Where can I custom print one credit card sized item?

July 10, 2016 1:21 PM

I've made a nice credit card sized image that I'd like to print one (or five) of. I don't need a working magstripe, just high resolution printing on a piece of plastic and not in bulk.
posted by derbyshire to Media & Arts (9 answers total)

It might help if we had some idea of where in the world you are.
posted by Too-Ticky at 1:33 PM on July 10, 2016

http://www.printingforless.com/Plastic-Card-Printing.html

You have to call them for pricing for orders of less than 500, but it looks like they would do it.

There are others online, such as https://www.cardprinting.us/ and http://www.factorymart.com/, but I haven't taken the time to look through all of them.

If those aren't satisfactory, a search for where can i get plastic cards printed should get you multiple other options.

I am not readily seeing a brick and mortar chain that seems to do this. But there seem to be online services that will do it.
posted by Michele in California at 2:05 PM on July 10, 2016

Response by poster: I'm in the U.S.

I, too, see lots of websites that say "Call for a quote on less than 500 cards." I guess I'm actually asking if anyone knows of a place that will print one-off (or few-off) cards from personal experience.
posted by derbyshire at 3:42 PM on July 10, 2016

Like I mentioned in my memail, plenty of places will print you one, you'll just get killed in setup/proofing fees. If I was trying to do this a close, cheap approximation to a standard "credit card/gift cart/keycard" would be to print a 4x6 at a local photo kiosk then laminate (either hot or cold) then cut to desired size.
posted by achrise at 4:19 PM on July 10, 2016

Not personal experience, but if you want a single one, maybe try getting a sample made?
posted by Lazlo Hollyfeld at 4:20 PM on July 10, 2016

I used to work in printing/graphics in the SF Bay Area, and we did plastic printing with Plasti Print. Some of the jobs were pretty small.
posted by tremspeed at 5:08 PM on July 10, 2016

Since you don't need embossing, all you need is a print shop that has a machine like the one Sam's or Costco uses to print their membership cards. (Or like your DMV, but without the holographic laminate)

I could swear I've seen higher end home inkjet printers in the past that will print on plastic cards as well. They work similarly to the ones that print directly on writable CDs (as opposed to the kind that print stick on labels, although that could work for you)
posted by wierdo at 7:59 AM on July 11, 2016

At the site I work at, all of the access badges (same size as a CC) are all white blanks, they print out the badge details (photo, name etc) and apply it to the card. Would this work for you?
posted by wile e at 11:36 AM on July 11, 2016

The prices on <10 cards on these places you're looking at aren't necessarily going to be horrible - I used to sell systems that printed these cards and they're often digital for <1,000 pieces anyway (and probably more than that). If you've got production-ready artwork it might not be that bad.
posted by randomkeystrike at 1:10 PM on July 11, 2016