couple more ?'s

Whats a good paper stock, I think 12 is standard, is 14 overkill?

and is there a minimum font size that will print clearly? I have Myriad at 8pt...

Drorain just did my cards, they are fabulous. I just wanted to make sure to HIGHLY RECOMMEND his services. Speed, quality, service, price. I was impressed by all. Hopefully he'll be by here soon. SLIGHTLY smaller than standard but I never would have noticed.

The bleed will make it look like crap, but don't worry ... once they are cut, all will be back to normal. But you've got crop marks where you want them to cut, right? Cutting is not exact, that's why you need to allow a % for movement.

Really, you want to ask your printer some of these questions. They should provide a lot of this info. on their website, but a good printer is usually willing to answer questions before you send in a file (they would rather have you ask questions before-hand than wind up with a mess to fix once they get it). As for gloss coating, you've got the blue cards, correct? I think that would look fab with gloss, it would make the color pop. Online printers make this feature affordable -- if I were to do gloss in my town locally? SPENDY.

I always put my business cards on a standard old 8.5' x 11' document with crop marks where I want them. I am curious if printers prefer if you set your document size a certain way, too. Printers appreciate it when you prepare files correctly, I try to make life easiest for them ... it's good kharma. I think they prefer it if you ask questions directly rather than guess ... every printer is just a wee bit different.

Somebody, please tell me if I am doing this all wrong! lol

I think if you go with an online printer, you'll have to ask them about their paper stock -- every one is different and you might not have options there.

I think Myriad (LOVE!) 8pt would be fine, but it all depends on the contrast of colors you're using of course.

you hsould have an 1/8 inch bleed on all edges, your document size should stay the size of your card and drage the bleed over.
thoose online printers you mentioned are crap

'No Lois I am not drunk, I am exhausted because I have been up all night drinking.'

thanks for the info, any suggestions on printers?

I would choose to use a local printer if possible. But than thats just me.

Also, you mentioned that your document size was set to 3.5' x 2'. But you did not mention whether you had crop marks or not. You definately want crop marks set 1/8' off the edge of your trim. You do want 1/8' bleed but I am concerned by you saying that you blew your whole card up to get the bleed. Maybe I read incorrectly. If you did that I am not sure your type will still be 1/8' in from the trim. Make sure it is. 8 Pt. is a good size. A little on the small side but still O.K. Remember people need to easily read it. If you have room I would go 10 Pt. but it is not necessary. I havn't seen your design and it may dictate the smaller type to look good.

As far as how a printer likes things laid out I suppose that may vary from printer to printer but I know that as a printer I would like the card submitted to me as a 1-up document. If you did it in Illustrator that is great because I would save it as an EPS and step it up in my imposition program however many I am going to run it up. Not all printers use 8.5 x 11 size paper to run business cards. In my previous life we used to run them 4 up all the time on 8.5 x 5.5.

Randy

Randy Gennick
A.S.A.P. Art & Design

man, everyone and everything I read says something different, lol. At one point I had crop marks set at the 3x2.5' points, and had the bleed extending to 2.167x3.627'. Wouldn't I want the crop marks at the 2x3.5' marks instead of 1/8 inch out? ...I guess I'll have to find a printer around here and ask for their preference.

I didn't blow up the whole card, just extended the background, so I'm good there. Thanks for the info!

Aquious coating and Satin Gloss are both types of varnish. I believe they are both a little less shiny/durable than UV coating, but they should work fine for a BC. Durability is only an issue when you do a spot varnish on a book cover or something like that. I use a company called Color24 to vendor 4c business cards, and they do an OK job (fast, cheap, etc...).

A lie can travel halfway around the world before the truth can even put on its shoes.
-Mark Twain

I usually specify matt lamination finish on business cards - sometimes with a spot UV or Foil block for the logo. 8pt (depending on the font) is a good size. You can get away with 7pt but 8 is generally better.

you're a (wo)man obsessed jamodu with yur foil blocks!

C*** Designer

so i'm a blocky bloke who likes shiny things - problem with that? [img]/DesktopModules/dotNetBB/emoticons/bootyshake.gif[/img]