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Print your cards with plastic card printer or plastic card factory?

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What is the difference?

Plastic card printer (like Zebra priner)=Digital
printing

In recent years, an increasing amount of commercial
print has been digital – as opposed to more traditional
litho. Where litho printing involves printing using plates
and ink, digital print uses a fine powder (toner) which
melts onto the paper.
As the need for personalized plastic cards rises the
purchase of a Plastic Card Printer becomes more of a
necessity. Plastic Card Printers are perfect for Museums,
Schools, Nightclubs, memberhsip organizations, clubs,
or any other organization that has a need for
personalized Plastic Cards.

Plastic card factory= Full colour printing with Heidelberg machines

Full color plastic cards are four color litho printed with Heidelberg machines. Unlike inkjet printers, thermal printers or color photocopiers, full color (C-M-Y-K) printing provides accurate, precised, detailed, natural, brilliant reproduction of your originals at a low cost-per-sheet. Full color printing has come a long way as technology continues to advance. In fact, the methods used today are so refined that it is possible to make copies that look just like the original photos.

Digital Or Litho Printing?

Personalization

Utilizing the right software, a digital press will allow you to produce a mass market flyer come product brochure which you can personalize to each of your individual target audience. This is all driven by the data that you have on your customers/prospects. For example a well know car manufacturer regularly mails personalized postcards to its existing customers/prospects. The personalized message is not just the name and address but also the colour of the car, the model of the car and also a little note saying that they have owned their current model for xx number of years and it is due for a change. The servicing department of this well know group sends out service reminders using a similar method.

Speed of turnaround

Due to the way that digital presses work, they can produce the printed sheet immediately instead of having to go through several processes prior to being able to print as you would with a litho production. This means that for short run lengths it is possible to produce jobs same-day/overnight.

The benefit of Litho

If your project has a print quantity in excess of 1,000 copies then it is more than likely that Litho printing would be more cost effective. It is also still the most accurate process for colour reproduction. The Litho process is also much faster in terms of turnaround if your quantities run into tens of thousands.

A brief summary

A good starting point for helping you to decide which process is the most suitable for your current print project would be the total number of copies required. If your requirement is less than 1,000 copies then there is a far greater chance that your project would be more cost effectively produced using a digital press rather than a litho press. However the pagination and also the quality of the reproduction will also play an important part in the decision making process.
Seeking advice from a print professional will help you achieve your desired goals with the minimum of stress and heartache.

Plasticcardonline is a plastic card factory that provide full color plastic card printing service has same process and quality as credit cards production, exactly like the credit cards.

Clear plastic card design guide

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Card Dimensions
Our cards our 86mm x 54mm (3.385’’ x 2.125’’) with rounded corners with a corner radius of 3mm (0.118’’) as shown in the diagram. This shape is fixed. We do not have the ability to die cut plastic cards. The plastic cards are credit card sized as standard.

Ink Coverage
We use a thermal transfer to bond the ink to the plastic. This allows us to use totally opaque colours and
metallic foils on plastic. The downside of this process is that we cannot cover large blocks of areas with ink. As the process uses heat to bond the inks, the more ink you use, the more heat is required to ensure a good bond between ink and plastic. If too much ink is used , the required heat can warp and distort the plastic. Here is a guide as to how much ink you can use in one block. If you still have problems, please submit your design and we will try to find a solution.

Text Size
We like to use a minimum of 7.5pt font size with regular weight sans serif fonts (Futura, Arial, Century Gothic
etc) and 8pt with regular weight serif fonts (Garamond, Times New Roman, Century etc). Using smaller fonts
can result in a problem called ‘filling in’, where characters like ‘a’ and ‘e’ do not form correctly.

Bleed
We can reproduce designs that bleed right to the edge of the card in any ink. We request a 3mm bleed in
cases where the ink needs to run to the very edge of the card.

Colours
We have a set library of colours suitable for use on translucent plastic cards. These include both flat pigment
colours and reflective metallic inks. A rough guide to the colours we have available to us can be found on the
right. Unfortunately we cannot use these inks to create gradients If your logo contains colour gradients, we would need to alter it so that it is compatible.

Touching Inks
If you’re design has two or more colours touching each other, we will need to put a 0.5pt stroke around the
objects so that they do not touch. This reduces the likelyhood of countour lines where the inks overlap. It also reduces the risk of bonding issues sometimes caused by overlapping inks.

Printing on the Reverse
It is very possible to utilise the translucent aspect of the card and print colours on the back. Colours show up very well through the card from the other side, giving a very subtle 3d effect as colours printed on the front will be on a very slightly different level than the inks on the back. It is used mainly so that colours are abe to touch eachother. For example, if a logo absolutely demands that a green must be surrounded by a yellow for instance, we can print the yellow on the back of the card and the green on the front. Two drawbacks for this is that metallic inks cannot be put on the back as the bonding side is very different
from the actual displayed side, and the other drawback is that the same ink front and back of the card must
be charged as two colours as it must go through the print process twice.

