Printing trading cards
- Thread starter SWfan
- Start date
Buzz Bumble
Furry Ewok
It depends on the size, thickness, how many you want, etc.
One reasonable online place for printing various things, including mousemats, is Vista Print (ships anywhere, I've used them before to get client business cards and letterheads printed). Depending on the type, they will print as low as one or five, but it can work out expensive if you're only printing a few of each card though since you're wanting to use a custom design for the front and back. There are no doubt other places online that are similar.
Another option I've used before is a normal photo printing shop (the place where you'd normally take you camera / memory card to get photos printed) ... this is usually single-sided only though. A friend wanted to have her photo and her boyfriend's photo put into a locket for her daughter's birthday. I made the photos the correct size and put multiple copies (with slightly different brightness / contrast) onto one normal photo-sized, hi-resolution JPEG. I then took that on a disk to the photo shop to get it printed, and then cut them out.
A high street copy center is the usual option, but it is not as good a quality since they usually only use a colour laser rather than a photo printer, but you will be able to have a thicker card stock. If you use a layout / graphic application to fit a few to a standard size page, you can save some money and trim them yourself. The problem here can be getting the two sides to match up properly if you are doing double-sided printing (especially if the staff at the copy center are the usual thickos who don't really know how the system works and simply click the "print" button).
More expensive, especially with low numbers, is a proper design / print shop that has a digital off-set printer.
However you get them printed, make sure any artwork is at least 150dpi for a desktop inkjet / laser printer and higher for proper press / off-set printing. (Vista Print lists the specs on their website for the various things they can print.) You will also need to know whether they want proper CMYK or RGB artwork.
One reasonable online place for printing various things, including mousemats, is Vista Print (ships anywhere, I've used them before to get client business cards and letterheads printed). Depending on the type, they will print as low as one or five, but it can work out expensive if you're only printing a few of each card though since you're wanting to use a custom design for the front and back. There are no doubt other places online that are similar.
Another option I've used before is a normal photo printing shop (the place where you'd normally take you camera / memory card to get photos printed) ... this is usually single-sided only though. A friend wanted to have her photo and her boyfriend's photo put into a locket for her daughter's birthday. I made the photos the correct size and put multiple copies (with slightly different brightness / contrast) onto one normal photo-sized, hi-resolution JPEG. I then took that on a disk to the photo shop to get it printed, and then cut them out.
A high street copy center is the usual option, but it is not as good a quality since they usually only use a colour laser rather than a photo printer, but you will be able to have a thicker card stock. If you use a layout / graphic application to fit a few to a standard size page, you can save some money and trim them yourself. The problem here can be getting the two sides to match up properly if you are doing double-sided printing (especially if the staff at the copy center are the usual thickos who don't really know how the system works and simply click the "print" button).
More expensive, especially with low numbers, is a proper design / print shop that has a digital off-set printer.
However you get them printed, make sure any artwork is at least 150dpi for a desktop inkjet / laser printer and higher for proper press / off-set printing. (Vista Print lists the specs on their website for the various things they can print.) You will also need to know whether they want proper CMYK or RGB artwork.