Postcards printed on 32pt thick uncoated card stock have hefty, matte finish that is perfect for substantial postcards. We print these in full colour with soy inks on an offset press, ensuring the highest reproduction quality of your artwork.
We offer many bespoke options to make your postcards truly unique. Consider custom shape die-cutting embossed or debossed design elements and consider adding foil stamping to highlight aspects of your design using light and foil over matte contrasts.
Custom sizes and higher quantities are available by custom quote!
This product has an estimated production time that will vary based on a variety of factors including additional custom finishes and current production schedules and is not meant for projects with critical deadlines. We cannot change, speed up or cancel orders that are in production. Contact us BEFORE placing an order if you have a critical deadline.
NOTES ON EMBOSSING / DEBOSSING
Elements that are embossed will appear as a debossed effect on the reverse. Elements that are debossed may show a slight impression on the reverse. + We offer a "No-Show Emboss" that appears flaton the reverse of the card by custom quote.
Full Ink Coverage Not Recommended Full coverage (aka floods) of ink on uncoated stocks are not recommended. While offset wet inks will absorb to some degree into the stock, the overall result of covering uncoated stocks with ink will produce a low sheen instead of a matte appearance. Heavy ink coverage may also highlight the appearance of natural fibres on uncoated stocks. If your art / design includes heavy ink coverage and you want cards with a matte appearance we recommend one of our laminated stocks instead.
Please supply your die line file in Vector format. If you need help preparing your die line, watch the tutorial video or select the option to have us create your die line for you.
The prices listed are for cards cut to simple custom shapes. If your cards require intricate cutting, we will need to provide a custom estimate. We will let you know if your die line requires a custom estimate during the file check process.
Foil is based on an estimated foil size of around 1" x 2". Full foil coverage, or borders that go around the edge of the card require a larger die and would need to be custom quoted for the additional die size.
With the foil stamping, you can expect some slight shifting throughout the print run between the CMYK and foil layers -- there may be up to 1/16" shift on the placement of the foil. Keep this in mind if you are trying to align foil with other printed artwork on the card. The areas where there is tight registration between the CMYK elements and foil elements may not turn out as expected.
Fine detail in foil stamped elements can fill in (the centre of an "e" or "a" in small type, or fine detail in an image or complex logo).
During the die-cutting process there will be a degree of shifting of the cut. A good design leaves a 1/8" critical margin inside the trim line to compensate for this shifting. Art that extends to the edge of the card requires a 1/8" bleed.
Any hole or interior shape that will die cut needs to be at least 1/8" in diameter. Say you were die-cutting a letter U shape, the aperture in the U (the space between the two stems) must be at least 1/8" Small cut like this may not be strip away during cutting but a gentle tap will knock it out!
Uncoated stocks produce subdued, muted colours that may appear dull compared to coated stocks with low lustre aqueous or high gloss UV coatings.
Write up a storm! Unlike our coated options, these cards work perfect as stamp cards, appointment cards, or a business card that you can scrawl a note across the back. You've found a match.
Uncoated stocks are more grainy and fibrous than other stocks so if you are looking for really sharp lines or micro text a coated stock will be up to that challenge.
The upside of club-run printing is the shared savings, the downside is that we adjust colour globally to get the best overall colour for shared jobs. This means the colour of club-run printed items will vary through the run and will not match exactly on re-prints. Our Indigo printing service is better suited to colour critical work.
CMYK Process colours in the grey range and de-saturated images can shift in colour throughout the print run and may cause the greys to appear either cooler or warmer. For a neutral grey, we recommend converting all grey values and de-saturated images to true greyscale consisting of K (black) only values.
Due to the nature of club-run printing, you may experience colour variation in solid fills of blue. For great blue results, we recommend a 30% difference between your Cyan and Magenta levels to ensure a nice rich dark blue, rather than purple.
The die line must fit within the size ordered; for example if you order a 4" x 6" die cut card, your shape must fit within a 4" x 6" boundary.
Die Line: Supply a file that includes a vector path outline indicating the shape and size of your die cut card. Pricing is based on simple shape, so your dieline should be as simple as possible or the order may be placed on hold to quote the complex die.
Foil Stamping | Embossing | Debossing | Spot UV Gloss: Include a separate file/artboard with these elements coloured in 100% black or a custom spot colour to denote each element. Alternatively, if you would like to include these elements in the same file, place each element on a separate layer in 100% black or a custom spot colour.
Bleeds: all files must have a 1/8" bleed on each side
Live Area: keep all critical text and artwork 1/8" inside the trim
Colours: supply your files in CMYK colour (Pantone/RGB colours will be converted or rejected)
Resolution: 300 dpi minimum (400 dpi preferred)
Fonts: fonts must converted to curves/outlines (we do not accept fonts).
Transparencies: flatten all transparencies
Types Of Files We Accept: MAC & PC files from Photoshop (PSD), Illustrator (EPS or AI), CorelDraw (CDR or EPS), Adobe Acrobat PDF, TIFF or JPEG.
