What info you submit vs what ends up on the card
Honestly, this is a pretty common noob question. The best thing you can do is read the sticky in the new member section — it breaks down exactly what you submit vs. what prints on the card. Your biggest issue will be taking ID photo at home since lighting setup shadows can mess up the final look way more than you'd expect. Don't stress about matching every tiny detail perfectly, just use the search bar for examples. Keep it simple.
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New members are sometimes surprised by the gap between what they provide to a vendor and what appears on the finished card. Understanding this mapping helps you prepare the right information and avoid errors.
What you typically submit
Most vendors ask for: full name (first, middle, last), date of birth, address (street, city, state, zip), height, eye color, and a photo. Some vendors also ask for a signature image and sometimes a hair color or weight, depending on the state template.
What gets generated by the vendor
The license number is almost always generated by the vendor using a formula specific to the requested state. Most US states use deterministic license number formats derived from the cardholder's name and date of birth. A quality vendor uses the correct algorithm for each state. The expiration date is calculated based on your date of birth and the state's renewal rules — most states issue licenses that expire on the birthday four or eight years after issuance. The issue date is the production date or a plausible recent date.
Card information vs submitted information
The address, name, date of birth, and physical description fields on the card come directly from what you submitted. These fields are not generated — they reflect exactly what you provided. Errors in your submission appear verbatim on the card, which is why proofing exists. Double-check name spelling, address formatting, and date of birth on the proof before approving.
Barcode data
The PDF417 barcode and mag stripe encode a structured subset of the card face data. The barcode data is generated by the vendor at production time and should be consistent with the printed fields. On quality vendor cards, the barcode data matches the card face exactly. Ask the vendor about this consistency if it is important to your use case — some vendors do not encode all fields and inconsistencies between the barcode data and the card face are a tell for experienced checkers.