How to make your own Fake ID

The following guide should only be used to produce cards for novelty use only, producing a card with incorrect details could be considered illegal, so therefore check with your local laws regarding carrying, producing and using fake ids.

For many obtaining a good quality Novelty or fake ID has become a whole lot easier since the arrival of the internet and the increased availability of high definition PVC card printing equipment, before these type of printers were only available to federal agencies or government groups.

It is still possible though to make yourself a fake identity like our fake student card at home with good results, the following although not a comprehensive guide will give you a few pointers as to how this can be achieved.

The materials and equipment you will need to produce your fake id:

• An inkjet printer such as an Epson with durabrite ink, laser printers will work but best results have been achieved using inkjet printers.
• A scanner with a resolution of at least 300dpi
• An image editing program such as, Adobe Photoshop or Macromedia Fireworks.
• A suitable template for a Fake ID, i.e. driving licence or student card, these are easily available from most download networks.
• Synthetic paper to print the card design onto, either Artisyn which works best or the more expensive Teslin which is not so good. These single layer papers are silica rich and are chemically coated to effectively absorb ink without distortion or blurring. These were the most commonly used papers for Identification cards prior to the widespread use of PVC cards.
• Transparent butterfly type lamination pouch, and ideally a suitable laminator to perform this stage, although a home iron can be used, but care needs to be taken with the temperature to avoid burning the butterfly pouch to the card design.
• Generic self adhesive “security”/”genuine” holograms

Use high resolution

Scan the photographs and signatures using the highest resolution possible, manipulate using Photoshop or Fireworks to give a realistic appearance, crop out background images to give plain backgrounds, use transparency effects to give the effect of ghosted images etc. Copy these images onto the template you are using and update the text fields with your own information.

Print the finished design and trim the edges if necessary before laminating the card using the butterfly pouch. Once the card has been laminated and sufficiently cooled down, you can carefully apply a self adhesive hologram. Use very fine abrasive paper to remove any rough edges from the hologram or card edges, using fine abrasive paper can also be used to create a signature strip if required.

Although good results can be achieved using this method, the relative time and expense of purchasing the materials doesn’t make it cost effective to produce home made fake ids. An alternative option without the hassle is to use a company such as www.myfakeid.biz who can print directly to hologram coated PVC cards using high definition printers as used by US driving license issuers.

Find out more information how to make a fake ID