Why card size matters

Choosing a credential size feels like a detail. It isn’t. The dimensions you settle on decide which printers can produce it, which holders and lanyards fit, and how the finished card reads in someone’s hand.

The standard sizes

Most photo IDs land on CR80 — the same footprint as a bank card (85.6 × 54 mm). It’s the safe default: every card printer, wallet slot and badge reel is built around it.

Event passes and conference badges often go larger — CR100 or a custom portrait format — because the name needs to read from across a room, and there’s room for a bigger QR code.

What changes when you scale up

• Print hardware. Retransfer and event printers handle oversized stock; many desktop card printers stop at CR80.
• Holders and lanyards. A larger card needs a larger sleeve. Order them together.
• Bleed and safety margins. Bigger canvas, same edge risk — keep critical content off the trim line.

The takeaway

Pick the size for the moment the card is used, not the moment it’s designed. A warehouse access badge and a festival wristband have different jobs — and the millimetres are where that job starts.