Fine Detail
We recommend that lines be no thinner than 0.25mm in width. When we come to create the metal plates
used to apply ink to the plastic, using lines thinner than 0.25mm can result in a jagged, broken finish on very
fine detail. Due to our extensive experience we can help you through this process if you are concerned about the level of detail on your design.

Clear Ink
Clear Ink is used for creating a watermark effect on the frosted plastic card. It works by slightly translucency of the plastic. The result is a wonderfully subtle effect. Used effectively, it can take your design to a new level. The clear ink is regarded as an ink and is charged as an ink colour.

Remember, we are not trying to scare you off with the limitations detailed below! We are happy to work with you, of feri ng advice and our design experience, to ensure your card looks stunning.

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full color plastic card | RFID card | loyalty cards | Photo ID Cards | plastic business card | Smart Cards |

Die Cut Cards | clear frosted Cards | memership card | Gift Cards | Metal Cards | Blank Plastic Cards

| Paper Cards

Plastic card design guide

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For graphic designers, it is important that you deliver finalartwork in a print ready status to your client. There are several important points for your attention. I am eason, have worked in the artwork department of a card printing factory for a couple of years. So i know a little bit about the print ready artwork process. So i come here to shear my experience with your guys, especially for the freshmen in this field. I am not a native english speaker, so it must be a lot mistakes in my writing. Please understand. Thanks. Ok, let start now.

1. Software, file format: Most plastic card manufacture use coreldraw and illustrator. They accept various file format like: .cdr, .ai,. eps,.tif…etc. Personally i recommend cdr or ai version. Many people export file in pdf, but for some special effect in the artwork, it may affected after plasticcardonline printer import artwork into their software. So it is best that you can supply a very “original” artwork.

2. Vector or bitmap: This is always a very tuff thing for plasticcardonline printers. Many clients supply low resolution photos (Below 300dpi), usually it looks blur in monitor, these files is not good for full colour plasticcard printing. According to my experience, if the photo is small sized one, resolution is not a big problem, some times 72dpi also works. As client like get photo from internet, these photos are always low res at bout 72dpi. If shrink the size to 25% the resolution will be enough. When you design an artwork it is ok to keep photos as bitmap, but make sure the rest text and colored blocks/shapes/linearts are vector. It for the best result for printing, vector artwork can make the printed shapes very sharp and clear. And another thing you need pay attention is if client supply logo as a low resolution jpg file. You have to recreate it , make it vector. No body want their logo unreadable.

3. CMYK,RGB, Spot color: For printing CMYK is the most popular setting. RGB is for web, never use it. And some clients need accurate color, so you have to use spot color for pantone match.

4. Text and font: As i mentioned above. Text must be vector to make sure the best result for printing. You must pay attention when you exporting finalartwork, all fonts must be converted into outlines. Or you must supply used font with artwork. Otherwise, when the plasticcardonline printer open your artwork, the font will change. That is very dangerous. Not only the font, as it changes, the layout may also be affected. So this is quite important and always ignored by some designers. And for some artwork, even it is confirmed currently, you or your client may change the text contact in the near future. For this consideration, do not outline the text, store the font file with artwork. This can save a lot of time. Other wise you may never know what font is.

5. Bleed!Bleed!Bleed! This is the most common mistake for new designers, artwork for plastic card must be NO LESS THAN 3mm. The bleed area must be consolidate with the main artwork , this area will me cut off. When factory do cutting, they can not always cut very accurate. So make sure text, logo never too close to the edge of the card. The following size spec may helps. And if you need vector coreldraw template file, you can download here.

6. Corpmark, cutline: Make sure finalartwork has corp mark shown on artwork, it helps your plasticcard manufacturer locate the cutlines.

7. Signature stirp, mag strip, embossing, sequential number: When you do design, if it has embossing like membership cards. Pay attention to the back, so that embossing area will not affect the signature on the back if it has one. Same are the texts. Embossing text font name is OCR. Thermal printed sequential number is black only. So need pay attention to the background color. If it is too dark, add a white square. Embossing can be gold, silver,black tipped.

8. Silver foil, UV: If you want add silver foil/UV to the plasticcard. Make a separate layer with corp mark. Solid black, so the plasticcardonline printer can locate it correctly.

Plastic Card Types

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Access Control Card

– is a plastic card used to gain/control access to premises or enter restricted areas. Usually associated with magnetic or chip cards and proximity cards with or without photo e.g. ID badges.

Affinity card

– is a form of loyalty card where the co-branding partner is a charity or organisation that benefits financially from card use.

