Scodix Business Cards

Creating Artwork 

Density effect:
To achieve density effects, you apply different opacity levels to the desired elements. To achieve a high gloss effect, apply full density—100% opacity; for a matte effect, apply low density—5%—30% opacity. If the item to be enhanced is a picture, you will need to create a mask in Photoshop. You will see the different densities on the UV layer.

Then, we save the graphic working file and the two layers – CMYK and UV – in PDF.

• Create a Scodix separation
• Create Scodix Spot Colour
• Define the density effect
• Save the CMYK/UV files as PDF

To produce the Scodix Metallic effect, Scodix PolySENSE™ is applied, using the same process, on top of a silver lamination to achieve a wide variety of metallic colours.

SCODIX ARTWORK INSTRUCTIONS

They are Economical

Business cards offer unparalleled affordability, making them a top choice for businesses of all sizes. Printing business cards costs significantly less than producing marketing materials such as ads, press kits, or product samples. With such low costs, business cards easily fit into any business budget, making them an indispensable tool for marketing success.

In today's digital age, it's easy to overlook the importance of physical marketing materials. However, business cards remain a cornerstone of effective networking and brand promotion. They're a tangible representation of your brand that leaves a lasting impression on recipients.

Quality is paramount when it comes to business cards. The design, texture, and thickness of your cards affect how recipients perceive your brand. Investing in high-quality business cards ensures that your brand makes a positive impression every time."

I am supplying press-ready files 

To ensure flawless results, your artwork must meet these press-ready specifications:

• Size: Supplied at 1:1 scale*, centered, 1-up per page *The actual size must be printed.
• Bleed and Margins: 3mm external bleed and 3mm internal margins
• Images: Embedded images at 300-600 dpi (no up-sampling); vector-based graphics will give a better outcome for non-photo elements.
• Colour: CMYK process colours (no RGB)

• Supplied with all fonts embedded or outlined (converted to curves)
• Provided with all borders a minimum of 3mm wide

• File Type: High-resolution PDF files. PDF Types: PDF/X-1a 1.3 or PDF/X-4 1.6 format unless otherwise agreed upon with your Graphic Specialist.
• Other Formats (e.g., Word, JPEG, PNG): These are not press-ready and may incur additional artwork charges

Unless you are experienced in prepress, we highly recommend you select the option: "Check My File/s & Make Press Ready."

One Free File Check Per Order

Each retail order includes one free file check to confirm your artwork is press-ready.

• If corrections are needed, additional file checks may incur fees.
• Files that don't meet press-ready standards may require our design assistance services.

Check my file/s & make press ready 

This option is dedicated to meticulously reviewing and readying your artwork for commercial printing. It's essential to recognise that this process fundamentally differs from making minor adjustments, such as typesetting and design, or beginning a design from scratch through graphic design.

 This service includes:

• Resizing: We will resize any artwork that is incorrectly sized.
• Bleed Adjustment: We take responsibility for amending any missing or incorrect bleed (internal and external) wherever possible.
• Colour Space Conversion: If your artwork has the wrong colour profile, we will convert it to the correct one, such as CMYK.
• Font Replacement: We will replace any missing fonts with standard Windows fonts; custom fonts must be supplied and embedded to ensure your design is complete.
• Border Adjustments: All borders less than 5mm in width or within 5mm from the trim edge will be modified to meet acceptable standards.
• Soft PDF Proof: We will create and provide a soft PDF proof for your perusal/approval within two working days of receiving your final payment.
• Special Effects & Embellishments: We will ensure they are amended and press-ready for artwork with embellishments or special effects in vector (editable) format. - If your artwork features rasterised (un-editable) embellishments or is not set up for effects, we will not make amendments or recreate these elements as part of this service.
• We encourage you to contact us for a custom quote if you require us to create these features from scratch.

Create my artwork for me 

We encourage you to contact us for a custom quote if you require us to create your design and additional elements from scratch.

When ordering, you will need to supply us with:

• All Text.
• All Images (for best results, 300dpi at the printed size).
• All logos/complex graphics (resolution at least 300 dpi).
• Provide an example of your existing design or a design/theme you like.
• A list of CMYK colours you would like used in the design.
• A list of fonts/font styles you like, Including a zip file with the fonts.
• The purpose of the printed material.
• Before uploading, please combine your files in a .zip file
• One hour of graphic design costs $70, and the final price is TBA after viewing your scope of work.

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Non-White Substrates

• Spot Colours developed for non-white substrates (e.g. Kraft or backside substrates) must be appropriately designed to manage the brand expectations, operational efficiency, and run-to-run consistency. All inks developed for this printing condition maintain a minimum amount of opaque additives to achieve your colour expectations and maintain printability requirements.
• Inks developed using the above method often affect the substrate's colour intent. If opacity requirements exceed the above specification to achieve the desired colour, the customer must consider printing white under the spot colour.
• Printing white ink requires different approaches depending on Flexo and offset. The sheet-fed offset requires UV curing, the web offset requires UV/EB curing, and the Flexo is wet-trapped. These approaches are location-dependent and have varying print capability requirements.

Proofing Expectations Proofs provided to BPP for colour must adhere to the below conditions:

• Spot Colours: BPP strongly suggests using a proofing RIP that leverages a spectral proofing engine and has a track record of providing a visual colour match for spot colours overprinting or interacting with other spot or process colours.
• Spot Colour Dot Area: BPP requires all dot gains associated with spot colours to be measured and adhere to linear SCTV (spot colour tone value). Please refer to ISO 20654 and/or the proofing vendor for details on achieving this specification.