FAQ for plastic card order

How do I place an order?

Please give us a call or send us an Enquiry. Our friendly Sales Representative will provide full consultation and guide you through the entire ordering process.

What's the minimum order?

We can print as few as 300 PVC cards.

What type of printing process is used?

All products are printed by high resolution offset printing machines (and silkscreen if applicable) in full color. The full color process is an industry standard whose results can be seen at any news or magazine stand. The end result is high quality printing which can make your images happen.

What types of artworks are accepted?

We accept the following files. Please contact us for details before uploading unlisted file type. Adobe Acrobat Document (*.pdf, before creating PDF files, please create outlines for all the fonts, or include the fonts you used in the artwrok) Adobe Illustrator Artwork?*.ai, please transfer texts into paths (create outlines)) Adobe Photoshop Image (*.psd, fonts must be included) Corel Draw! (*.cdr, please transfer texts into paths (create outlines)) Macromedia Freehand (Please transfer texts into paths (create outlines)) Artwork Guidelines

The resolution of your artworks should at least be 300dpi (300 pixels per INCH or 118 pixels per CM) to create high quality printing matters. If your image contains texts, we suggest you use higher resolution artwork up to 600dpi.
Before creating PDF files, please create outlines for all the fonts, or attach the TrueType TTF fonts you used in the artwork, as we do not print directly from the PDF files)
Texts in image files (JPG, GIF, BMP, PNG) will not be printed as sharp as other formats with text layers like Corel Draw, Illustrator, Photoshop, PDF, Freehand… We suggest you send us your source files with texts layers to us to get better printing result. If you do not have the source files, please use higher resolution artwork up to 500dpi.
If you have used special fonts (or Mac fonts), please send the TrueType TTF font files to us as well, to avoid any font problems, please transfer the texts into vector paths (create outlines).
Color : All color are nominated CMYK (Cyan-Magenta-Yellow-Black), depending upon the printing process by which your job will be printed. Please note that certain Pantone colours are outside the printable colour range of CMYK devices. Screen colours are never accurate, please check Pantone or CMYK specifications. If your CMYK artwork contains large areas of the color black, we strongly recommend the addition of at least 40% (C) Cyan in addition to the 100% (K) Black to produce a richer better looking black. Please note that colour settings need to be more than 8% to be printable.
Texts and Lines : Texts must convert to paths, curves or outlines. A line thinner that 0.076mm will not appear on output.

What kind of plastic cards do we do?

We do all major plastic card types: Plastic cards

1. Membership cards

2. VIP Cards

3. Hotel Key Cards

4. Promotional Cards

5. Business Cards

6. Clear / Frosted Cards

7. Loyalty Cards

8. Gift Cards

9. Smart IC cards Contact Cards (CPU cards, Security memory cards, Memory cards) Contactless cards (UHF Gen2 cards, EM cards and Mifare cards)

What resolution does my artwork need to be for uploading?

Your artwork should be created at 300 ppi (pixels per inch) or 300 dpi (dots per inch). If your artwork is at a lower resolution than this, the print quality will be affected. Please note, your photo or design must meet the required file size, image dimensions, resolution, and file format before sending it to us.

What is the turnaround time?

The turnaround time can be seen on the top of the pricing table. Normally turnaround time is 10-14 working days.

What methods of payment do you accept?

TagPrint accepts Visa, MasterCard, Amex, cheque and cash.

Can you produce artwork for me?

Yes we can, we offer a full range of design and artwork services. Give us the details of what you want and we will be happy to quote.

How to compress my artworks?

If you are using Windows XP, just follow the following steps:

Select your artworks or folder and then right click.
Highlight “Send To.”
Click on “Compressed (zipped) Folder.”
A compressed folder will be created containing the same name as the file you compressed. It will be represented by a zipper icon.

If you are using other operation systems, please download WinZip from www.winzip.com, you can download a trial version for free.

How much bleed should I leave in my artwork?

1.5mm bleed on each border.

When is the turnaround time start to calculate?

From the day of the clearance of the payment and the confirmation of the proof of the artwork.

Plastic card design

For our plastic cards to be printed, films have to be made. These films contain the information that is to be printed on your cards. Before they can be made, artwork in computer is required. There are two options for doing this:

Completed Design Service :
If you do not have computer ready artwork for your cards, we will be happy to design them for you. We charge a flat rate (refer to PRICES). Our design will include your existing logo, image and text, as long as they can meet our design requirements.

Your Full Design Ready :
Please do your ready artwork in Illustrator or PDF format and all text outlined. If you do not have Illustrator or PDF, we will convert your photoshop files but you need to include all fonts and also make sure all your text is editable.

For Windows	File Format	DPI	Mode
CorelDraw	*.cdr	600dpi or higher	CMYK
Photoshop (layers)	*.psd
Illustrator (outlined)	*.ai
Adobe Acrobat (outlined)	*.pdf
EPS (outlined)	*.eps
Freehand	*.fh11
Tiff	*.tif

While Do Your Artwork…

If you want your image to extend to the edge of the card, a bleed of no *less than 1.5mm should be used. For sample, our standard card size is 85.5mm x 54mm, Artwork image size not less than 88.5mm x 57mm.
Fonts: Please include all printer and screen fonts used to create your artwork. If you are positive that we will not have to make any changes to your file, you can convert all type to outlines.
Images: Please be sure to include all of your placed or imported images when you send your artwork.

Card design note:

Card number : flat number , inkjet number , small embossing number and big embossing number and so on. Embossing number can be gold or sliver color. Please note that the embossing number can not be paralleled with width side. Die cut card can not print embossing number. Matte finished card and frosted finished card can print only do inkjet number and embossed barcode, not flat number.
If requested metallic silver or gold background please indicate, if there’s no special instructions, then we will print the card according to design.
Thickness of the card: if not specified,we will make all standard thickness (0.76mm).
There will be color aberration for printing. If there’s sample card to follow color, then we will print the card according to it, but it can not be 100% the same. If customer requested strictly for the color and quantity is large and time is enough, it’s better to print coated art paper to confirm the print effect first. The quantity is smaller than 10000pcs, it will be put together with other orders in one version to print, color will be control within 10%, the figure is normal.
There’re difference between actual card color and design color on computer. For the same design, it also display difference effect color in different display screen (for example , it will show difference between the LCD screen and CRT screen)
The line thickness cannot smaller than 0.076mm , or it won’t be clearly after prntied.
The minimum distance from embossing number to the edge of card is 4-5mm. the width of magnetic stripe is 12 mm , and distance to the edge of card is 4.5mm.
The size of each letter for small embossing number is 3mm, big embossing number is 4mm.
Please conver the texts, symbols or picture into curve.
As the card printing carrier is difference, then the colour of printed card will be some aberration with computer design or the paper draft color printed by printer. It print according to CMYK color and can not be printed according to the computer screen color or color print by printer.
The Shading and background color can not be less than 8%, in order to avoid it can not display on the card.
A mold should be set up for the die cut card and the mold will cost little, the delivery time of die cut card will be longer. It also can not print flat number, embossing number, but can print with inject number or inject barcode.
Embossing number can not be printed vertical , that’s embossing can not runned parallel to the shorten edge, just can be runned parallel to the long edge.

FAQ