When people go about printing business cards, they are bombarded by many options. Your business card printing company may offer many things such as glossy coatings, special high quality paper, elegant text stamping, digital full color printing, and many others. Many of these options can be important or irrelevant to your business card printing needs. You may not need that full color printing on both sides of the card. You may want that glossy coating. Your budget may only cover a simple kind of business card. Overall, it is about knowing what options you really need and want. To help you with this, here are the various business card printing options explained for your convenience.

• The card size:
  The first and most obvious should be a no brainer, but it still merits attention. The business card printing size is one of the first options that you should know about. Typically, you can use the business card size that is in use in your country. For the United States and Canada, the standard size is 3. 5 × 2 inches. For the United Kingdom and other European countries, they usually use cards with the dimensions 3. 346 × 2. 165 inches. More likely, however your businesses card printing company should know what sizes most people print in your country. So see what they recommend. At this stage, knowing the correct size is a need.

• The paper type
• The next option is the paper type. With this business card printing option, you should really decide for yourself. You have the choice of using normal business card paper with no coating, business card paper with a glossy coating and there is a new option, which is the use of recycled paper for business cards. Of course, the cheapest option is the normal business card paper with no coating. Some sales clerks may urge you to buy a more expensive paper. However, if you really want the basic type and you are saving money this will be your best option.
  The next option is the coated kind of business card. This means that there will be a kind of glossy finish when the business card is printed. If you want to appear more professional, use this option. We will talk more about coating options later. Lastly, we have recycled paper. Some printing companies offer printing business cards on recycled paper. If you are concerned with the environment, you may want to ask for this option though it may cost you. At least you may help the environment though.
• Printing sides
  After the paper type, the next option you need to know is the printing of each side. You have three options in this. First, you can have a full color front for the business card, with a blank and unprinted back. This is called a “4/0″ card. This is the standard and cheapest option. Second, you can have a full color front, with just one color on the back. This is called a “4/1″. This option is used if you want a whole color effect for your business card. For example, if you want an all red or all black business card, then you need the option of printing one color on the back so that it looks like one whole color card. Lastly, we have the full color front and back or “4/4″. This is your full color business card with color printing on both sides. Use this if you have a business card design with details on the front and back of the card.
• Coating
  The coating of the business card paper is another important option. This determines the sheen or glossiness of the business card along with some other properties. The common options here are ultra-violet glossy coating and aqueous coating. The “UV” glossy coating adds protection from ultra violet light from business cards. This provides protection from any significant fading while delivering a glossy sheen effect, which makes the business card look professional. The Aqueous coating on the other hand offers improved durability by providing protection from dirt, dust, scratches and other physical deterioration. It also offers a sheen effect for the business card as well. Lastly, of course you have the option to have no coating as well. This gives no special properties to the paper, but it is the cheaper option. The coating really depends on your taste and purpose. If you are just printing a simple business card, and you are on a budget then you might want to ignore any coating options. If you want a more professional looking finish, then glossy UV coating or Aqueous coating can be used.
• Business card cuts
  Finally, you also have the option of a custom cut for your business card. Of course, the common cut is a standard rectangular straight cut. Some business card printers however may offer you “rounded” cuts with various sizes. This will smooth out the edges of your business card to a curved or rounded edge. These options depend entirely on your taste. Most will just choose the straight cut because it is the most common, but others might want to have rounded edges to stand out among other business cards. The choice is yours.

Those are the common business card printing options. Now that you know about them, you should be able to choose the best business card options that suit your purpose. You can ignore all the sales talk printers give and focus on what your business card really needs. Good luck!
Know more about printing business cards or business card printing.Kaye Z. Marks is an avid follower and writer of the developments in the color printing and online printing industries.

by Christopher J. Brunner

Designing a business card online is right for you if:

• You want a professional and classy business card to represent you and your company.
• You don’t want to learn an unfamiliar graphics-editing program.
• Paying a graphic designer is not in the budget.

The Dark Side of Self Design

Creating your own business card design is not an easy task. Photoshop can seem overwhelming and MS Paint doesn’t even scratch the surface of professional design requirements.

1) You can expect to pay $350-$945 for a quality graphic design program like Photoshop or QuarkXpress.

2) If you have no prior graphic design experience, it can take days, weeks, months or even years to master the program, resulting in frustration and wasted time.

Hiring a Graphic Designer

Hiring a graphic designer to create a card for you can be just as frustrating, and at times, very expensive. You can expect to pay anywhere from $300-$5,000 for a complete identity makeover with fresh business card designs (that doesn’t include the cost of printing). You will also likely encounter the weeks and numerous phone calls it takes to get a design finalized.

If you have a mature business and need a high-impact logo, I suggest going this route. Otherwise….

Get More For Less

Bottom line: designing your business cards online will save you time and money. Breakthroughs in web programming have allowed print providers like GreatFX Business Cards to offer complete online design studios allowing you to create a business card within your web browser in just minutes.

Copyright © 2004-2005, GreatFX Business Cards. All rights reserved.

It’s understandable that one is normally very keen to get one’s new business cards, and it’s easy to be overwhelmed by the “beauty of the thing”!  You must, simply must take a few minutes to carefully check that details such as telephone numbers, email address etc are correct. For example, it’s common for numbers to be transposed.

Show the proof to your spouse or a friend – anyone who’s not as emotional about the process as you – before giving the go-ahead. Once you’ve signed off a proof, it’s no good blaming the printer when there are mistakes. Just a few minutes of your time can avoid a great deal of resentment and disappointment.

It’s your business card, so it’s pretty much your responsibility to ensure that everything is as it should be.

Some of your contact details have changed – a telephone or fax number, or perhaps a new email address. You need new business cards anyway, so you order a batch from your printers, giving them the new details.

They make the changes and send you a proof which you sign, granting them the go-ahead. You get the business cards and everything’s just great. Things remain great till a few months later, when you order letterheads. Only this time, you forget that the letterhead template which the printers have on file for you still contains the old contact details. You get the useless letterheads, and now you’re mad at them for not having corrected the details and they’re mad at you for blaming them.

Thing is, you’re the one in the wrong! You cannot expect your printer, who’s dealing with hundreds or thousands of different clients, to think for you. Some might, but then you’re lucky – and it’s best not to bank on luck!

The way things should have been done is:

• You place your order, giving them the new details – in writing.
• You tell them – preferably in writing – that they must update the rest of your corporate stationery at the same time. These could include compliment slips, letterheads, note pads, etc.
• You get them to send you proofs of the changes.
• You sign them, make copies and return them to the printer.

This way, if something does go wrong somewhere down the line, you’re more than justified to “kick some butt”!