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TBT: Card size specs and the meaning of CR80

Andrew Hudson   ||   Feb 04, 2016  ||   

Have you ever wondered where CR80News got its name? Well look no further than this week's Throwback Thursday, which offers a 101 lesson on the various ID card size specifications, as well as a glimpse into CR80News' origins. 

Way back in 2002, we ran a story detailing the common ID card size specifications. Being three-dimensional objects, ID cards vary in their size based on length, width and thickness of which the de facto standard is, you guessed it, CR80. Other popular card specs include smaller variants CR50, CR60 and CR70, along with larger relatives CR90, CR100, ID-2 and ID-3.

CR80 was established some time ago as the card spec to be used for all financial cards and most other common credentials, including campus cards. Accordingly, CR80 -- also known as ID-1 -- is the spec supported by virtually every card printer and card production software package on the market.

But despite being the standard for campus cards, CR80 is just one of the myriad of different ID card sizes available. And while most card issuance projects will revert to CR80, there remain certain instances where a larger, smaller, thinner or thicker credential is preferable. To get a better idea of the various ID card sizes that are out there, here's "Card size specifications: When does card size matter?"

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