Printing and Personalization
Alignment: Text can be aligned to the left, right, center or fully-justified. Left-aligned text errs to that side of the page; right is the opposite, and text that is centered runs down the middle. Fully-justified text is spread evenly across the page, from the left to the right.
Art Charges: To print your logo, crest, illustration or photo on a card or stationery, will require extra charges. This charge is based on the quality of the artwork; the colors involved and the publisher of the card. For instructions on how to get your artwork to cardSupply, click here. See also Photography and Artwork Authorization, Artwork, Logos and Stock Logos.
Artwork: Illustrations, photographs, crests or logos used to adorn stationery or a card. For instructions on how to get your artwork to cardSupply, click here.
Back Copy: The text on the back of a greeting card, business card or other stationery. Usually, the back copy simply consists of the manufacturer and product code. However, various designs are available for back copy on business card, such as an appointment reminder calendar.
Bleed: An ink area that runs into the edge of a sheet.
Calligraphy: A handwritten, elegant italic script; often used for formal invitations, particularly weddings. The envelopes for wedding invitations are often addressed using calligraphy.
Camera-ready Art: Art that is ready to be prepared for printing as is; it is clean, flat and printed in dark ink with no sizing or color changes needed.
CMYK: A color process using cyan, magenta, yellow and black inks to create other colors.
Custom Artwork: Logos, illustrations, crests or photographs provided by the customer. For instructions on how to get your artwork to cardSupply, click here.
Debossing: The process by which hot metal dies are pressed into paper to create a depressed design on the front of the page and a raised area on the back of the sheet. Also, see Embossing.
Die-Charges: If you want a product with custom artwork embossed, debossed or blind-embossed, the manufacturer will have to make a die of your artwork. A die is a metal mold, which is heated then pressed into paper to form a raised or depressed design. Die charges depend on several factors; the type of die you choose; the intricacy of your design and the size of your artwork. You will be notified before any additional charges are applied.
Die-Cutting: The process of using sharp metal rules to cut shapes and designs into paper.
Die-Handling: You may provide a custom die for embossing, debossing or blind embossing at an additional charge. Also, see Die-Charges.
Embossing: To create a raised design on the front of the page, hot metal dies are pressed into paper. This process results in an indented area on the back of the paper. Embossing is often used to form borders on invitations, accessory cards and informals. Also, see Debossing.
Blind Embossing: Embossing without ink or foils. The result is a design which is the same color as the paper surrounding it, but with a "3-D" effect.
Foil Embossing: The embossing process may be performed with foil pressed into the raised or depressed design, adding another dimension to the embossed area.
Foil Stamping: To create designs or pictures, metallic foil is pressed into paper. For example, an invitation may have a leaf pattern on its border created by decorative foil. Foils come in many colors. Also called foil embossing.
Font: The style of lettering used on stationery. Fonts can be formal -- such as the ones you often see on a wedding invitation -- or casual such as the ones on a child's birthday party invitation. For example,Times New Roman, Balloon, and Helvetica are fonts. See also: serif and sans serif.
Heat-Resistant Thermography: Thermography printing that can withstand the heat of laser printer. For example, you may want to further personalize an invitation with copy written in thermography. Heat-resistant thermography will withstand a run through your laser printer. See also: Thermography.
Ink Embossing: The embossing process with ink on the metal die, adding color to the raised or depressed picture or design.
Engraving: Engraving is an old, classic and very detailed printing technique. The text of a card is carved onto a copper plate. The plate is then pressed onto the paper, giving the lettering a raised effect, and "bruising" the paper. The bruise describes the slightly stretched area around the engraved letters; this is characteristic of engraving. Also, the back of the paper will have a depressed design.
Engraving was originally only done by hand. Now an easier process called photoengraving achieves the same results in a fraction of the time.
Letterpress: Raised words and images are inked and pressed directly into paper, resulting in a debossed (depressed) effect. Dating back to the 1400s, letterpress is often used with papers with exceptional textual qualities, as this technique highlights the paper on which it is printed.
Logo: Art, illustration or symbol that reflects a business or corporation's mission and product. Logos may be provided by the customer -- see Art Charges, Artwork and Camera-ready Art -- or you may select a stock logo from our wide selection of images -- see Stock Logos.
Photoengraving: See Engraving
Photography and Artwork Authorization: To reproduce artwork, photographs or other illustrations you may wish to add to your card, stationery or business card, we need the written consent of the author of the artwork -- e.g.: the painter, photographer or graphic designer. Ownership alone does not give the possessor the right to reproduce the artwork without the author's written consent.
PMS Color: Pantone Matching Systems for inks. PMS color provides very accurate and true matches, even for unusual colors. This is especially useful when a company logo will be printed on a card. A precise match of the logo's colors ensures the symbol will be recognizable and representative of the company.
Point Size: This term describes how large or small text is. Nine-point text is very small -- something like the "small print" on legal documents -- and fifty point text is relatively large, like a newspaper headline.
Proofs: If you wish, cardSupply will provide a proof of your invitation, announcement or stationery so you can double-check your choice of personalization and, if necessary, make sure your logo, artwork or illustration was reproduced correctly.
Registration: When two ink or foil colors touch or when these two colors must not touch. For example, a business card has a logo in blue, and copy in black. The copy begins just beneath the logo, and of course, it cannot be printed where the boat is, but it also cannot be printed far beneath the boat. The printer must carefully align the copy and logo so they are in a precise spots -- this is registration. Now let's say the blue logo is adorned with a black circle running around it. This is also registration, since two ink colors must touch for this business card to fit the customer's specifications.
Reverses: A reverse charge will apply if your logo, artwork or illustration needs to be reversed to appear correctly on your card, invitation stationery or announcement.
Rounded Corners: Some of our business cards may be ordered with rounded corners for an extra charge.
Screens: A screen is a dot pattern, which, in lower densities, makes a color look lighter. For example, when red is screened it appears pink. Screens are available on some products and cost extra, depending on the percentage of the screen -- the lower the percentage, the more dramatic the screen. For example, a 100% red screen is red; a 20% red screen appears pink.
Serif and Sans Serif: These two terms describe the look of a letter style. Serif describes a lettering style with "feet" on the edges of the letters, such as Times New Roman: Times New Roman. This lettering style used on this web page, Arial, is "sans serif". Fonts with serifs have a classic look; sans-serif fonts have a contemporary look.
Silk-Screen: A stencil method of printmaking in which a design is imposed on a screen of silk or other fine mesh, with blank areas coated with an impermeable substance, and ink is forced through the mesh onto the printing surface. Also called screen-printing, silk-screen process.
Standard Inks and Foils: Each card supplier that cardSupply works with has their own definition of colors and foil colors which are used to print and personalize their products. From company to company, these definitions may vary somewhat; for example, Carlson Craft's standard red may be slightly different from Caspari's standard red.
Stock Logos: A wide selection of artwork, including images for almost any personal or professional use, from balloons to dogs, from families to cars, which our customers may use to adorn invitations, announcements or stationery.
Thermography: Powder is applied to the ink on a page, then heated. This creates a raised effect similar to engraving, but without the indentation on the back of the page. Thermography is less expensive than engraving.
Typestyle: Same as font.
Watermark: A translucent design in paper that can be seen when the paper is held to the light. Many checks feature watermarks to prove authenticity.
