Matt Business Cards

Professional Business Card Printing

Should you be looking for professional business card printing you have landed on the right website. Whether you wish to use them as visiting cards or thank you cards, we can assist you. We print personal business cards, photography, lawyers, plumbing, construction and more.

Sizes

There are several sizes used for business cards throughout the world. The European countries incl. the United Kingdom uses an 85x55mm business card size. The far eastern countries like Japan and China uses as 90x55mm business card size. South Africa incl. South America and the Eastern European countries like Russia, Romania, Croatia etc. uses size 90x50mm

Standardising the business card sizes makes the printing process more economical and faster. If all the cards are the same size it is easier to cut, saving time and money. In other words, if the business cards are differ sizes, you have to cut them separately, doubling the time and labour.

We can offer any size business cards you many require as we print our all our business cards in-house.

Paper Options

Several years ago, when all business cards were only printed on Litho printers, a thicker stock paper of 400gsm was mostly used. This produced a firm and professional business card.

With the change of technology the digital printer started to take over a lot of the business card printing. These digital machines are however are limited to 300gsm or 350gsm paper, producing a slightly softer business card. In most cases lamination is used, post print, to firm up the business card.

The standard paper we offer is bought in bulk to keep the business card prices down.

Paper Weight

Not all paper are equal. The grams per meter or gsm refer to the weight per meter and not the stiffness of the business card paper. Different paper with the same weight can have different firmness. It is up to the printing company to select a good quality paper.

Paper Grain

Paper grain is also a factor when it comes to business card stiffness. If a business card is printed along the grain of the paper then the business card will be more ridged versus printing the business card against the grain of the paper.
In summary you can have a 350gsm paper printed with the grain and it will result in a firmer business card then a soft 400gsm paper printed against the grain.

Specialty Paper

We do print on special paper for customers. Special paper types like embossed paper or linen paper are popular with lawyers and doctors. The business card appears very elegant and simplistic. Other well liked paper are white gold and metallic. The shiny effect of the business card makes it look more expensive.

Printing Process

Your business cards will be printed at a high definition and may include any colour or picture you wish to print.
Business cards are printed either double or single sided.

The two main printing process used to print business cards are digital or litho

Litho Printing

Lithograph Printer uses plates and cans of ink to print business cards. The plates contains the images of the business cards you wish to print. These plates are used only once making this process very expensive and timely, therefore it is not cost effect to print 1 set of business cards.

Typically a process called batching is used when printing business cards on a litho printer. Several business cards designs are placed on to 1 layout and printed together. On an A2 size Litho printer for example, you can fit 40 business cards per sheet. Using this method, the setup and plate cost are shared by all these customers and not just by one person. Batch printing makes Litho printing more cost effective but you do have drawbacks.

Business cards take longer to print due to the setup time i.e. developing the plates and setting up the plates on the machine. You also need to wait for enough orders to fill the layout before you can print. You can printer as many designs per print run as you wish but this will increase your running cost.

Digital Printing Process

A digital business card is fast to print; the artwork is send from the computer straight to the printer. Compared to litho printing there is no additional setup involve. Great if you need a professional business card in a short period of time. There is no minimum quantity and artwork can be printed when ready. No need to wait to fill a layout like you have to do with Litho. Digital printers can generally print up to a maximum of 350gsm paper. Digital printers are however very complicated and sophisticate and can be costly to run and maintain. The toner (not ink) is also pricy compared to Litho ink.

Finishes and Options

There are several options to make your business cards more unique and exciting
A cheap business card would have not finish and will just be a single sided print.

Gloss

Gloss business cards can be achieved by either using a gloss lamination or a full gloss varnish. Lamination also strengthens the business card and increases the lifespan.

Foil

Business card foiling is the process of adding metallic coloured foil to your business. This foil is available in multiple colours like green, blue, red, pink, yellow, gold and silver. You can combine several colours in 1 design but it will be a very expensive exercise.

There are two popular process to foil a business card

Hot stamp foiling

A traditional method where a foil block is attached to a machine. The block has your design engraved in it and is used to stamp the foil onto the business card sheet. This method is prices as you have to pay for setup and buy a foil block with your design. Should you repeat the design in the future you do not have to order a new foil block. Low volume printing will be expensive due to the upfront costs.

A cost saving method is to foil a generic image on your business cards, for example, the company’s logo. Say you have 5 people who wishes to order 200 cards each. You will only need 1 foil block with your logo and you will use this block for all 1000 business cards. You will be charged for 1 setup and 1 foil block. The names and number of these individuals you will print digitally because they vary and with a digital printer you do not pay for setup.

Sleeking

Sleeking is a method where we first print the design you wish to foil on your business card sheet. We then put these business cards sheets through a laminator with the colour foil of your choice. The foil adheres to the printed design only, after which we print the remainder of the information on the pages. This is a new method that is becoming very popular as there is not foil block or setup required.

Traditional foiling does have a crisper, more authentic look but the sleeking method is catching up fast.

Embossed

Embossed business cards refers to a design being punched into the paper. Two embossing blocks are required to punch the paper. A positive and a negative block. This method is very elegant but is one of the most expensive branding options.

Spot UV

Spot UV varnish on business cards refers to the process where you only varnish specific elements of your design for example your logo. This will make the logo on your business card draw attention and stand out. We use a matt paper or matt lamination as the base of the design. The contrast between the matt and the varnish makes it stand out even more
The three popular methods to achieve a spot UV varnish

Silkscreening

This is the traditional method where the design that you wish to UV spot vanish is exposed on a silk screen using a photosensitive emulsion. The treated silkscreen is used as a stencil and each sheet is then screen printed with a varnish to UV spot your design. The rest of the cards stays unvarnished. Due to the setup and master films needed to make up the design, this method is expensive and not ideal for low volume printing. I would recommend printing 1000 business cards or more at a time. You many even batch several peoples’ business cards together as this will reduce the print cost per set

Scodix

Scodix is a machine that Spot UV varnish business cards digitally. This machine is very expensive therefore the process itself is pricy.

Sleeking

Sleeking like with foiling is an option. There is no setup or masters needed. If done well you will not notice the difference between Sleeking and the other Spot UV methods.

Hi-build Varnish

Hi-build varnish is a type of Spot UV varnish. The varnish is build up giving the image dimension. This method

Matt Lamination

Matt lamination has a soft and elegant look and feel. The velvet variety especially has a high quality finish.

Round Corners

Corner cutting is an option to give your business card a more rounded and softer look. You can select any number of corners can be cut.

Folded

We print folded business cards as two business cards joined together, either on the long or short side. This allows you to add more information and images to the cards as you have double side surface size.

Plastic

Plastic business cards are becoming popular. Business cards made from plastic are still very expensive due to the fact that it is a thin layer of plastic. Not as cost effective as paper.

Business Card Artwork

You may supply us with artwork or we can assist you in designing a business card to matches your needs. We offer 30min free design setup. With over 10 years’ experience in business card printing we can help you find the right product