There are numerous institutions that from necessity place security above all else. This includes military and governmental institutions, where the number of security measures is extremely high. All of this is done to prevent sensitive information from leaving the institution, and security checks are extremely common. Employees use ID cards and access cards to access restricted areas or just their offices. These cards are usually created by specialised companies, but there are certain institutions that do not want to risk having their ID cards duplicated due the lack of security at the company creating the cards, and they create their own ID cards, in house. Special ID card printers are used for this, by a person specialising in card printing. The ID printer is not a regular printer modified for a certain role, as some might think, as it is designed specifically for this task, and this task alone.

There are certain advantages and disadvantages that come with creating the ID cards in house. While this is the only way for some institutions, most institutions have a choice to make, and it is important to carefully analyse the situation and determine whether it is worth it or not.

The added security is one of the most important advantages of in house creation of ID cards. There is no way the template for the ID cards can end up in the wrong hands if all the equipment is held right inside the building and the cards are created there as well. While ID cards or templates may have disappeared from the ID card company, institutions that handle the process themselves usually have very high security, and there is no risk of that happening.

The second major advantage is money. This may end up being more expensive at first, as the cost of the equipment needed to print the cards, as well as the wage of the person doing it, can quickly add up, but the cost per card created is lower than that of purchasing a card. So per person, the cost is lower, even though it will take some time for the investment in equipment to start paying off.

The third advantage is the possibility of tweaking the ID cards until they come out exactly as expected. True, ID card companies also allow tweaking of templates until the customer is satisfied with the result, but being able to do this in house, whenever needed, is certainly an advantage that cannot be ignored.

As for disadvantages, it all comes down to the person actually creating the cards. Since this is a complicated process, with special software and a special printer involved, the skill of the person operating the software and the printer is extremely important. If that person is not qualified to create the cards, the result will only be mediocre, at best. Experience is extremely important here, and only those who have done this before can properly create ID cards based on requirements from the bosses,

So there is either the risk of getting mediocre results, because the person creating them is not trained in using the software or the printer, or the results could be excellent, but the salary of the person creating them would also need to be higher. This further reduces the money saved on the cards, and it makes recovering the initial investment, in the equipment, take even longer.

So each company must decide what is more important. Paying a little extra to have the card printing  handled by professionals, or simply do it in house by purchasing some  id card printers and hiring someone that knows how to properly use the id printer  and the special software. Finding someone qualified enough for that may be difficult, and training someone will take a very long time. An excellent compromise would be to start training someone to create the cards, while ordering the first batch of ID cards from a specialised company. This ensures that the first cards arrive on time, and after the person hired to create the cards is properly trained, he or she can take over. The only problem that remains is finding someone willing to train the new employee to create the cards.