Barcode Card

– is a card with printed codes made from vertical lines of different thickness used for fast error free data entry printed somewhere on the face or reverse. There is an array of machine-readable rectangular bars and spaces arranged in a specific way defined in international standards to represent letters, numbers, and other human-readable symbols. Cards are either the usually 30 micron credit card type cards or alternatively can be ‘pop out’ cards.

Blank Cards

– are cards with no printing usually used in imaging machines.

CR80 Card

– is the description for a standard credit card size (3 3/8″ x 2 1/8″ x .030).

Charge Card

– is a payment card that provides automatic credit within a given invoice date (usually monthly).

Cheque guarantee card

– is a card issued by a bank or building society for the purpose of guaranteeing settlement of cheques to third parties or supporting the encashment of cheques at financial institutions up to a specified value. Most debit and some credit cards may also function as cheque guarantee cards (multifunction cards).

Chip Card

– is another name for a smart card; refers to a plastic card with an embedded integrated circuit, which offers memory and micro processing capabilities.

City card

– is a multi-application prepayment card for use within a specific urban area – also known as town card.

Combi Card

– is a smart card with both “contact” and “contactless” technology on one card.

Company Card

– is a card issued to or by a company for use by an employee for business-related transactions (e.g., purchases, logical access, physical access).

Contactless Smart Card

– is a smart card that transmits and receives data using radio frequencies (RF) technology to communicate with compatible terminal. Eliminates physical contact or insertion into reader terminal while retaining intelligence. Often used in walk-by or gate access applications for mass transit.

Contact Smart Card

– is a smart card that requires physical contact with a card reading device to exchange data. Any card where information is transferred to a reader via a series of contact points located on the card.

Credit Card

– is a term used for a card allowing its owner to spend money with no immediate reimbursement.

Debit Card

– is a card similar to a credit card, but differs by immediately withdrawing money from an account and transferring it to another account. It replaces cheques (with no delay to give the issuer time to cover it) and does not have a credit line associated.

Digital Optical Laser Card

– is a portable card that passively stores information in the form of high-density marks or bars.

Electronic Purse (e-purse)

– is a smart card that contains electronic money. It is sometimes called the electronic wallet or the stored value card (SVC).

e-wallet

– is a small portable device that contains electronic money. E-wallets are generally used for low-cost transactions.

Financial Hologram Card

– is a card using a hologram, 30 mil thickness, ISO cards, e.g. MasterCard / Visa and others.

Financial Cards (Other)

– are typically Debit, Cheque, Charge or ATM cards not using a hologram.

Fuel card

– is a special purpose charge card used most by transport drivers to pay for fuel on the road.

Generic Card

is a card that utilises a base card stock of a pre-designed, centralised image and is not individualised to a specific issuer (or department) within its basic design. It may have an IIN (Issuer Identification Number) that groups the issuer with other organisations (for benefits of scales of volumes) but the users’ card can be subsequently individualised by personalisation techniques.

Gift Card

– is a standard or custom size CR80 card with a stored or prepaid value placed on the card through magnetic striping or bar coding. Usually a retail card initiated at cash desks or checkouts.

Health Card

– is a card used to store information about medical history or insurance coverage. Commonly used in the USA these cards can be of any technology.

Hologram card

– is an identification card bearing a hologram as a security measure against counterfeiting.

Hybrid Cards

– are cards that support more than one technology, such as an IC (integrated circuit) card with a magnetic stripe.

IC Card

– is an abbreviation for Integrated Circuit or “chip card”. The banking industry prefers the term “IC card” or “ICC”.

ID Card

– is an abbreviation for identity card: a card that identifies both the bearer and the issuer. All financial transaction cards are I.D. cards.

Java Card

– is a smart card that supports applications written in JAVA.

Key Card

– is a plastic card used to gain access to premises, usually associated with magnetic stripe and proximity cards.

Laser Engraved Cards

– see Polycarbonate cards.

Loyalty Card

– is typically a standard CR80 size card that has off line accounting capabilities e.g. mileage recording or merchandise purchases and often used as a retail frequent user card offering promotional benefits.

Magnetic Stripe Card

– is a card that has a strip of magnetic tape material attached to its surface. This is the standard technology used for bankcards (ATM, credit, and debit cards) and for other applications.

Membership Card

– is usually a club member card for ID purpose.

Memory Card

– is a type of smart card. Also known as a synchronous card, it features 256 bits or 32-byte memory and is suitable for use as a token or identification card. It is controlled only by fixed logic rather than by a microprocessor.

Microprocessor Card

– is a type of smart card, also known as an asynchronous card. Features 1 kilobyte to 64 Kbytes of memory and is suitable for portable or confidential files, identification, tokens, electronic purse or any combination of uses.

Mifare Card

– is a proprietary contactless smart card standard, equivalent to ISO 14443 Type A.

