I have this business card.

[Fusiondesigner]

Someone gave me their business card, it's awesome, well the finish is anyway, it kinda feels like a cross between wax and plastic, what finish do you think it is?

Also when I make my business cards what should I do regarding Illustrator? e.i. Document sizes, color mode etc.http://graphicdesignforum.com/emoticons/alien2.gif Thanks!

take the kids to see a replica of what never was...
http://www.fusioneffect.com

[Keyare]

If the printing is raised it's probably thermography. If not it might be a thermal wax printer.
Document size 3.5x2'
colour mode whatever....

[Kirby]

It sounds like a matt laminate finish.

[thelobst]

Colour mode should be cmyk, unless you are using spot colours in ai. Artwork should be 300 dpi at the size you want it printing. You'll need to include bleed (3mm)if your ink runs off the cards edge. Make sure you don't put any text too close to the document edge, to avoid a nightmare for the trimmer.

I agree with Kirby. I mistook matt laminate for plastic when I first saw it.

[Fusiondesigner]

Thanks, I think it is a matt laminate, it's not gloss, how do I make illustrator 300dpi?

take the kids to see a replica of what never was...
http://www.fusioneffect.com

[djtherapy]

Be careful about using CMYK for this kind of printing. If you've got logos, graphic elements or even type in a single colour (i.e. a mix of C, M, Y & K) then print it as a spot colour or you'll get nasty screen lines on the sides of your print.

If in doubt ask your printer for specific advice.

And you don't have to worry about setting resolution in Illustrator - it's a vector-based program. DPI only matters in rasterised images. If you have any image files that are dropped into your illustrator document then you need to make sure they are at least 300 dpi at the same size at which they will be printed.

Post Edited (djtherapy) : 4/1/2004 12:49:43 PM GMT