HOW TO PREPARE THE DESIGN

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CARD'S ATTRIBUTES

  • Card's dimensions. After cutting the size is 85,7 x 53,9 mm and the corner roundness is 3 mm.
  • Print area. The files print area must be 2 mm larger from each side (89,7 x 57,9 mm).
  • Magnetic stripe. The magnetic stripe is 12,7 mm wide and is placed 4 mm off the card's edge.


CARD DESIGN

  • Scale. Always design your card in scale (1:1)
  • Vector graphics. If possible use vector instead of raster images. This is important especially for text and logotypes (registered company logos). Always convert fonts in to curves.
  • Raster images. Resolution There is a myth saying "If the resolution is high the quality of the image will be high also", that's not always true. The quality depends on many characteristics such as brightness, contrast, color dynamic, color balance, type of used media and many others. The optimal resolution for us using dry offset printing on PVC is 400dpi for CMYK images and 800-1200 dpi for monochrome images.

- DO NOT IMPORT lower than the recommended resolution.
 - DO NOT CREATE files larger than needed. It is a waste of yours and ours time.


COLOR MODELS. COLORS
Color model. The card design must be made using CMYK colors. Files containing RGB colors will be send back to the client for remaking. In case of using additional colors, they need to be added as spot colors using the PANTONE Coated! (Pantone C) scale. Colors set using RAL, HKS, PANTONE Uncoated and other color models are NOT applicable. We cannot accept such files, the client has to remake them.

- Colors set by using Pantone which will be printed with process inks will be transformed to PANTONE color bridge CMYK EC !!!


PERSONALISATION

Personalizing with embossed letters (embossing).
Requirements for emboss printing:

  • The field for embossing must be 5 mm off the left, right or lower edge of the card and 20 mm off the upper edge.
  • The font for embossing is fixed and cannot be changed. Among the popular true-type fonts OCR is the closest to the one used standard embossing equipment.
  • The letters can be capital only and one size only - 3 mm for letters, and 3 or 5 mm for digits.
  • The maximum number of symbols on a row (including blank spaces) is : 28 for low letters, 20 for capitals.
  • The minimum space between rows is 2 mm.
  • The colors for emboss printing can be : silver, gold, black or white.

Personalization with thermal print.
There are no restrictions on the fonts used when personalizing with thermal print except for the size of the font - it must be at least 4 pt. If you are using non standard font you must attach the font file to the other files.
Magnetic stripe with data record.
Please take in mind the following when the card should have a magnetic stripe:

  • the size of the magnetic stripe (you cannot print over it) is 85,7 mm / 12,7 mm.
  • the magnetic stripe has strictly fixed place: 4 mm off the upper or lower edge lengthwise. If there is emboss on the card it must NOT be over the magnetic stripe.
  • the magnetic stripe has 3 tracks for encoding data (ISO 4909) - it is necessary to provide us with the information you want to be written to the tracks.
  • the magnetic stripe can be LoCo-brown, LoCo-black, HiCo-black, HiCo-gold and HiCo-silver.


PERFORATION AND PUNCHING

Perforation
Perforation is the process of creating openings on the card with specific size and position, as shown on the picture on the right. If necessary all of the openings shown can be made or any combination of them.

  • A - elongated opening on the short side of the card -
  • B - elongated opening on the long side of the card -
  • C - round opening on the short side of the card -
  • D - round opening in the corner of the card -
  • E - round opening on the long side of the card -

There is a option for creating openings on a postions different from the shown, specified by the client.
(The postion and the size of non standart perforation is specified in addition)
It must be noted that cards with contactless chip can be perforated only in specific positions so that the antena wich is needed for the functioning of the chip will not be cut. The position depends from the chip type, for more information about preforation of contactless cards consult with us.

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