Multi-application Smart Card

– is a microprocessor smart card that can handle a variety of applications – typically with lots of memory and computing power – whilst maintaining separate security conditions.

Non-magnetic Card

– is a card without a magnetic stripe e.g. ID cards.

Optical Card

– is a card with information recorded on an optical memory stripe, similar to compact disks.

Other Secure Card

– are usually retail, oil/gas, telecom, transport, and pay TV cards.

PCMCIA Card

– is an abbreviation for Personal Computer Memory Card International Association: it is not considered to be a smart card, as, whilst this card type contains semiconductor chips, it is (a) physically thicker than a smart card, and (b) the connection means is through an edge connector, not via the standard surface-contact method.

PETG

– formal name is polyethylene terephthalate-glycol-modified is extremely clear. PETG does not contain a UV inhibitor. (Polycarbonate)

Photo ID card

– is an identification card bearing a photographic image of the cardholder. The image can be an actual photograph or one captured wholly electronically.

PVC

– Polyvinyl Chloride. The primary material used for typical plastic cards.

Payment Card

– is a card that is used as an identifier when used to transact full or part payment a bill. It enables the payees’ details to be swiftly recorded automatically and credit lodged against the account.

Pay TV Card

– is usually a chip card subscribing to a television service e.g. satellite TV.

Phone Card

– is a stored value card that allows the user to access telephone networks via a PIN number which is usually covered by a scratch-off panel for security.

Plastic card

– is a generic description of all payment cards including credit, debit and cheque guarantee.

Polycarbonate Cards

– are cards produced from a particular group of thermoplastics. These have the properties of high-durability, light weight and flexibility because they are polymers linked together by carbonate groups. Polycarbonate cards are stronger than Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) cards and thus more expensive. However, for applications where longevity and higher security is pre- requisite e.g. National ID, Passport and Driver’s Licence cards, Polycarbonate cards are ideal. These cards are utilised where the virtually tamper-proof personalisation technique of laser engraving is required.

Prepaid Card

– is a card paid for at Point of Sale and permits the holder to buy goods or services up to the prepaid value. Not all such cards show the identity of the bearer (e.g. phone cards).

Promotional Card

– is typically a card offering special benefits to users e.g. discounts or rewards.

Protected Memory Card

– is a smart card that requires a secret code or PIN number to be entered before the data can be sent/received from the chip.

Proximity Card

– is typically a contact less card whose presence and data can be sensed by an interface device not in physical contact with the card and used for access control applications. Embedded in the card is a metallic antenna coil, which allows it to communicate with an RF external antenna.

Radio Frequency Card (RFlD)

– A proximity card in which the coupling between the card and the interface device is by radio.

Retailer (Store) Card

– is a proprietary card used and issued by a retailer or retailing group.

Scratch Card

– is a card that is produced with special ink that can be scratched away to reveal a number or message.

Secure Card

– are cards with an intrinsic value e.g. financial, other secure cards etc.

SIM card

– is an abbreviation for Subscriber Identification Module: a smart card that connects to a GSM phone and establishes the users identity.

Single-application Smart Card

– is a smart card issued to a single organisation for a singular purpose.

Smart Card/Contact Smart Card

– also called a “chip” card or IC card. A smart card is a plastic card with an embedded microchip that may be used to store information about the cardholder or record card transactions as they occur. Plastic credit sized card that contains one or more semiconductor chips. This is a credit card or SIM card sized plastic card with an embedded microcircuit that contains either a: Memory Card, Protected Memory Card or Microprocessor Card.

Store card

– is a financial transaction card associated with a retailer or group of retail stores that can be used only for purchases from the retailers concerned.

Stored Value Card

Stored Value Card – is a financial card e.g. cash card, electronic purse, prepaid card that is loaded with a certain amount of money/value e.g. loyalty points or credit for canteen meals with each ‘purchase’ amount deducted from the card.

Telephone Card

– is a card that can be utilised for the payment of telephone calls. This type of card maybe a prepaid card, a credit card, or one that adds the cost of the call to a standard bill.

Town Card

– see City card

What are different file formats and what are they used for?

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.tif——————————————————————————– Tif file (CMYK Color) 300 dpi high resolution (dpi means dots per inch. This is how the image is made up if viewed under a microscope) The tif file is for printing on a lithographic printing press. The CMYK color stands for the four colors that are used in “Process Printing”. Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and the K actually stands for Black. This file format is often requested by print shops. This is one of many file formats that a printer can request. If you can open this file format on your PC you will often see that the colors are totally different to the other logo files we send you. This is because your computer monitor and often your home/office printer too uses RGB color. RGB color stands for Red, Green, Blue. Your PC does not have the correct filters to read CMYK color. This is entirely normal and when printed on a lithographic printing press the colors will print correct. (Because a lithographic printing press can print many more variations of the color spectrum you may notice a slight difference in the end product compared to what you would be able to print on a home office printer). It is always best in the case of a consistent corporate identity to use a color matching system like Pantone. You will find a color matching book to view at your local printer. Perfect for: Professional printing. Home/Office printing that supports CMYK color.

