Card designer
Single or double-sided cards with text, pictures, shapes, backgrounds and fields such as name, ID and expiry date filled in for each person. Move designs between sites with export and import.
CleanLytics ID Badge Designer
ID badges designed, printed and encoded in one place
Design your cards, keep your cardholders and their photos together, then print and encode badges on your own card printer — on Windows and Mac. Pay once per PC. No subscription.
14 days with every feature, no card details needed to try it.
Windows and Mac
SQL Server, MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL
Paxton, Gallagher, Brivo, Verkada, Alta
Works offline
Your data stays on your own PCs and network
Made and supported in the UK
What it does
Everything an ID card desk needs
From the first card design to the reprint two years later — one app for reception, HR, facilities and security teams.
Your cardholders, your database
Keep people, sites and departments in the app, or connect the database you already have — SQL Server, MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL or SQLite — and save changes straight back to it.
Photos that match
Take photos with any webcam, crop them to the card and remove the background automatically, so every badge has the same clean look.
Print on your own printer
One card or a whole batch, single or double-sided, through your card printer’s own driver on Windows and Mac. Every print is logged against the person.
Encode as you print
Write magnetic stripes, and read or write contactless (NFC / RFID) cards with a PC/SC reader — the card number is saved with the person and can go straight to your access control system.
Expiry and renewals
Issue and expiry dates on every card, a default validity for new cards, and a list of the cards that are about to run out.
Reports
Cards printed by month, site or printer, reprints, missing photos and details, duplicate people, printer usage and card costs — all exportable to CSV.
Several users, one set of data
PCs can share one data folder on your network. Everyone signs in, administrators and operators see what they need, and changes are recorded.
Share between sites
Pass cardholder changes between two of your databases — encrypted for the receiving database, and reviewed before anything is changed.
QR codes and barcodesAutomatic updatesMSI for Intune / Group PolicySigned PKG for JamfYour own fontsBackups and archiveDark mode
Your data, where it already lives
Works with the database you already have
Connect ID Badge Designer straight to your HR, payroll or access-control database. People, photos and card details are read live and saved straight back to it — new starters, edits, leavers and photos included. No exports, no second list to keep up to date.
- A step-by-step connection wizard: pick the table, match its columns to badge fields, preview, done
- Read and write — or point it at a view, or give it a read-only account, and it only reads
- No database yet? The built-in one needs no set-up, and a CSV import gets you started
Microsoft SQL ServerExpress to Enterprise · SQL or Windows sign-in
MySQL5.7 and 8.x
MariaDB10 and later
PostgreSQLAny supported version
SQLiteA database file, even on a network drive
CSV fileSaved from Excel or any system, imported for you
From badge to door
Sends people and cards to your access control system
When a badge is printed or a card is encoded, ID Badge Designer can add the person to your access control system with their card and access levels. A lost card or a leaver is switched off there in a couple of clicks — no typing the same person in twice.
- Each access level in the app gives the access levels you choose in your system
- Card lost or stolen: that card stops working, and the person keeps their access with their next card
- Leavers and people made inactive have their access ended — automatically, if you want
- Straight from your PCs to your system — nothing goes through our servers
Uses each system’s own API, which its supplier switches on — most charge a licence for it. Try it with a test person first. Product names are trademarks of their owners.
Paxton Net2Net2 6.6 or later · Paxton API licence
Gallagher Command Centre8.x and 9.x · REST Cardholders licence
Brivo AccessBrivo API key
Verkada Access ControlVerkada API key
Avigilon AltaFormerly Openpath · service user
Other systemsAny REST API or webhook — Power Automate, Zapier, Make
How buying works
Try it, buy it, carry on
Everything you set up during the trial stays when you buy — your designs, people and photos.
Download
Install on Windows or Mac. The trial starts the first time you open the app: 14 days, every feature.
Buy
Choose how many PCs and pay by card on our secure Stripe checkout. Your receipt arrives by email straight away.
Get your key
Your licence key is emailed to you within a minute or two of paying. One key covers all the PCs you bought.
Activate
In the app: Settings › Licence › Enter licence key. Changing a PC? Use Deactivate this PC on the old one and activate the new one.
Pricing
One price. Every feature.
No tiers, no subscription, no per-card charges. Buy for the PCs you have and add more whenever you need them.
£175per PCOne-off payment, plus VAT
- Every feature — designer, photos, printing, encoding, reports
- Yours to keep using — no subscription
- Automatic updates
- Email support
- Licence key emailed as soon as you’ve paid
- Move a licence to a new PC whenever you need to
Good to know
- Trial14 days with every feature. Nothing to pay and no card details.
- Several PCsChoose the quantity at checkout — one key covers them all.
- PaymentBy card through Stripe. Your receipt is emailed to you.
- InvoicePaying by invoice or purchase order, or buying for 10 or more PCs? Email support@4mec.co.uk.
- RefundsChanged your mind? Ask within 14 days — see the refund policy.
Questions
Questions we’re asked
What counts as a PC?
Each computer the app is activated on uses one PC from your licence. Buy as many as you need in one go and one key covers them all; if you need more later, buy again and you’ll get a second key.
Is it a subscription?
No. You pay once per PC and keep using it. Updates install automatically.
Which card printers does it work with?
Card printers with a Windows or macOS driver — the app prints through the driver, including double-sided cards: Magicard, Zebra, Evolis, HID Fargo, Entrust Datacard, IDP, Matica and others. The trial is the best test: print a few cards on your own printer before you buy.
Which databases does it work with?
Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL and SQLite — the drivers are built in, so there’s nothing extra to install — and other databases through their ODBC driver. Connect to a database walks you through it, and you can read from and save back to the same tables your other systems use. You can also keep everything in the app’s own database, or import a CSV.
Does it work with our access control system?
It connects to Paxton Net2, Gallagher Command Centre, Brivo, Verkada and Avigilon Alta through their own APIs, and to other systems or middleware that take a REST API call or webhook. People, their cards and access levels are sent when you choose (or automatically when a badge is printed), and lost cards and leavers are switched off. The API has to be switched on by your system’s supplier — most charge a licence for it. Using something else? Email us.
We use cardPresso. Can we move?
Yes. cardPresso is being retired by its maker, and ID Badge Designer works with the same card printers and databases. Your cardholders come across from your database or a CSV file; card layouts are re-created in the designer. Moving from cardPresso explains how.
Does it need the internet?
Only now and then. A licence is renewed online every 7 days and keeps working for 30 days without a connection. Your cardholders and photos stay on your own PCs and network.
Where is our data kept?
In a database on the PC, or in a shared folder on your network for several PCs — or in your own database if you connect one. Not in our cloud: if you share changes between sites, they pass through our server encrypted for the receiving database, so we can’t read them, and are deleted once collected. Our licence server only holds what it needs to license you: see the privacy notice.
Can I move a licence to another PC?
Yes. In the app on the old PC choose Settings › Licence › Deactivate this PC, then enter the key on the new one. If the old PC has died, email us and we’ll free it up.
What do we need to run it?
A PC with Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit), or a Mac with Apple silicon. A webcam for photos, a card printer, and a PC/SC reader if you encode contactless cards.
How do we roll it out to many PCs?
Use the MSI for Intune, Group Policy or your RMM tool, or the signed PKG for Jamf — both are on the download page. Several PCs can share one data folder on your network, and printer profiles with their driver settings can be exported on one PC and imported on the others.
I’ve lost my licence key
Enter the email address you bought with on the licence key page and we’ll send every key bought with it to that address.
Can we pay by invoice?
Yes — email support@4mec.co.uk with the number of PCs and we’ll send an invoice. The key follows when it’s paid.