“In the end, the end customer no longer has anything to do with the process; they simply approve the images.”

"You retrieve the images from us via the REST API. In the end, the end customer has nothing to do with the process; they simply approve the images. It's just a clever solution."

The entire process between invitation and retrieval includes upload via smartphone, kiosk, app, or QR code, AI validation of sharpness, lighting, head pose, and background, quality control, cropping, and background replacement. What IDENTA receives via the interface is a print-ready, ICAO- and ISO-compliant image — not a folder that someone has to go through again.

What matters is where the effort goes. It hasn't vanished at the partner, but at the partner's customer: “The customer can collect their images much more easily and smartly. They no longer have any internal effort; they can simply hand it off. The end customer benefits enormously.”

Another effect concerns the security of ID card issuance. Wherever people upload their own picture, they test what the system will accept. This pattern is well known in the university environment.

"When it came to student ID cards, the photos were often fake. We can now remove those. This way, customers who order the cards can be sure that the cards feature real people—not Mickey Mouse or celebrities."

The validation process identifies comic book characters, famous faces, group photos, and images of objects before a card is created. For IDENTA, this isn’t just a convenience feature—it’s a guarantee that a delivered ID card will actually function as an ID. An incorrect face is not just a minor flaw in an access control medium.

ID card projects rarely occur evenly. They come as a rollout, a card replacement, the start of a semester. That is precisely when it becomes clear whether a capture solution scales.

"The end customer sent us nearly 30,000 images through you. You processed them and sent them back within 24 hours, so we were able to send the ID card straight to print."

30,000 images, one workday, no intermediate steps. This is what distinguishes a large-scale project that you accept from one that you’d rather turn down based on cost calculations. This is made possible by a combination of an automated preliminary review—which, in practice, yields about five times as many directly usable images as a raw upload—and manual quality control, during which approximately 3,000 photos are reviewed per person per workday.

Photo Collect doesn't replace a process; it closes a gap. IDENTA retains card management, personalization, and printing. Only the step that was previously unstructured was connected — via REST API, or alternatively via sFTP or ZIP, with OpenPGP encryption on request.

The end customer sees the benefit, not just the partner: the partner gains an argument and loses a reason for complaints, and the client can hand off photo procurement. And peak loads become predictable — anyone producing 30,000 ID cards in a rollout doesn't need additional capacity for image preparation.

Those most affected are card producers, providers of card management systems, integrators of access control and time recording systems, and suppliers to universities, transport companies, and public authorities. What they have in common is that they absolutely need the photo of the person but don't earn money from it.