.jpg—————————————- JPG files (3 sizes = Normal, Medium and Small) or JPEG as it is often referred to (RGB Color) – 300dpi. These file types are all used for home/office printing in applications like Word or PowerPoint (you import the image into your document) or for web site images in FrontPage or more professional web site editing programs (html editors) like DreamWeaver or GoLive. The resolution of these files is 300dpi which in printing terms is high resolution. We can give you several sizes because although it is possible to make your own sizes using the source file (eps file) few people in reality have the tools to do this. The sizes we send are usually sufficient for most things you want to do personally and if you do need anything else you can get the help of a designer with the correct tools to create other sizes as you see fit. Perfect for: Home/Office printing. Web Design Importing in to Microsoft Office applications like Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Access etc.

.jpg——————————————————————————– JPG file (Grayscale) 300dpi. This file type is provided so that you can seek trademark status for your logo. Most trademark organizations will only accept images that are in grayscale. Perfect for: Trademark application. Home/Office printing. Web Design Importing in to Microsoft Office Applications like Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Access etc.

.psd——————————————————————————– PSD file (RGB) 300 dpi. This file format is used by professional designers and is the native file format of Adobe Photoshop. You need Adobe Photoshop to open this file type. We can supply these with a transparent background too, as needed, so it could be used by a professional web designer. Many people mistakenly think the PSD file is your editable supplied source file. This is not true for logo design. For a logo to be used across a large spectrum of uses and applications it is created as an EPS/vector file. Vector files can be resized using the right software without loss of quality. Your PSD file can also be used for home/office printing if you have Adobe Photoshop. I repeat. In the case of logo design, this file type is NOT the master file. Perfect for: Home/Office printing. (Requires Adobe Photoshop. Lite version available on many new PCs as standard) Web Design. (Requires Adobe Photoshop. Lite version available on many new PCs as standard) Graphic Design. (Requires Adobe Photoshop. Lite version available on many new PCs as standard)

.eps————————————————————————— EPS file (CMYK Color) This is your fully editable master file that all the other file types are created from. You need specialist software to work with this file called Adobe Illustrator. The eps file is fully editable with the fonts flattened. We flatten the fonts because fonts are just like software and to own a font you must buy the license. If we did not flatten the font, then you would need to buy a copy of the font as well. You are of course free to do that yourself. There are many good font sites on the web but we always recommend Fonts.com The eps file is a vector file. All the other file types we send typ[ically send our clients are what is called raster files. Raster files are made up of tiny dots, clearly visible under a microscope. This means that when enlarged in size or reduced significantly in size, raster type files will lose quality. Vector files on the other hand do not suffer from this loss of quality because the image software uses a mathematical technique called vectoring to create the image – basically, they have seemingly infinite edges. The eps vector file can be reduced and enlarged using the correct software without any loss of quality. This file format is also used by the majority of professional printers. Perfect for: Professional Printing. (Requires Adobe Illustrator the industry standard for professional printers) Graphic Design. (Requires Adobe Illustrator the industry standard for graphic designers)

.ai——————————————————————————– AI File (CMYK Color) Fully editable stationery design master file. Professional logo designers use vector drawing tools like Adobe Illustrator to create logo designs and not raster drawing tools like Adobe Photoshop. We also use Adobe Illustrator for stationery design as that is the industry standard for printers. Perfect for: Professional Printing. (Requires Adobe Illustrator the industry standard for professional printers) Graphic Design. (Requires Adobe Illustrator the industry standard for graphic designers) Standard Transparent File Formats:Many clients are surprised when viewing the design choices that we send that the JPG logo files do not have transparent backgrounds. The reason for this is that only certain file formats can support transparency. JPG files can not. We can, however, supply a couple of transparent file formats with your finished logo package. These formats are the PSD file and the eps file. Both these formats however require special software to work with. The PSD requires Adobe Photoshop and the eps requires Adobe Illustrator. PSD (RGB Color) – 300 dpi. This file format is used by professional designers and is the native file format of Adobe Photoshop. You need Adobe Photoshop to open this file type. We can supply your logo/project with a transparent background too, as needed, so it is great for use by a professional web designer. Many people mistakenly think the PSD file is your editable supplied source file. This is not true for logo design. For a logo to be used across a large spectrum of uses and applications it is created as a vector file. Vector files can be resized using the right software without loss of quality. Your PSD file can also be used for home/office printing if you have Adobe Photoshop. I repeat. In the case of logo design, this file type is NOT the master file.

