Metallic silkscreen

Did you know that we can also make cards on colored material?
It is an ideal solution for prestigious club cards or exclusive business cards, among others.

The metallic base/print is nothing more than the use of a special paint that contains metallic, glitter particles.

We can use this method in our screen printing work before or after offset printing. Metallic shades allow for high color depth and illuminated visual effects.

Currently, we use the following colors to produce metallic cards:

• golden
• silver
• pearl

Each color comes in two shades, which gives us a total of six available color options. It allows us to select the appropriate metallic base for the project in order to achieve the desired effect.

However, you need to know that not every color will suit your dream card. In the following article we will try to explain to you why.

Let’s start with the fact that we can apply glitter paint in two ways:

• as a full background

• and as a selective print

Then you should carefully look at your graphic design and consider whether the color of the base will not conflict with, for example, the color of the texts.

It often happens that our clients are delighted with an idea, but have a lot of small, clear text in the project. Then we must, unfortunately, warn that particles of gold and silver glitter will affect the poor visibility of, for example, contact details in white.

Remember that for visually impaired people it is a very big problem. So be flexible with your design and make compromises.

And a compromise can be, for example, a tinted golden background with a bit of color. Then we will keep a uniform glitter foundation, thus increasing the contrast with bright inscriptions. Take a look at the visualization below.

If you plan to order several projects, assuming e.g. such configuration:

• platinum card with 20% discount
• gold card with a 10% discount
• black card with 5% discount

then know that we usually recommend using the same undercoat and using three different graphics in this case. Usually, our customers choose a pearl foundation then because it is the most universal and helps to obtain a delicate version (simulation) of silver and gold foundation (glitter particles are not as intense as in gold and silver).

The photo below shows three different pearl gift cards

All plastic cards with a metallic base can be glossy or matt laminated. You can read more about all types of laminate here.

Additionally, we can print gold, silver and pearl on transparent plastic, which will make your plastic card unique.

When preparing to create a graphic design for your plastic card, remember to read our technical specification available at this link.

As the overall card artwork is offset printed and the metallic background / glitter print is screen printed, we need two files.

An example of the correct preparation of files for printing. On the left we have CMYK graphics (offset), and on the right we have a preview for a silver glitter background (100% black).

Both files must be saved to PDF, in curves and in the 89×57 mm format (excess, i.e. bleeds, will be cut off when cutting cards from sheets).

As a result, we will get the card as at the bottom.

To emphasize important details on a plastic card, some silver, gold or pearl elements can be covered with selective glossy or matte varnish. Or use varnishes with glitter particles. Thanks to this, your plastic business card will have a visible and tangible logo under your fingers. Such a procedure will make your card stand out from the crowd of boring business cards.