Teslin® is a synthetic material used in making ID and event cards. Teslin® Paper offers an affordable alternative to other kinds of material. Teslin® is waterproof and tear resistant making it more durable than standard paper. The material can be laminated with one of our Butterfly Laminating Pouches to create a borderless ID card that will last much longer than a standard PVC card.

We offer a complete line of pre-perforated Teslin® ID cards that can be used in a desktop printer. For a quick tutorial see the How to Make a Teslin® ID Card section of our website.

We guarantee that all Teslin products offered by IDSupply.com are made of PPG brand Teslin material.
Teslin® is a registered trademark of PPG Industries, Inc.

Types of Printers
Our Standard "Laser" Teslin SP-1000 can be used in Laser printers, Inkjet printers utilizing pigmented inks, and litho printers.

Teslin ID Card Thickness
Industry standard PVC Cards are .030 (30 mils) thick. When using our (10 mil) Teslin products with our (10 mil) Butterfly Laminating Pouches it will create a finished ID Card with the same industry standard (30 mil) thickness. A Butterfly Laminate is a one piece laminate scored down the center which folds in half perfectly, the laminate adds (10 mils) to each side of the Teslin to create the (30 mil) total thickness.

(10 mil) laminates will create a (30 mil) finished ID Card which is a hard card.
(7 mil) laminates will create a (24 mil) finished ID Card which is flexible.

Equipment Required
You will need an inkjet or laser printer and a laminator. You can use many different types of software to send your ID card images to the printer, however if you are managing a list of cardholders and various ID card designs the process can be dramatically simplified by using our low cost ID Badge making software EspressoID®.

Supplies Needed
Teslin ID Card sheets and Butterfly Laminating Pouch .

Teslin Cards compared to PVC Cards
A standard printed PVC card has a relatively short life. High quality PVC Card Printers offer the ability to apply a laminate to the printed card, which extends the life of the card, however increases the cost which is prohibitive for most organizations. Teslin ID cards when laminated offer a great alternative. They are actually more durable than a laminated PVC card and you don’t have the expense and maintenance of the high-end printer. Another advantage of Teslin ID cards is that the vast majority of PVC card printers only print on credit card size PVC blanks, with Teslin ID cards we offer 5 different sizes to allow you to create the ID Card size you need. We can also manufacture custom sizes.

Making the Teslin ID Card with our Perforated Card Sheets
Teslin Perforated Card sheets have one or more cards on them. The cards are held in the sheet by perforations so that the sheet will pass through the printer. Once the cards are printed, you simply peel the card out of the sheet, insert the card in a Butterfly Laminate, place the ID Card in the supplied carrier and run through the laminator which fuses the laminate to the Teslin ID Card.

Note: We suggest you place the Teslin card and laminate in a carrier prior to running it through the laminator. The carrier is just a heavy weight paper product that is made to carry the card and laminate through the laminator. It also keeps the rollers of the laminator clean. All laminates we sell come with carriers. Please use them when laminating.

We suggest that you use the 'Photo' setting for the printer you are using. EspressoID® has the 4" x 6" one card sheets built into the drop down menus for easy selection of the size of card you are utilizing. These sheets are to be placed in your printer in the portrait position (the short edge feeds into the printer). EspressoID® also has the 8-up Credit Card Teslin sheet built into the pre-defined card layouts. If using the eight card sheets, you select eight cards from your EspressoID® database and than click the print button. It will then print all eight cards on the sheet at once. Once you have removed a card from the sheet, the sheet can no longer be printed on as the hole where the card(s) resided will cause the Teslin to jam in the printer.

We always suggest placing just one sheet at a time in your printer tray. If you are printing the back side as well as the front, and using the EspressoID® software, it will prompt you to print the back once the front is printed. You just flip the sheet over, place it back in the input tray, and click the 'print back' button.

If you are using the 4" x 6" one card sheets, you need to set your printer for printing on a 4" x 6" sheet. This size is common in the sheet size options of most printer drivers. Refer to the printer manufacturer's instructions for more information.

Trouble Shooting
As with any printed material, printer jams and misfeeds are possible. If you are having trouble with the sheets feeding into your printer or you are getting ink smearing, we suggest that you take the Teslin sheet, place it in a carrier, and run it through the laminator. This will flatten the sheet and printing problems (smearing) and feeding problems will be greatly diminished. This is a good reason to purchase either the 9" (L6000T) or 12" (L7000T) wide models of the laminators. Other brands of laminators may work, but we make no claims as to how well. Our laminators are American made commercial laminators with a five year warranty, adjustable temperature, and a thermometer. As a starting point we suggest you set the laminator temperature at 250°F (factory setting).

If your printer is not printing in the correct place on the Teslin card sheets, check your page size and orientation (portrait or landscape) settings found in your printer's settings. We suggest that you use plain paper of the same size as the Teslin sheets you are using, to make all printer adjustments. This will minimize wasting Teslin sheets. Once you have printed on the plain paper sheets, hold them up to the Teslin card sheets to check positioning.

We make no claims as to the results you will get with your printer and laminator combination. We know that the laminators we sell and the Epson printers that utilize DuraBrite or UltraChrome inks will give excellent results, producing professional ID Badges. We are not able to provide support for printers, laminators, or other supplies not purchased from us.