[K]nowing how to make a fake ID is a skill that could serve you well in life. There are lots of ways to make an ID, but here is the ultimate method for how to make a fake ID. Please keep in mind these instructions are provided for entertainment and novelty purposes only.

What You Need to Make a Fake ID

Optional Equipment

Preparing the Card

Start by making a template of the card to be duplicated. If your card has a hologram, then you need to destroy it before you can duplicate the card.

Clean the card using a rag if it isn’t in great shape. As mentioned before, you’ll want to remove the hologram if necessary. Here’s how:

• Heat up your iron and apply it to one of the edges of the card. Don’t leave the iron on the card for too long. Act fast to prevent bubbles and keep the card from melting.
• Keep going until the top laminate layer comes off. This top layer could contain much of the text on the card and the photo. Don’t worry about breaking anything like that as you can use Photoshop to restore it.

Scan the Card

Put your card – now hologram-free – into the scanner. Make sure that the scanner is set to maximum quality. You need the best-looking image you can get.

If all has gone well, then you’ll end up with something resembling a real ID. You might have some text left, but don’t worry too much about that.

First Stage of Photoshop

Now it’s time to get to work removing any remaining text and imperfections.

1. Open the image in Photoshop.
2. Choose the Clone Stamp tool and Alt-click the area around the text to replace it.
3. There’s a chance you might have to adjust the brush size of the tool to get the area you need. Work through the image piece by piece so that everything in the image looks uniform. Click over the adjacent section of the text to remove and replace it.
4. After removing all of the text, you can use the type tool to fill it back in. Find a font and size that matches the one on the ID.
5. Helvetica is considered one of the best typefaces to create an official, authentic-looking fake ID if you can’t find just the right one.
6. Use the Clone Stamp tool to get rid of any other blemishes and holes in the card that come up. Pay special attention to the photo area as there could be specs of color left over.
7. The Marquee Select tool is another good option. For more straightforward to fix regions, such as holes over a solid background, just choose a spot next to the blemish and copy and paste over it.

The Next Stage of Photoshop Fixing

We’re not finished with Photoshop just yet. Now you want to replace the header texture, as well as other dividers and background bars that weren’t scanned properly. This step helps to create a genuine, high-quality looking fake ID.

Start by finding all of the spots that need to be fixed. If the spot has some text over it that you replaced, then you can make it invisible. Got the Layers tab and clicked the eyeball next to the text layer to hide it. This step is about to make the cloning step redundant, but practice makes perfect.

Set the foreground color to one of the colors in the header of the ID. You can use your eyedropper tool to do that quickly enough. Just click the spot that has the color you want. Set the background color to white.

Now it’s time to prepare the Gradient tool. The tool can be found behind your paint bucket tool. Open up the gradient options to the top of the toolbar and choose a radial gradient for the tool. Set the type of gradient to “foreground to background” too before proceeding.

Make sure that you still have your box selected and draw a line down from above the center of the box to the bottom of the box. Try to get a spherical gradient through the box without any harsh white.

It’s time to add the pattern overlay to the image. Create a new 10×10 pixel image and draw a squiggly line across it.

Go to Edit > Define Pattern. Separate the header box into a separate layer by copying it, deleting it, and pasting it into a new layer. Line the new layer back up to where the old one was. Right-click on the layer and choose Blending Options > Pattern Overlay.

Choose the pattern that you’ve just created. Reduce the opacity to 10%, and you’re done. Feel free to experiment until you get the desired effect. Just remember that these tiny details won’t be so noticeable once the card has been laminated.

Repeat the above steps until you have fixed all of the boxes on the ID. After this, un-hide any hidden layers, copy and paste the picture to the white box ready, and do any finishing touches you need to do to create the ultimate template.

Printing

Now you have your template; it’s time to turn it into a card. Get out the Teslin paper and load it into the printer. You might have to adjust the slider on the printer so that it lines up with the size of the paper.

Don’t forget that 4×6 perforated paper works best for this kind of thing. Also, make sure that the paper you buy is suited for your printer, whether it be a laser printer or inkjet printer.

Before you go ahead and print your template out on the Teslin paper, feel free to do some test runs. Load the printer with regular old 4×6 paper and print out your template to see how it looks.

FakeID.Top

Doing test runs can ensure that the template fits into the paper correctly. Adjust the size dimensions as necessary until your image is ready to go.

After you’ve got everything sized and aligned correctly, open up Photoshop and then Print Preview > Page Setup. Choose the right paper size (4×6) and then click on OK to get started. Click on the Print button and open up the properties on the next page. Set the printer to print Photo Printing – Borderless and begin.

Don’t take the card out of the perforation right away. You need to do the rest of the card and print out the back. Don’t forget that ID cards are almost always two-sided, especially drivers’ licenses and the like.

Now you’re ready to pop the card out of the perforation. Don’t worry if the template doesn’t fit perfectly into the perforated area.

You can use a scalpel and ruler/scissors to trim the card down to the right shape if needed. Don’t worry if you have to cut out more than you expect. Just make sure that it looks good when you’ve finished trimming it down to size.

Laminting the Fake ID

You’re ready to get started with laminating the card. The reason that you use Teslin paper for printing rather than regular paper is that Teslin is better for laminating. The better the lamination job, the less likely the card is to come apart.

You should use a laminator that can handle the thickness of the laminate pouch you use for the ID. Look for a laminator that accepts 7mil at the least, preferably 10mil.

You also want a laminator that laminates hot, not cold. The better the quality of laminator you use, the better-quality results you can expect.

Fire up the laminator and let it heat up. As the laminator is heating up, put the printed template into the pouch. Make sure the top of the card is against the seam of the pouch.

This should save time and effort of having to cut away at essential parts of the ID if the laminate pouch slips during the laminating process. You can also use apply a small bit of super glue to the back of the card to stick it to the pouch securely.

Put the card into the laminator seam-first and wait for the finished card to cool after laminating. Let it sit before you try to handle or bend it. If the card is floppy or the laminate hasn’t appropriately adhered to, then all you can do is try again until it goes right.

Final Touches

You’ll likely need to spend a little time cutting and sanding down the edges of the laminate once it is finished.

This is where the scalpel, scissors, sandpaper, and ruler come into play. Be careful using sandpaper on a fake ID as you may turn the edges of the card white by sanding too much.

You can add the hologram overlay to the ID once you are satisfied with the finished product. Peel back the overlay and stick it onto the card, making sure that everything is lined up correctly.

Overlay

Apply the overlay in a vacuum to prevent bubbles from building up. If you don’t have access to a vacuum cleaner, then you’ll want to work your way around the edges of the card with your finger as you apply the overlay. This will prevent any air from getting between the overlay and the card.

It can be tricky to get the process just right, but with some practice, you’ll get it right. Most vendors on our best fake ID sites list indicate overlay with successful scanning rate.

Don’t worry if there are some bubbles despite your best efforts. Just use a knife or rolling pin to squeeze the last bubbles out and get that perfect overlay in place.

Last but not least, if you’re looking to create a swipeable fake ID, you will need a magnetic stripe encoder. Just follow along with the instructions that came with the encoder, and you should be good.

When all of that is said and done, you should have in your hands one great looking fake ID. Congratulations!