Biz Card Question / help
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- Louno
Ok , i know that biz cards should be 3.5x2 .
I know i have to work in cmyk.
Illustrator is my friend.But now what about the color issue , i need help with that.
Lets say i want to do 3 color. Does white count as 1 color ?
Also , lets say i use Black , and then , i take the same black but put it at 50% opacity , this gives me grey , does the 50%black and the solid black = 2 colors ? would it be the same if i took 1 solid grey and 1 solid black ?what if i want to put a picture on it ? like a jpg ? there are like thousands of colors in it? ...
I probably will only use like 3 color ... but can i vary the opacity etc ? ...dah give me any info you got concerning anything i mention here , i need to do this biz card NOW , the guy want to send it to the print shop Tomorrow before noon ! ... crap :(
- Duane0
well if you are printing cmyk, you will only be using 4 colors (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black). using screen mixes though you an almost infinite color palette. if you introduce other spot colors by selecting a pantone color from a palette, you have just added a color to your print job. for example, regarding your question about the black, the 50% black will print as a 50% halftone while the 100% black will print solid (no halftone). look at a magazine with a loupe or magnifying lens and you'll see the screens and screen mixes. white is not a color if you are printing on white paper. there just will be no ink where there is white specified (for example, white type over an image knocks a hole through the screens to show bare paper). make sense? in short, you should have no problem with your print job as long as all of your colors are specified as cmyk mixes (no pantone colors).
- Louno0
soo if im using CMYK , i might as well use all colors(if i want to) ? since it will always be only 4 color ?
On the other hand , if i use pantones , then i have to be carefull to use specified amout of color ...
Then , what is the advantage of using pantones ???
- Duane0
yeah, cmyk is the way most magazines are printed. you can use pretty much any color that you want. realize though that some colors will look a little different than they do on screen. for example, sometimes screens less than 5% may drop out once printed or maybe screen over 85% or so may gain and get darker. cmyk inks are mixed through halftone screens to simulate flat inks. that's why a pantone cmyk book really comes in handy when specifying flat areas of color for cmyk output.
the advantage to using pantone colors is that the inks are (in theory) perfectly flat and even once printed. you can tell the difference between a cmyk orange and pantone 179. the cmyk version would be created by overlapping a halftone of 0% cyan, 69% magenta, 100% yellow and 4% black in it. you would be able to see the dots. the pantone version would be smooth and even. there's more, but this is getting long...don't want to bore anyone.
- Louno0
Sooo pantone is better quality ... much more crisp and clean right ? ...
soo should i be doing this in pantone ? or it doesnt matter ? ...
Also , uhm in illustrator , or whatever , i made a rectangle of 3.5x2 size ... and its uhm ... tiny ???? ... I had to zoom to about 200% so it looks about the same size as a real life biz card when i put it next to my computer screen... is that normal ? cuz lets say when i zoom out to 100% , all the text i wrote is almost unreadable ....
Thanks for your help tespilot btw :)
- k0na_an0k0
yo man... totally normal. it will print fine even being that small.
you can even put 8 i think (4 per column, 2 columns) per page and print out 8 per time.
all the exact size needed.
- Louno0
ok cuz in 100% i absolutely cant read it eheh , but when i zoom in to 150-200% its all proportionate ... anyways ... thanks...
- BonSeff0
cyan, magenta, yellow and black are industry standard colors to make every color by laying down tiny dots on paper with via 4 printing plates. each plate lays down a series on dots that overlay with the other plates to create your art.
pantone colors usualy are run alone, with other pantone colors or compliment a cmyk job,
my best advice is to go take a tour of a local print shop. you are obviously interested. dont bother with a print rep, ask to hang with a pressman during a job. they will answer all your questions, plus they are generally super cool bros.
good luck and have fun!
