eMedia Card Designer 6.5

eMedia Card Designer lets you create various types of plastic ID cards for various purposes. In this respect, the tool supports from old-style text-based identification to the most advanced technologies, including magnetic strips, smart cards and contactless cards.

The program’s interface may need some updating, mostly because a product intended for graphic design is supposed to look better. However, it is so intuitive that anyone can learn to use it in a few work sessions. Fortunately, the tool comes with various templates and samples that help you take your first steps. Moreover, its WYSIWYG editor is definitely one of its best advantages, as you can preview exactly what your cards are going to look like when they are finally printed.

Most cards come with two printed sides, and eMedia Card Designer allows you to sketch each side separately. There is a panel on the left from where you can drag the objects and drop them on the card. You can add formatted text, background pictures and photographs from a scanner or a camera. Likewise, it is possible to draw shapes, like lines, squares and ovals. In addition to the graphic elements, you can include others that help automation, including magnetic strips and any of 21 barcode types.

As many other similar tools, eMedia Card Designer can help you populate the objects with data from a database. This is done quite easily, as every time you add such objects as text, photos and codes, there is a wizard to help you associate them with the corresponding field from a database. Luckily, not only can the program create its own database but also use external data from your corporate database, Microsoft Excel and Access. By the way, it is good that its compatibility with these data sources can be expanded by means of plugins.

To conclude, eMedia Card Designer definitely solves the problem of providing your employees, students, club members and anyone who requires an ID card with a convenient way to identify themselves. The program is quite easy to use, but, if you need help, it is good to know that it comes with excellent documentation, including tutorials and demonstrations. The product is shareware and can be tried at no cost for some days.