Patent ID: 8342413

Claim:
A method of preparing an identity document, the identity document having a print medium on which is printed personal information, the method comprising: printing at least one additional personalized element consistent with said personal information on at least one laminate, at least a portion of the at least one laminate is transparent; applying the at least one laminate onto a first side of the print medium; and partially transferring the at least one additional personalized element onto the first side of the print medium thereby irreversibly modifying the additional personalized element wherein the print medium comprises a region for forming a final document and a free margin corresponding to the region for forming the final document, the method further comprises: printing a code in the free margin; and reading the code to identify, from a database, the personal information to be printed on the region for forming the final document and the at least one additional personalized element to be printed on the at least one laminate.