Business cards are printed on some form of card
stock with exact parameters dependent on
national or local norms, the desired effect and
method of printing, and cost. In general
business cards use stock that is 350g/m²
(weight) or 12pt (thickness).
High quality business cards without full-color
photographs are normally printed using spot
colors on sheetfed offset printing presses.
If a business card logo is a single color and
the type is another color, the process is
considered two color. More spot colors can be
added depending on the needs of the card. With
the onset of digital printing, it is cost
effective to print business cards in full
colour.
To simulate the "raised-print" effect of
printing with engraved plates, a less-expensive
process called thermography was developed that
uses the application of a plastic powder, which
adheres to the wet ink. The cards are then
passed through a heating unit, which melts the
plastic onto the card. Spot UV varnish onto
matte laminate can also have a similar effect.
Full color cards, or cards that use many colors,
are printed on sheetfed presses as well;
however, they use the CMYK (cyan, magenta,
yellow, and black) four-color printing process.
Screens of each color overprinted on one another
create a wide gamut of color. The downside to
this printing method is that screened colors if
examined closely will reveal tiny dots, whereas
spot color cards are printed solid in most
cases. Spot colors should be used for simple
cards with line art.
Some terminology in reference to full color
printing:
-
4/0 - Full Color Front / No Back
-
4/1 - Full Color Front / One color to
reverse
-
4/4 - Full Color Front / Full Color Back
These names are pronounced as "four back zero"
or "four back four".
A business card can also be coated with a UV
glossy coat. The coat is applied just like
another ink using an additional unit on a
sheetfed press. That being said, UV coats can
also be applied as a spot coating - meaning
areas can be coated, and other areas can be left
uncoated. This creates additional design
potential.
Business Cards can also be printed with a
digital copier, which uses toner baked onto the
surface of the card. Generally these cards have
to be printed on lighter stocks so as to not
damage the copier. To compensate for this a UV
coating or plastic lamination can be applied to
thicken the cards up and make them more durable.
UV coats, and other coatings such as Aqueous
Coatings are used to speed manufacturing of the
cards. Cards that are not dry will "offset"
which means the ink from the front of one card
will end up on the back of the next one. UV
coatings are generally highly glossy but are
more likely to fingerprint, while aqueous
coatings are not noticeable but increase the
life of the card. It is possible to use a dull
aqueous coating on uncoated stock and get some
very durable uncoated cards.
When cards are designed, they are given bleeds
if color extends to the edge of the finished cut
size. (A bleed is the extension of printed lines
or colors beyond the line where the paper it is
printed on will be cut.) This is to help ensure
that the paper will cut without white edges due
to very small differences in where the blade
cuts the cards, and it is almost impossible to
cut the cards properly without. Just being a
hair off can result in white lines, and the
blade itself will pull the paper while cutting.
The image on the paper can also shift from page
to page which is called a bounce, which is
generally off by a hairline on an offset press,
but can be quite larger on lower end equipment
such as a copier or a duplicator press. Bleeds
are typically an extra
1⁄8 to
1⁄4 in
to all sides of the card.
ref:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_card