What You Should Know About Postcard
Printing
by Jinky C. Mesias
Before jumping on the bandwagon that says "postcard printing
is the all time best marketing tool", it is important that you know what
postcard printing is all about. There are actually four basic aspects of
postcard printing that you need to know and these are the postcard size, paper
stock, design file formats and coatings. Each of these aspects of postcard
printing has their important role to function in order to ensure that you get
the best quality postcards ever.
The postcard size doesnt necessarily mean that there would be
only one standard size to fit all sizes of postcards. Its because various sizes
requires for different postcard printing equipments in fact a slight change in
the size of the postcard may have an adverse effect on its price. And so, in
order not to be shocked by printing prices afterwards it is smart to get first
printing quotes. This way you will be guided on just how much your postcards
will costs. Likewise, never hesitate to ask your postcard printing company on
the postcard size that work best on their equipment.
There are two aspects of paper stock that you need to be aware
of. Paper stocks can either be glossy or matte. If you desire to have your
postcards printed in full color you will then be made to choose between a CS2
stock and a C1S stock. CS2 stock has a gloss finish on both sides while the C1S
stock has a gloss finish on only one side and its other side having a matte
finished. Between these two stocks the C1S was the most popularly used since
the ink used in postcard printing doesnt dry up on the gloss part of the paper
stock so they resulted in printing on the matte side of the stock.
But that was a long time ago, nowadays there are already inks
that easily dries on glossy stocks. The glossy stocks are far cheaper than the
semi-gloss stocks and exude much character on them thats why it is a much
better choice for postcards.
In terms of the design file formats, it is important that you
ask your postcard printing company the type they are accepting. Although, there
are printing companies that accepts various file formats however there are
still some that makes use of only limited types of software and file format in
their design creation. And what these postcard printing companies often do is
that they would try to convert your postcard design file into the format that
is accepted by their postcard printing equipment. However, there may be some
problems that may be encountered during the file conversion. One of the common
problems faced involves font defaults and text loss to ensure that no such
error occur it is important that your postcard project undergo proofing before
finally submitting your postcard design for printing. Or better yet, you may
try to save your design file in a PDF format. This way there will be very
minimal conversion and manipulation that have to be done in your design file.
The finishing is as important as the first couple of steps in
postcard printing. There are two types of postcard finishing or coating and
these are UV coating and Aqueous coating. The UV coating provides the postcard
with that shiny look and feel. Especially applicable for color images which you
may want accentuated. Its drawbacks are in terms of its susceptibility to
finger print marks and smears.
The aqueous coating on the other hand provides for minimal
shine or gloss and entails for a much faster postcard printing process. The
reason for this is that aqueous coatings are quick drying therefore doesnt
hinder the continuous printing process.
For suggestions and comments about the article kindly visit
Postcard
Printing Services
Jinky C. Mesias is a graduate of Bachelor of Science in
Business Administration Major in Management. She is at present an Associate
Manager of a Life Insurance Corporation and a freelance writer.
