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How business cards are made:"The international standard size specified by ISO 7810 ID-1, the same dimensions as credit cards, is widely used: * 85.60 x 55 mm (3.370 x 2.125 in) Less commonly used is the A8 paper size specified in ISO 216: * 74 x 52 mm (2.913 x 2.047 in) In the United States the following size is common; however many other sizes are seen as well: * 3.5 x 2 in (89 x 51 mm) In Japan, the traditional paper size in common use: * 91 x 55 mm (3.582 x 2.165 in) High quality business cards without full-color photographs are normally printed using spot colors on sheetfed offset printing presses. Some companies have gone so far as to trademark their spot colors (examples are UPS brown, Los Angeles Lakers' purple, and Tide's orange). 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. 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. 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 These names are pronounced as "four over zero" or "four over 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 a 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. This will result in a nasty white line going down one (or more) of the sides. * Bleed Size: 3.75 x 2.25 in (1/8" bleeds) (95.25 by 57.15 mm)
1 wikipedia.org
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