.eps——————————————————————————– EPS (CMYK Color) This is your fully editable master file that all the other file types are created from. You need specialist software to work with this file called Adobe Illustrator. The eps file is fully editable with the fonts flattened. We flatten the fonts because fonts are just like software and to own a font you must buy the license. If we did not flatten the font then you would need to buy a copy of the font as well. You are of course free to do that yourself. There are many good font sites on the web. The eps file is a vector file. All the other file types we send are what is called raster files. Raster files are made up of tiny dots, clearly visible under a microscope. This means that when enlarged in size or reduced significantly in size, raster type files will lose quality. Vector files on the other hand do not suffer from this loss of quality because the image software uses a mathematical technique called vectoring to create the image. The eps vector file can be reduced and enlarged using the correct software without any loss of quality. This file format is also used by the majority of professional printers.

.gif———————————————- Optional Transparent Extras: Gif (RGB Color) 72 dpi. Gif files do not resize well at all. For us to supply you with a transparent gif file you need to tell us the size you need. Otherwise if you try to resize it yourself the results will generally be very poor. Gif files are not the best quality file format and often suffer from pixalation. This is the technical word for “jagged edges”, or “bitty-ness”. If you want this file format, you can request when you place your order, but please remember to supply the size required.

.png——————————————————————————– PNG (RGB Color) 72 dpi. PNG files are a fairly new arrival on the scene. It is a website file format supported now by most web browsers. The beauty of this format is that the quality of finish is usually high. The PNG file format also resizes much better than Gif files. Request this format when you place your order should you require it.

The Plastic Card Online.INC manufactures a wide variety of plastic cards, including id cards, gift cards, membership cards, hotel key cards, ministry cards, mouse pads and related products.

Plastic card tricks

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Americans are struggling with a very rocky economy while they are also holding almost $1 trillion in credit card debt. In most cases, those cards provide a little flexibility with the monthly bills. But an increasing number of people are defaulting because of the “tricks and traps” — soaring interest rates and hidden fees — in the credit card business.
Before more Americans get in so deep that they cannot dig out, Washington needs to change the way these companies do business to ensure that consumers are treated fairly.

The stories about deceptive practices are harrowing. At a recent news briefing in Washington, a Chicago man told about what happened when he charged a $12,000 home repair bill in 2000 on a card with an introductory interest rate of 4.25 percent. Despite his steady, on-time payments, the rate is now nearly 25 percent. And despite paying at least $15,360, he said that he had only paid off about $800 of his original debt.

The Federal Reserve is focused mainly on making it easier for consumers to understand credit card contracts — some go as high as 30 pages of nearly unreadable fine print. Clarity, however, is not enough. One bank contract stated baldly: “We reserve the right to change the terms at any time for any reason.”

Congress needs to address numerous unfair practices, including interest rates that skyrocket for no apparent reason and due dates that suddenly shift — forward — so that an unwary consumer pays late. Late fees are a big profit center in some banks. Some raise interest rates when consumers get close to their credit limits. In other cases, a late payment on one company’s card raises the rates on other cards in your wallet.

Americans deserve better. Senator Carl Levin, Democrat of Michigan, has been pushing hard for more consumer protections. Representative Carolyn Maloney, Democrat of New York, has put together an excellent first step with a cardholder’s bill of rights. It would require such reasonable changes as a ban on collection of interest on amounts already paid. It would require that cardholders get timely notices of changes in their rates and be able to cancel their cards if the rates suddenly skyrocket — and pay off the balances at the old rates.

Elizabeth Warren, a professor at Harvard Law School, has an especially promising idea: a Financial Product Safety Commission to regulate the industry. Today’s credit card users could use the protection.

Creative and Unique Business Cards

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I have been seeking great, unique business card designs lately to base my company’s business cards on. I think a business card tells a lot about your company and I have been looking for something unique and fun to show those characteristics that I want to promote at That Network.

I have found a lot of great designs – especially those on Flickr – which shows a lot of great creativity in business card designs. I would love to say “gone are the days of graphicless $9 boxes of cards from the local Printalottastuff,” but unfortunately, there are a lot of really boring cards still out there.

Come on people! Liven it up! Bring on the creativity, the panache, the thing that makes me want to keep your card. Design something that drives card scanners nuts and forces people to hand type your information in (all of the Cardscan owners out there hate that!).

There are endless possibilities with these little calling cards. I marvel at some of the typefaces selected, how a little type makes a big difference in the image I develop of a company. I hope this little collection of cards expands your thinking and makes you reach for something a little more fun than stock photography and a centered name and title.

Create a cool die cut and create emptiness on your card.

Create a cool die cut and create emptiness on your card.

Tags for a business card.

Tags for a business card.

Reflective design – the card is printed in mirror image.

Reflective design – the card is printed in mirror image.

Social mixer name card business card.

Social mixer name card business card.

