Business Cards Arrived - Oh dear!

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DanielMartin

Member
So my business cards arrived yesterday
Im not too happy with them, some little nagging design faults also
The colours seemed almost muted? In comparison to what they were in Adobe Illustrator, is that normal? because if so, I'll have to change the colour scheme

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I guess the first question is did you design them in CMYK? If youve done them in RGB, the printer will have converted them to CMYK which will dull down the colours slightly.

Did you not get a printed proof to sign off before the job went to press? If so and these are nothing like the proof, then perhaps contact the printer and ask to see the original proofs you signed off for comparison.
 
Have they been matt laminated as this can make the colours dull and not as bright, just a thought.
 
You can't rely on an on screen view to judge your colours, as you are viewing a monitor which has light behind the image. Are you calibrated? You can calibrate your monitor to give you more accurate previews, google it if you aren't sure, it can be quite technical and detailed.
You should always get a hardcopy colour match proof if you are concerned about the colour.
 
If you designed them in Pantone colours and then had them printed in CMYK the colours could be very different. You should get yourself a Pantone guide (buy a Bridge guide - which gives Pantone and its equivalent in CMYK). Colours will also print slightly differently on different stocks (which is why Pantone guides come in gloss and matt) If you want specific colours then you need to use Pantones - which is where YOUR job is printed in the colours YOU specify and not printed with lots of other peoples jobs. Obviously this will cost more - but you shouldn't be disappointed.

Nagging design faults? Your problem!

I can give you a quote for the print in Pantones if you require. PM me.
 
Katedesign said:
If you designed them in Pantone colours and then had them printed in CMYK the colours could be very different. You should get yourself a Pantone guide (buy a Bridge guide - which gives Pantone and its equivalent in CMYK). Colours will also print slightly differently on different stocks (which is why Pantone guides come in gloss and matt) If you want specific colours then you need to use Pantones - which is where YOUR job is printed in the colours YOU specify and not printed with lots of other peoples jobs. Obviously this will cost more - but you shouldn't be disappointed.

Nagging design faults? Your problem!

I can give you a quote for the print in Pantones if you require. PM me.
Click to expand...

It'd have to be a big run to be worth the price of litho and pantones as opposed to digital - ouch! Good advice about Pantones though, that's a good way to be sure of your colours.
 
Everyone's got used to paying for the 'share-a-sheet-CMYK' printers who may be printing 18 or more peoples cards on one run - which is how they get the costs down.

When we print in Pantones (for corporate colours) we often suggest that companies 'batch' three or four names together to make savings.

If you own a Pantone set you can at least check how your colours will print if you are going to print in CMYK.
 
Jamo said:
Have they been matt laminated as this can make the colours dull and not as bright, just a thought.
Click to expand...

Yeah there were two choices from mooprint.com
Laminated finish or an eco friendly, slightly rough finish print - However i peeled off the laminate to check and the colours were alot sharper

So i'll go for the eco choice in a few weeks
And also haha, the stickers came out a tradegy :D

A big learning curve! and i surprised that printers arent on RGB
 
And also Im only 15 so my budget is like £<60 So its actually pretty small so unless panatone come as cheap as that, It looks like its mooprint again
 
DanielMartin said:
Yeah there were two choices from mooprint.com
A big learning curve! and i surprised that printers arent on RGB
Click to expand...

Sorry didn't realise you were so young!! Your art/design teacher should be able to tell you why printers can't print in RGB - if not it's because RGB is light-based (as in TVs, screens - light sourced colour) and printing is pigment (paint, ink, toner - CMYK) If you have an ink jet printer you will buy Cyan/Magenta/Yellow and Black toner.

If your art teacher can't explain why then they probably shouldn't be an art teacher!!

Good design skills though - well done.

Kate
 
DanielMartin said:
Yeah there were two choices from mooprint.com
Laminated finish or an eco friendly, slightly rough finish print - However i peeled off the laminate to check and the colours were alot sharper

So i'll go for the eco choice in a few weeks
And also haha, the stickers came out a tradegy :D

A big learning curve! and i surprised that printers arent on RGB
Click to expand...

Have you enquired at your local printers at all? You'd be able to get a printed proof and they would be able to advise you on print face to face.
 
Some Clarity

Might not be what you wanted exactly, but still looks very nice to me anyway :)

I wrote this article for my clients, but any new designer will it a useful read also. It aims to clarify the difference between web colours and different types of print colours and how to gain some sort of predictable print result.

Important Graphic Design Technical Information

There is also a blog but some of the info may overlap a bit I think, not sure:
Truly Ace Graphic Design Blog

Amanda
 
I definitely agree with the Pantone swatch thing - it's helped me get things a lot more accurate (most of the time).


I say most of the time because I ordered business cards a few weeks ago that I wasn't happy with.
I swatched for the CMYK value of the colours. The green came out exact but the background grey came out waaay darker than the swatch to the extend where I thought it would have looked great with spot varnish since you could now hardly see my name.

Said company did not offer proofs unfortunately. Live and learn.. you also get what you pay for I think.

At least it was for myself rather than for a client.
 
You generally only get digital proofs nowadays due to cost. For a small print job a 'wet proof' (off a press) would cost as much as the job!! We do offer a digital proof for short run or an ink jet print that goes through our plate RIP. We calibrate our digital machines daily and most people are happy with a digital proof. Some colours are always going to be difficult!
 
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