Flashlight test at bar - advice needed

Hey everyone, just got back from testing this at a local bar and wanted to drop some advice for anyone else doing the flashlight test. The biggest thing I noticed? The edges are finally sealed properly now. That used to be a major weak point on earlier versions, and honestly it was a dead giveaway if you ran a thumb along the edge or shined a light at an angle. But this time the laminate overlay actually wraps around cleanly with no separation, so the light doesn't bleed through like it used to.

As for the hologram overlay construction? It's a multi-layer laminate now, and the foil seems applied with better registration. Under a bright LED flashlight (I used a 1000-lumen one), the typical rainbow shift is solid—the tiny state seal images inside the overlay change color smoothly from green to gold as you tilt it. The ghost image of the state seal in the background is much crisper than before. I can see the fine lines in the ghost without needing a loupe, and there's no blurring or double-imaging when I move the light across it. That was always a weak spot for me in the past, so I'm glad they dialed that in.

Perforation pattern quality is also worth mentioning. The pinholes on the laminate are clean—no ragged edges or melted plastic burrs. Under the flashlight, the pattern is uniform and the spacing is consistent across the whole overlay. No random missing holes or oddly shaped ones that would raise suspicion if someone checks with a loop or strong light. I held a phone light directly behind it, and the perforations lit up in a neat, evenly distributed grid. That's a huge improvement from when they used to look punched in by hand.

UV detail accuracy? I hit it with a 395nm blacklight and the state-appropriate UV elements are all there—the raised seal, the microprinting, and the secondary ghost image that only shows under UV. The color reproduction is spot-on for the state's known UV patterns. No bleeding or smudging, and the UV-reactive ink is consistent across the whole card. I've seen some where the UV part fades or has a different hue on the edges, but not this one.

As for scanner test results? I ran it under a few different handheld scanners and a standard ID scanner at the bar. It passed every time—the barcode and magstripe both read correctly, and the format matched what the scanner expected. No issues with the data parsing. The only thing I'm still a little cautious about is the material reflectivity under a direct flashlight beam. The front seems slightly too matte compared to a real state-issued card, so if someone shines a light at a shallow angle they might notice the texture difference. Edges are totally fine now, so that's the one thing I'd keep testing. Anyone else seeing that, or is it just my batch?

Good looking out

Flashlight tests are mostly checking for delamination. Good that it held up

This is solid advice