Print custom shape die cut postcards on this silk laminated 16 point card stock and elevate your brand is your own unique style.
These 16pt Die cut postcards are printed in full color with optional UV spot gloss varnish to highlighted areas in high gloss on the the matte card surface.
Turn up the glamor a few more notches with foil stamping and debossed or embossed elements to really engage all of the senses.
The beauty of silk laminated die cut postcards is not just in what the eyes see, silk laminated cards offer superior cut quality and extra durability do your custom shape postcards are tear resistant hold their shape.
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.
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.
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).
If debossed on the front side, the debossing will show though the stock and look embossed on the back side, and vice versa. This is because the 16pt stock is too thin to allow for the impression without show through.
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!
CMYK Process colors 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 color 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.
For the richest of deep dark blacks in print use 50/40/40/100 as the CMYK value. If printing small black text (or knocked out text), we recommend a k only black (0/0/0/100) to avoid mis-registration issues.
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.
Coated cards aren't ideal for writing on. If finished with a matte aqueous coating, sharpies may work if left to dry but ballpoint pens will smudge. If finished with a UV gloss coating, don't even think about it. If this is a big deal, check out our uncoated card stock options.
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 die line should be as simple as possible or the order may be placed on hold to quote the complex die.
Foil Stamping: Include a separate file/artboard with these elements colored with Pantone Black to denote the special finishing. Alternatively, if you would like to include these elements in the same file, place these elements on a separate layer and coloured with a Pantone color (typically Pantone Black) that denotes the Foil Stamping.
Emboss/Deboss: Include a separate file/artboard with these elements coloured with Pantone Black to denote the special finishing. Alternatively, if you would like to include these elements in the same file, place these elements on a separate layer and coloured with a Pantone color (typically Pantone Black) that denotes the Foil Stamping.
Spot Gloss: Include a separate file/artboard with these elements colored with Pantone Black to denote the special finishing. Alternatively, if you would like to include these elements in the same file, place these elements on a separate layer and coloured with a Pantone color (typically Pantone Black) that denotes the Foil Stamping.
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
Colors: supply your files in CMYK color (Pantone/RGB colors 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.
Offset Printed using AM Screens
16pt coated card stock, laminated with 1.5mil Silk Lamination Both Sides
Full Color Both Sides (4/4) or Full Color One Side (4/0), using soy-based inks
Silk Laminated with standard Matte Finish or Gloss UV coating (one or two sides) available
Spot UV available (one or two sides)
Embossing and Debossing available (one side only)
