About Us

How a Badge-Printing Project Became Aptika

Aptika is a family-owned business founded by Martin Bourdages and Dominique Baptista. The story began in January 1999, when Martin was commissioned by the Jeux du Québec to develop an application capable of printing more than 10,000 identification badges within a very short period. The badges were produced for the athletes, media representatives, organizers, volunteers, referees and many other participants attending the 1999 Winter Games in Trois-Rivières.

The first version of the software was developed specifically for that event and was called PhotoCarte. It was used to print large 4 × 6-inch cardstock accreditation badges. At the time, PhotoCarte did not support standard plastic identification cards.

Shortly afterward, the Société de transport de Montréal, or STM, heard about the project and asked whether PhotoCarte could be used to produce thousands of student transit passes. To help make that possible, the STM sent us one of its Eltron P310C plastic card printers. This gave us the hardware we needed to add support for standard CR80 plastic cards.

We renamed the software IDpack, and that is how IDpack truly began. What started as a custom application for the Jeux du Québec soon became a complete badge and identification card printing solution.

Aptika was officially incorporated on October 6, 2000. At that time, the company was called SOHO-iT, which stood for Small Office Home Office Information Technologies. We worked from our small apartment in Montreal, where Martin continued programming and developing IDpack while Dominique helped build and operate the growing family business.

In 2001, we moved into our first office on Sainte-Catherine Street in Montreal. By then, our team had grown to five employees. Unfortunately, the economic slowdown following the September 11 attacks disrupted many projects and forced us to reduce our operations. We moved the company back to our apartment, where we continued developing IDpack and serving our customers.

IDpack Goes Global
Our first sale in the United States took place on October 16, 2002, for a licence of IDpack 2002 Plus. Our first international sale outside Canada and the United States followed shortly afterward, when a gold mine in South Africa purchased IDpack.

Within days, additional international orders arrived from Spain, followed by France, Belgium and many other countries. From those early sales, IDpack continued to expand throughout Canada, the United States and the rest of the world.

From Software to ID Card Printing Equipment
After purchasing IDpack, many customers asked us where they could buy the specialized printers, ribbons, cameras and supplies required to produce professional identification cards. At first, we referred them to various suppliers, but we quickly realized that purchasing this specialized equipment was often complicated and that many customers needed better guidance.

We also recognized an opportunity to provide our customers with a complete solution. In 2004, we began selling the printers, supplies and accessories required to produce badges and plastic identification cards.

The Aptika Online Store
Expanding into equipment sales was a major step for the company. We adopted the Aptika name to create a more distinctive and recognizable brand and developed an online store dedicated to ID card printers and identification products.

When the Aptika website was launched, we offered a small selection of brands and a few hundred products. At the time, online purchasing was still unfamiliar to many organizations. It took considerable work and marketing to establish trust, but orders gradually began arriving from businesses and institutions around the world.

Over the years, our customers have included major corporations such as Virgin America and RadioShack, as well as organizations including the United States Army and NASA.

ID Cards for Many Different Applications
We have helped organizations create identification cards and badges for an enormous variety of applications. During our first decade, we also operated an accreditation service that provided complete on-site badge and ID card production facilities for major events, including the Jeux du Québec, an organizing committee for the Olympic Games, the World Energy Congress, the World Police and Fire Games, and the FINA World Aquatics Championships.

As Aptika's software, online operations and web store continued to grow, providing on-site accreditation services became increasingly difficult to manage. We eventually decided to concentrate on developing IDpack and supplying our customers with professional identification products and equipment.

By 2014, our badge-printing software was running on more than 25,000 computers worldwide, including systems used by large cities, municipalities, corporations, schools and government organizations.

Growing, Moving and Shipping
As demand increased, we moved several times to accommodate the growing business. In 2006, after several years of operating from our apartment, we opened a new office in Lachute, Quebec.

Three years later, we moved to a larger office in Sainte-Adèle, in the Laurentian Mountains north of Montreal. Sainte-Adèle offered an excellent quality of life for our family and staff while still allowing us to serve customers throughout Canada, the United States and the rest of the world.

The move certainly did not slow us down. FedEx regularly visited our office several times a day to collect orders being shipped to our customers.

In 2015, we moved Aptika back to Montreal, this time to Complexe Desjardins in the heart of downtown, where our headquarters remain today.

From IDpack for Windows to IDpack in the Cloud
In 2018, after 19 years of developing IDpack for Windows, we began working on a cloud-based version. This was not simply a conversion of the existing software, but the creation of an entirely new system capable of designing and printing identification cards from the cloud.

On December 20, 2019, we discontinued the Windows version of IDpack so that we could focus our efforts on the new platform. It was a difficult decision, but an important one for the future of the product. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we continued rebuilding, expanding and improving the new system, and IDpack in the Cloud became the foundation of the product we offer today.

In September 2023, we shortened the name to IDpack Cloud. In March 2025, we returned to the original IDpack name. When the cloud platform was introduced, the word "Cloud" helped distinguish it from IDpack for Windows, but that distinction was no longer necessary. We returned to the name that customers had known and trusted for more than 25 years.

Multiple Warehouses and Customers in 87 Countries
Today, Aptika has served more than 35,000 customers in 87 countries with the support of two warehouses and a network of partners. One warehouse is located at our headquarters in Montreal, Quebec, and the second is located in Zionsville, Indiana.

Thank You to Our Customers
We want to thank all the customers who helped us reach this point. Many of the organizations that first placed their trust in IDpack and Aptika are still working with us today.

What began in 1999 as a custom badge-printing project for the Jeux du Québec became IDpack, and IDpack ultimately became the foundation of Aptika.