Design Guidelines for Full Colour Plastic Cards
For design guidelines on foil or surface printed cards, please click here.
Please indicate whether artwork is being supplied in CMYK, alternatively all pantone references used must be provided.
We can accept artwork in the following format:
Adobe Illustrator (CS4 or earlier)
Please convert all fonts to outlines, any imported images to be at least 300dpi. Save the file in .eps format.
Adobe Photoshop (CS4 or earlier)
Please save as .jpeg, .tif, or.eps
Do not show any signature strips, variable data or anything that does not print on the artwork file. Please send a separate pdf visual showing all these items.
PDF files
Please convert fonts to outlines and ensure minimum 600dpi. Do not show any signature strips, variable data or anything that does not print on the artwork file. Please send a separate pdf visual showing all these items.
Corel Draw
Please convert fonts to curves and save as .ai file. Imported images must be at least 300dpi.
FTP site
A secure site can be set up where we will provide you with a unique username and password for any large file uploads.
Card Size and Layout
All cards are produced to standard credit card size and thickness, 86mm x 54mm, 760 micron, with 3mm radius corners.
 |
If you require your design to print to the card edge (bleed) then you will need to extend the image by 3mm all around the card, making an overall size of 92 x 60mm. Please ensure that any text or images are at least 3mm inside the card edge (see dotted line on diagram).
Magnetic Stripes
Magnetic stripes are positioned approx 4mm (+/- 1mm) from the top of the card and are 12.5mm in height. It is important that you allow at least 2mm of space between magnetic stripe and any text or signature panel.
 |
Signature strips
When supplying artwork, please show signature strip position as a solid cyan panel.
On digitally printed cards, the signature strip needs to be a minimum of 4mm from the card edge
 |
Numbering & Personalisation
Please indicate the position of any numbers, names or any other variable information in magenta as shown in the illustration. We can print variable data in a size and font to suit and compliment your design.
 |
If a card is to be embossed, the maximum number of characters that can go across the face of the card is 27 simplex and 19 OCR (inclusive of spaces)
 |