Metal imprinted card.

Metal imprinted card.

Your business card as a playing card. Notice the tools being held by both hands.

Your business card as a playing card. Notice the tools being held by both hands.

Tie a little rope in your card.

Tie a little rope in your card.

Create a tag out of your card.

Create a tag out of your card.

A little popup guy on your card. Bonus points if it’s actually you.

A little popup guy on your card. Bonus points if it’s actually you.

Imprint your card on unique media or paper.

Imprint your card on unique media or paper.

Plastic business card with cut out holes.

Plastic business card with cut out holes.

Price tag business cards.

Price tag business cards.

Create a unique wrap for your card.

Create a unique wrap for your card.

Dog tag business cards.

Dog tag business cards.

Very plain design.

Very plain design.

Metal foil on recycled paper.

Metal foil on recycled paper.

Interesting imprint and choice of paper.

Interesting imprint and choice of paper.

Unique die cut with beautiful choice of typography.

Unique die cut with beautiful choice of typography.

Clear cards with opaque block.

Clear cards with opaque block.

Comment card attached!

Comment card attached!

Metal card with imprint.

Metal card with imprint.

Notebook paper designed business card.

Notebook paper designed business card.

Nice cut out for a cat business card.

Nice cut out for a cat business card.

Here’s your ticket sir.

Here’s your ticket sir.

A little floss with your business card?

A little floss with your business card?

Play off of your name with a famous logo.

Play off of your name with a famous logo.

Designing your card on your card.

Another “Hello” badge business card.

Another “Hello” badge business card.

Return address label business card.

Return address label business card.

Cute design for a business card.

Cute design for a business card.

Clear design from facebook.

Clear design from facebook.

Business card for a personal trainer.

Business card for a personal trainer.

Nice design with rounded corners.

Nice design with rounded corners.

Plain and simple.

Plain and simple.

Nice design with rounded corners.

Nice design with rounded corners.

Long mini-cards.

Long mini-cards.

Themed to flow from the letter head to the uniquely die cut card.

Themed to flow from the letter head to the uniquely die cut card.

Plastic card usage study

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DAYTON, OH-Credit, Automatic Teller Machine (ATM), and membership cards top the list of Americans’ most widely used plastic cards, with debit and other types of prepaid cards poised for major growth, according to results released from Standard Register’s National Consumer Survey of Plastic Card Usage. The research found the following percentages of adults use: credit cards, 89 percent; ATM cards, 61 percent; membership cards, 59 percent; debit cards, 37 percent; prepaid cards, 33 percent; prepaid phone cards, 29 percent; loyalty cards, 25 percent; and smart cards 5 percent.

Standard Register, which provides comprehensive services to card issuers, commissioned the telephone survey of 1,202 randomly selected adults to determine consumers’ awareness, opinions, and usage of plastic cards. Results of the survey, which was conducted in conjunction with Card Marketing, were released at the CardTech/SecurTech trade show in Chicago.

`The survey reinforces our expectation that usage of debit cards (linked to bank accounts), gift, and other types of prepaid cards will increase significantly over the next two years,” said Susan Kraus, marketing manager, Imaging Services Group, Standard Register. “With results showing the number of people aware of debit and prepaid cards is more than double the percentage of those actually using them, there’s tremendous potential to increase usage by educating consumers about the financial benefits, ease of use and other advantages of debit and prepaid cards.”

Half of adults (50 percent) reported regularly carrying one to three plastic cards on a regular basis, while 30 percent say they usually carry four to six. However, the survey indicated that the number of cards people actually have used is significantly higher.

“Consumers reporting that they carry such small numbers of cards was a key finding of the survey,” said Kraus. “It points out that people think only of those cards they use on a regular basis, such as credit and ATM, which indicates that other types of cards are being underutilized. Card issuers can increases their overall effectiveness and consumer awareness by linking more benefits directly to card usage.

Prepaid phone cards rank number one among cards for prepaid services and have been used by 29 percent of Americans. Slightly more than one-half (52 percent) of people who use prepaid phone cards report using them while traveling. Compared to a three-minute call made via payphone, traditional calling card, collect or person-to-person, prepaid cards can save travelers as much as five dollars per minute on long-distance calls. Other situations cited by prepaid phone cards users include placing long distance calls from home (20 percent) and making calls from a payphone (16 percent).

“As the survey makes clear, prepaid phone cards offer tremendous potential for consumer growth and acceptance,” said Kraus. “By 2002, approximately ten years after prepaid phobe cards were introduce domestically, we expect consumer usage to be above 50 percent. Retailers and promotional marketers will drive growth by issuing prepaid cards for promotional giveaways, sales incentives, surveys tool, and a host of other special purposes.”

