you need for professional printing.
The standard ID card size: CR80
The default size for ID cards, staff badges, membership cards, and access cards is CR80. It is the same size as a credit card or bank card, which is why a CR80 ID card slots neatly into a wallet, a lanyard holder, or a badge reel.
CR80 is defined by the ISO/IEC 7810 standard (the “ID-1” format). Its dimensions are:
- 85.6 mm × 54 mm
- 3.375 in × 2.125 in
- ~1013 × 638 px at 300 DPI
Because CR80 is so universal, virtually every plastic-card printer, badge holder, lanyard, and card reader is built around it. If you are unsure which size to pick, choose CR80.
CR79 and other common sizes
CR79 is slightly smaller than CR80 and is most often used for adhesive-backed cards or inserts that sit inside a pre-printed CR80 shell. The difference is small but matters when a card has to fit precisely inside another.
| Size | Millimetres | Inches | Pixels at 300 DPI | Typical use |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CR80 (ID-1) | 85.6 × 54 mm | 3.375 × 2.125 in | 1013 × 638 px | Standard ID cards, badges, lanyards |
| CR79 | 83.9 × 51 mm | 3.303 × 2.051 in | 991 × 615 px | Adhesive-back inserts inside CR80 shells |
| CR100 | 98.5 × 67 mm | 3.88 × 2.63 in | 1163 × 788 px | Oversized event/security badges |
Pixel values are rounded to the nearest whole pixel. The portrait (vertical) orientation many lanyard badges use is simply CR80 rotated: 54 × 85.6 mm, or roughly 638 × 1013 px at 300 DPI.
Why CR80 is the default for ID cards and lanyards
CR80 wins as the standard for three practical reasons:
- Hardware compatibility. Direct-to-card and retransfer printers feed CR80 blanks by default. Choosing CR80 means you can print on standard stock without custom dies.
- Accessories fit. Lanyard holders, badge reels, clips, and wallet slots are all sized for CR80. A non-standard card may not fit existing holders.
- It is wallet-friendly. Since CR80 matches a credit card, people can carry it comfortably, which matters for membership and staff cards.
When you design a school ID card maker layout or an employee ID card maker badge, starting from a CR80 canvas guarantees the output will fit the physical world it has to live in.
DPI and resolution for print
DPI (dots per inch) describes print density. Screens look fine at 72 or 96 PPI, but print needs more detail. The print standard is 300 DPI, which is why CR80 works out to roughly 1013 × 638 pixels.
To find the pixel dimensions for any size at 300 DPI, multiply the size in inches by 300:
- Width: 3.375 in × 300 = 1012.5 → 1013 px
- Height: 2.125 in × 300 = 637.5 → 638 px
If you design at a lower resolution and scale up later, text and logos will look soft or pixelated. Always build at 300 DPI from the start, and use vector-quality elements (text, QR codes, barcodes) wherever possible so they stay crisp at any size.
Bleed and safe margins
Printers cut stacks of cards together, and the blade is never perfectly aligned to a single card. Bleed and safe margins absorb that small tolerance so nothing important gets sliced off or leaves a white sliver.
- Bleed: extend any background colour or image 2–3 mm past every edge of the card. After cutting, the colour reaches the true edge with no white border.
- Safe area (margin): keep text, logos, photos, QR codes, and barcodes at least 3 mm inside the trim line. Anything closer risks being clipped.
A practical CR80 setup is an 85.6 × 54 mm trim size, a bleed canvas around 91.6 × 60 mm, and all critical content held inside a margin a few millimetres in from the trim. If you order pre-cut blanks from a card printer and print one card at a time, bleed matters less, but the safe margin still keeps your design from looking cramped at the edges.
Certificate size: A4
Certificates are a different format. The international standard is A4, 210 × 297 mm (8.27 × 11.69 in), which is about 2480 × 3508 px at 300 DPI. In North America, US Letter (8.5 × 11 in) is common instead. Certificates are usually portrait, with generous margins for a border and signature line. A dedicated certificate maker handles A4 layout, bleed, and resolution for you so the printed result matches the screen.
Quick reference
- ID cards, badges, lanyards: CR80, 85.6 × 54 mm, 1013 × 638 px at 300 DPI.
- Inserts inside CR80 shells: CR79, 83.9 × 51 mm.
- Certificates: A4, 210 × 297 mm, 2480 × 3508 px at 300 DPI.
- Always design at 300 DPI, add 2–3 mm bleed, and keep content 3 mm inside the trim.
Getting the size right is the difference between a professional card and a wasted print run. StencilID starts you on a correctly sized CR80 canvas, exports print-ready 300-DPI PNG and PDF files, and supports QR codes and barcodes out of the box, plus bulk generation from a CSV when you need a whole batch at once.
Design a correctly-sized ID card free and skip the guesswork on dimensions entirely.