How to print an ID-size card at home: CR80, DPI and lamination

Print from a PDF, at 100% scale

The single biggest cause of a wrong-size card is the printer dialog's 'Fit to page' or 'Shrink oversized pages' option. Turn it off — choose 'Actual size' or set scale to 100%. A CR80 card on an A4 sheet uses only a corner of the page; that is expected.

Use vector text, not a screenshot

A PDF keeps text as sharp vector outlines and prints crisp at any size. A screenshot or a low-resolution PNG is a grid of pixels and turns fuzzy the moment it is scaled. If you must print an image, use one at 300 DPI or higher for the final card size — for CR80 that is roughly 1012 × 638 pixels.

Our card maker exports a two-page PDF sized exactly to 85.6 × 54 mm, one card per page, so 'Actual size' gives the right result without any measuring.

Paper and lamination at home

1. Print on the thickest matte photo paper your printer takes (200 gsm+). Glossy paper can smear under a hot laminator.
2. Trim to the card outline with a steel ruler and a fresh blade, or a corner-rounder for the radius.
3. Seal in a CR80 (2.16 × 3.38 in) lamination pouch — 125 micron for a flexible card, 250 micron for a rigid one.
4. Feed the pouch closed-edge first, and let the card cool flat before handling.

Getting a real PVC card

For a proper plastic card, send the exported PDF to a card-printing shop and ask for CR80 PVC, duplex (front and back aligned), 760-micron stock with a small bleed. Most photo studios and print shops offer this for a small fee.

A note on official cards

A card you print yourself is a personal reference copy. It is not a government-issued document, has no legal validity, and must not be presented as the real thing. Only the RTO's Smart Card or the digital licence in mParivahan / DigiLocker is valid on the road.