Other services for which people use prepaid cards include gasoline, cellular service, and Internet Services. Approximately a quarter of consumer reported giving or receiving a prepaid card as a gift ( 25 and 29 percent, respectively), with prepaid phone cards cited as the most frequently given or received card.

“Gift cards issued by retailers represent another opportunity for growth of prepaid cards,” said Kraus. “Gift cards are convenient alternatives to paper gift certificates. They can he used more than once, which means the recipient can shop at a store until the specified dollar amount has been spent. Retailers appreciate that all of the money on a card is spent in their store, and we look for the number of retailers issuing gift cards to increase significantly in 1999.”

Debit cards tied to checking accounts, introduced by banks over the last two years, are used by 37 percent of adults. Debit functions are available as stand-alone cards or included on an ATM card. Forty percent of consumers who own debit cards use them more frequently than their ATM card; 33 percent use debit cards less often than ATM cards; and 21 percent use the two types of cards about the same.

Smart cards, or plastic cards embedded with a microprocessor chip for multi-functions, continue to have low levels of usage (5 percent) and awareness (25 percent) among consumers. Even after consumers were given an explanation, only 28 percent reported having heard of smart cards.

The survey revealed one of the key reasons smart cards haven’t caught on in the U.S.-64 percent of consumers reported having no interest in a card that combined frequent flyer or other her loyalty benefits, credit and debit functions, medical information or other features on one card. Of those who would be interested in such a card, medical alert information was given as the most important service feature (29 percent).

Used by 25 percent of Americans, 36 percent of loyalty cards owners report shopping more often at stores where they participate in a loyalty program. In addition, the influence of a loyalty card on shopping preference was most evident with younger consumers.

A total of 1,202 telephone interviews with consumers throughout the U.S. were conducted during the first two weeks of March, 1999. The interviews were collected using a “National Probability Sample,” which allowed the results to he projected at the 95 percent confidence level with an error of only plus or minus three percent.

Smart Cards & Plastic Card Printers

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Did you know that plastic cards are now an integral part of almost any business? Whether your company uses plastic cards for loyalty programs, security access, for gift cards or anything else, they are an important part of your business.

If you’ve ever sourced the printing service for your organization’s plastic cards, then you probably are familiar with the vast range in card printing methods available.

To help you learn more about the type of card and printing method that will meet the diverse needs of your organization, we’ve provided a brief overview of each printing method.
• Lithography: One of the most common methods use by plastic card printers, this method uses the principle that oil and water don’t mix as the basis of the printing process. A metal plate is treated so that the image area attracts oil based inks and the wet non-image areas repeal the oil based inks. In lithography, the printing surface is flat with both image and non-image areas at the same level on the printing plate.

Lithography uses a traditional printing press and traditional plate printing methods; sheets of PVC are printed and then the finished cards are cut from the sheet using a die cut method. The finished product quality can be very tightly controlled and spot color matching is possible.

• Screen Printing: One of the oldest forms of printing, screen printing involves forcing ink through a mesh stencil. The stencil openings determine the form and dimensions of the imprint that is produced. Screen printing is often used by plastic card printers for smaller runs.

• Dye Sublimation: Another form or printing common with plastic card printers is dye sublimation where the print head of the card printer prints directly onto the card material through the printer ribbon. Many customers like this printing method as it is efficient and inexpensive and well suited for security badges, gift cards, loyalty program cards and more.
Plasticcardonline.com, is a company that continually invests in new technology. This focus on new technology has helped them secure a reputation as one of the leading plastic card printers. If you’re looking for a plastic card printers with the latest, most innovative technology, a commitment to customer service, and the highest quality, most cost effective products, then give Plasticcardonline.com, a call today!

Plastic card types

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PVC cards

Polyvinyl chloride, (IUPAC Polychloroethene) commonly abbreviated PVC, is a widely used thermoplastic polymer. PVC is commonly recycled, and has the number

“3” as its recycling symbol. PVC cards is used in a variety of applications. As a hard plastic, it is used as vinyl siding, magnetic stripe cards because of its

inexpensive nature and flexibility.

PVC cards can be different thickness from 760 micron to 380 micron. ISO standard pvc card is CR80 Size 85.7X54mm, round corner.

PVC cards has two types :

blank PVC cards and pre printed PVC cards.

Blank pvc cards are manufactured all over the world and finding high quality pvc cards for direct-to-card printing can be a challenge. Some manufacturers use inexpensive production methods, punching cards out with dull dies that leave rough, jagged edges.

We privide pre printed pvc cards which are optically inspected to give you clean, scrath-free surfaces for optimum print quality and extended printhead life.A preprinted PVC card is ideal for card programs that require a high volume of cards to be personalized (without a cardholder photograph) in a short period of time. Using a desktop card printer and a monochrome ribbon, you may personalize a preprinted PVC card with the cardholder’s name, card number or other text information within a matter of seconds.

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