ID card front and back on one page

The real size of an ID card

Most plastic ID cards follow ISO/IEC 7810, the international standard for the size of identification cards. ISO's summary of its 2003 edition gives the ID-1 format as 85.60 x 53.98 mm, and that is the size this page uses unless you change it. The standard is still current: the 2019 edition was last reviewed and confirmed in 2025. The AAMVA card design standard for driver's licenses and ID cards issued in the US and Canada sets the same ID-1 size.

Inches and pixels are worked out from the millimeters, with 1 inch = 25.4 mm exactly. Not every card is this size. Measure yours with a ruler, and if it differs, choose Custom under Card size in More options and enter it in millimeters. UIDAI calls the Aadhaar card pocket sized in its 2020 circular but gives no measurements there, so measure it too.

Print it at Actual size, then measure

The PDF page is exactly A4 (210 x 297 mm) or US Letter (8.5 x 11 in), the two paper sizes that US patent filing rules also name, and each card sits on it at its size in millimeters. A printer keeps that size only if nothing rescales the page. In the print dialog, choose the same paper and Actual size or a scale of 100, not Fit. Microsoft's help for Edge describes Actual size as printing the document in its original size without any scaling.

Then put a ruler on the printed front. It should be 85.6 mm wide. If it is a few millimeters short, the page was fitted to the printable area, so look for the scale setting again. Office copiers with an ID card copy mode work the same way: a Canon copier manual says the copy ratio is fixed at 100%.

The JPG page carries its DPI in its header: 300, or 200 or 150 when a tight size limit needs fewer pixels. Apps that read it print the page at the same size. Photo viewers and phone galleries often fit a picture to the paper instead, so print the PDF when the size matters.

Straighten a card photographed at an angle

A phone photo is rarely taken square on, so the card comes out as a slanted shape. When the card stands out from the table or paper under it, the tool looks for its straight edges and puts the four handles on its corners. A card close in color to what it lies on may not be found; the handles then start in the middle of the photo. Drag them onto the card's corners, and the tool maps that shape back to a flat rectangle with the card's real proportions, so the text reads straight. While you drag, a magnifier shows the corner under your finger. Where the card's corners are rounded, put each handle where the straight edges would meet; Round the corners then paints the leftover background white.

For a clean copy, lay the card flat on a plain surface that differs from it, light it from the side rather than with the flash so holograms and laminate do not glare, fill most of the frame and shoot from straight above. A flatbed scan is cleaner still. Each card is kept at up to 600 DPI of its printed size, and the result line says how many DPI each side came out at. Below about 150 DPI, small print may look soft.

Aadhaar, PAN, voter ID and driver's licenses

The tool does not read what is on the card, so it works the same for an Aadhaar card, a PAN card, a voter ID, a driver's license, a residence permit, or a student, employee or insurance card.

UIDAI lets you download and print the e-Aadhaar, as its Citizen's Charter explains, and its 2020 circular calls the Aadhaar card, the Aadhaar letter, e-Aadhaar, masked e-Aadhaar and m-Aadhaar all equally valid forms of Aadhaar. This page opens images, not PDF files. If you have your e-Aadhaar as a PDF, open it, take a screenshot of the card part, add the screenshot as the front, and choose This photo shows both sides. If the office does not need your full number, ask whether a copy of the masked e-Aadhaar will do.

In the US, the AAMVA standard gives cards for drivers under 21 a vertical layout, while the side without the portrait is the same on both layouts. The tool keeps each side's own orientation, so both print at their real size.

Some cards may not be copied freely. US federal law limits photographing or printing the ID cards and badges that federal agencies issue to their staff (18 U.S.C. 701), so check with the agency first.

A copy for paperwork, not a new ID

What you print is a copy of your card, like a photocopy. It is not an official document, it does not replace the card, and the office you give it to decides whether it accepts it. Do not change anything on the card.

Many offices in India ask for a self-attested copy. In 2014 the central government asked its ministries and the states to provide for self-certification in place of affidavits and attestation by a gazetted officer, with the originals shown at the final stage. Print the page, then sign the copy in ink where the form or the office tells you to. Top of the page, under More options, leaves room below the cards.

One image for an upload form

Some online forms want the front and back as one image rather than a page. Choose Cards only (JPG) to save just the two cards, stacked or side by side, at 300 DPI. Set Keep under to the form's limit and the tool finds the highest quality that fits, the same way as our compress to KB tool, counting 1 KB as 1,000 bytes. A PDF with a KB limit works the same way, with each side taking its share. If the form wants a PDF under 100 KB with one side per page, the PDF under 100 KB page does that.