Plastic card printing is becoming more popular than ever with companies choosing to offer loyalty cards, gift cards and keytags.
It is up to the graphic designer to create artwork that will produce a final product that the client will be happy with.
Setting up digital artwork to print on plastic can be a daunting task.
Some basic things to remember when creating artwork for any kind of print project are: saving the digital file out as a 300 dpi CMYK file and supplying any fonts or placed images used in creating the artwork.
Supplying your printer with all of the elements needed to complete the production process will make the card project run smoother and keep your completion date on target.
Keep these 5 tips in mind when starting a plastic card printing project:

1. Plastic cards are printed on a wide range of different substrates.
   This means that the plastic may have either a warm or stark white quality to it.
   Asking for a sample of the plastic that your project will be printed on is always a good idea.
   
2. In addition to dot gain, the final polishing of the cards will darken the artwork.
   Remember that any detailed areas in the art may get washed out unless you bump them up in contrast to compensate for darkening.
   
3. The standard size for a CR80 plastic card is 3 3/8" x 2 1/8" with a 1/8" corner radius.
   If the artwork bleeds, you need to make sure your art provides an additional 1/8" on every side of the card.
   The size of the art with bleeds should be 3 5/8" x 2 3/8".
   
4. The die-cutting process has a tendency to move around slightly.
   Any artwork on the card should be held back about 3/32" so it doesn't get cut off during the die-cutting.
   
5. A 2-track mag-stripe is 7/32" in from the edge of the card and is 5/16" thick.
   3 track mag-stripes are 3/16" in from the edge and are 1/2" thick.
   

For additional advice and guidance on the correct ways to set up artwork for plastic card projects, speak to a professional graphic designer, daniel.
ash@dvrg.
com.