Zebra 104523-116 White 30 MIL PVC ID Cards — 500-Count Box
Overview
The Zebra 104523-116 is a 500-card box of 30 MIL white PVC blank cards, manufactured in the United States and sourced through Zebra's Card Media division. If you run a Zebra card printer for employee badges, visitor passes, or access credential production, this is the consumable that keeps the line moving — no branding, no pre-printed elements, just clean white card stock ready to receive dye-sublimation, retransfer, or thermal transfer printing. For integrators and IT teams comparing Zebra card media options, the non-branded designation means you get full print surface without paying for a logo you'll overprint anyway.
At 30 MIL thickness, the 104523-116 (often searched as 104523 116) matches the industry-standard CR80 card thickness used in most enterprise badge and access card programs. That spec matters because printer platen gap settings, laminator pass thickness, and encoder alignment are all calibrated to 30 MIL — undersized cards slip, oversized cards jam.
Key Features
- 30 MIL Card Thickness: Matches the CR80 standard used in the majority of enterprise ID card printers and laminators. Thinner 20 MIL cards can feed inconsistently through encoders; thicker cards can stall on platen exit. 30 MIL is the safe default for any mixed-use badging environment.
- White PVC Material: PVC is the standard substrate for dye-sublimation and retransfer printing. The white base reflects color accurately — critical when printing flesh-tone portraits for photo ID badges. Non-PVC alternatives (PET, composite) require re-calibrated printer profiles; these cards work with factory-default color curves.
- Non-Branded Card Face: No manufacturer logo, watermark, or ghost image on either face. The entire card surface — front and back — is available for your print design, which matters when you're running double-sided badge programs or full-bleed graphic layouts.
- 500 Cards Per Box: A single box covers 500 issuances — enough for a mid-size office full credential refresh or a semester of visitor badge stock at a school district. Buying by the box instead of per-card reduces per-unit cost and minimizes reorder frequency on high-throughput printers.
- US Country of Origin: Manufactured domestically, which satisfies TAA compliance requirements for US federal, state, and municipal government programs where country-of-origin traceability on consumables is required for contract vehicles.
- Zebra Card Media Pedigree: Produced under Zebra's Card Media division quality controls, meaning card-to-card thickness variance, surface smoothness, and static charge are held within tolerances designed for Zebra printer feed mechanisms. Off-brand PVC cards can introduce static buildup that causes multi-feeds and encoder read errors.
Integration & Compatibility
These cards are designed for use with ID card printers that accept CR80/30 MIL PVC stock — including Zebra's ZC, ZXP, and ZC300 series, as well as most competing direct-to-card and retransfer printers from Datacard, HID, and Matica that run on standard 30 MIL PVC. If your program includes smart card encoding (ISO 14443 contactless, ISO 7816 contact, or magnetic stripe), you will need to specify cards with the appropriate embedded component — the 104523-116 is a plain PVC substrate with no embedded chip, antenna, or magnetic stripe. For access control credential programs requiring encoded cards, treat these as your non-encoded print-and-laminate stock or visitor badge substrate.
The non-branded, white surface is also compatible with HoloPatch lamination overlaminates and standard Zebra ZXP laminate ribbons when running through a laminating module. Verify your laminator's platen gap accepts 30 MIL card input before adding laminate thickness to the final card stack.
For larger deployments using card printer supplies in volume, the 500-count format reduces consumable storage footprint compared to per-card alternatives while maintaining a manageable reorder cycle for most mid-size programs. Pair with a Zebra ribbon kit appropriate to your printer model for a complete consumable order.
What's in the Box
- 500x Zebra white 30 MIL PVC blank cards (104523-116)
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What card printers is the 104523-116 compatible with?
A: The 104523-116 is a standard 30 MIL CR80 PVC card compatible with any direct-to-card or retransfer ID card printer that accepts CR80/30 MIL PVC stock, including Zebra ZC, ZXP, and ZC300 series printers. It is also generally compatible with printers from other manufacturers using 30 MIL PVC input.
Q: Does the 104523-116 include a magnetic stripe, smart chip, or contactless antenna?
A: No. The 104523-116 is a plain white PVC substrate with no embedded components. It carries no magnetic stripe, ISO 7816 contact chip, or ISO 14443 contactless antenna. If your access control or ID program requires encoded credentials, you will need a card with the appropriate embedded technology.
Q: How many cards are included in one box of the 104523-116?
A: Each box of the Zebra 104523-116 contains 500 white 30 MIL PVC cards.
Q: Is the 104523-116 TAA-compliant for US government procurement?
A: The 104523-116 is manufactured in the United States (Country of Origin: US), which satisfies the Trade Agreements Act domestic manufacturing requirement for US federal, state, and municipal procurement programs.
Q: Can the 104523-116 be used with card laminators?
A: Yes, the 30 MIL PVC substrate is compatible with standard card laminators. Verify your laminator's platen gap setting accommodates 30 MIL input card thickness before running laminate — the finished card will be thicker than the base 30 MIL once an overlaminate is applied.
Q: What is the card thickness and why does it matter?
A: The 104523-116 is 30 MIL thick, which matches the CR80 industry standard. Printer feed mechanisms, platen gaps, and card encoder alignments are calibrated for 30 MIL — using off-spec thickness cards can cause feed errors, jams, or unreliable encoder reads.
The 104523-116 is the consumable I recommend to integrators running Zebra card printers in enterprise badging environments where the card stock needs to be clean, consistent, and predictable. The 30 MIL specification isn't arbitrary — it's the calibration target for Zebra's platen gap, encoder positioning, and ribbon tension on the ZC and ZXP series, and using anything outside that tolerance introduces feed variability that shows up as encoder misreads and ribbon wrinkle at exactly the wrong moment during a credential issuance run.
Technical Highlights:
- 30 MIL PVC Substrate: Matches the CR80 standard that Zebra printers are factory-calibrated to — eliminates a variable that causes misfeeds and encoder errors when using off-spec card stock.
- 500-Card Pack Density: A single box supports 500 issuances, which covers a typical quarterly reorder cycle for a 200-employee site with normal badge replacement attrition — fewer reorders, fewer stockout incidents.
- US Manufactured: Country of Origin documentation is US, which clears TAA traceability requirements on GSA schedule and state government contract vehicles without needing additional supplier attestation.
Deployment Considerations:
- These are plain PVC substrate — no magstripe, no chip, no antenna. If any portion of your program issues encoded access credentials, order the appropriate embedded card variant separately; the 104523-116 is strictly for print-only or visitor badge applications.
- When running through a laminator, account for overlaminate thickness in your finished card stack — the 30 MIL input becomes 33–36 MIL finished depending on the overlaminate spec, which can affect compatibility with card holders and badge reel clips.
For a government facility or corporate campus running a Zebra ZC300 or ZXP Series 7 with a dedicated visitor badge queue, the 104523-116 is the straightforward print-only substrate that keeps that queue running without introducing credential encoding complexity into a high-throughput line.