- Duane0
no sweat louno! the way you spec colors is all about the way you want the finished piece to feel. i normally use pantone (spot) colors for business cards because i prefer the crispness of the output, but that's not to say a cmyk version wouldn't look nice as well. print is an art, and i love the subtle effects you can get by tweaking inks. sometimes, you can get cool results by printing something in cmyk but only specifying colors that are pure (for lack of a better word). by that i mean select color mixes that always have 100% of one of the inks in the mix. that way, you know you get full ink coverage on the paper and the results look crisper. i've done stuff using a 100% magenta, 100% yellow ink mix to get a great red. since there's nothing less than 100% coverage it looks super crisp. experience is the best teacher with print though. i looked for some good instructional links about four color process offset printing but had no luck. let you know if i find anything.
- Duane0
bon seff nailed that one on the head. go to a quality printer near you. they love giving designers tours and are full of info. after all, they want your business!
- BonSeff0
also a 4 color cmyk job is easier and cheaper than a 3 pantone color job.
cause the press generally runs cmyk and unique colors requires that the press and pumps be cleaned on the press for your job, all that time is factored in when your job is estimated by your printer.
if you are new to this, i recommend going 4 color.
and go nuts. once its on the press you can ask your questions and start foolin with pantone (or spot colors).
- Duane0
bon seff, i forget you're a local. where do you work? i'm at commerce and pearl downtown.
- Louno0
thats a great advice about always having a 100% color in the cmyk mix , so there will always be some ink ... cool , thanks guys , ill probably go to a print shop sounds cool , i love print even if i never really done some before . Anyways , this job is for tomorrow so i wont have time to go to a shop now , but thanks for the quick advices guys
- BonSeff0
testpilot, im in dallas too. ive been through a lot of printers in town. CMYK is LIFE. my favorite printer is buccanan on 635 & 35. super clean building.
do you know of any 60" presses in the dfw area? i know of one and they suck
we should talk shop over a brew or four one day. you got some nice work on your site. focus2 seems like a way cool place. i think i applied to focus2 when i moved to dallas like 2 years ago when i thought web design was the end all
- Duane0
very cool seff! yeah we use buchanan - very nice place. i'll have to ask my production manager about 60" presses and get back to you. i know we are working with a couple of vendors on large presses at the moment.
we should definitely get together. ever go to the expo lounge? maybe next week?
crazy man. i've worked at focus2 for five years now. weird, we may have met before. i've been art director for the last 3 years and i see all of the books that come through. we haven't done much hiring the last few years though. it's been a good gig.
i'll email you soon and we can figure out something. looking forward to it!
- BonSeff0
sorry we hijacked yer thread Louno, post a link of those cards when you get em done
- -
Right on Duane. i know of a couple designers here, i wish we could get a design gang going here.
we should form a bowling league or something. the aiga in austin used to do it once a year. but we should get a league, like an every wednesday pin up latest projects and shit.
i love newstoday for stuff like this
- Ani0
I love this thread. Really informative stuff. I have a question about printers.
1st: what is a 60" press? Benefits? As opposed to?
2nd: I find that when I go to the printer or shop a printer they seem to never be able to do the things I ask them to. For instance I wanted stickers on my cards. Real stickers that wrapped around the edges. EVERYONE in california that I shopped said that it cant be done. I would have to manually stick these on myself. Meanwhile there is a hair salon that has the great cards with this concept. There is now way these were manually done. Each card was perfect. Each sticker fell in the exact same spot. I called their guy who did the cards but he never returned my call. Any ideas?
- Ani0
are you guys still there?
- Ani0
come back pleeeezzz!
- Duane0
sweet seff! i'm with you on that one. i'm always on the lookout for other cool design people to hang with. somtimes the design scene here seems a little stale. do you go to dsvc or aiga meetings here? i haven't checked out the aiga yet and don't make it to dsvc functions too often. just long enough to scamper off with a medal from the dallas show recently. anyhow, let's do it.
dallastoday®
- Ani0
Duane?