Edge colour on Business Cards

I always wondered how to get colour onto the edge of business cards on a commercial scale, this article has a small insight of how to do it on a smaller scale.

http://ohsobeautifulpaper.com/2012/01/the-printing-process-edge-painting/

Using a mechanical vice, to keep the cards compact and therefore avoid bleed, or paint creep.

http://ohsobeautifulpaper.com/2012/01/the-printing-process-edge-painting/

Ruby Lith

Rubylith consists of two films sandwiched together. The bottom layer is a clear polyester backing sheet. The top layer is a translucent, red coloured, self adhesive emulsion. It is designed to be both easy to cut with a knife and light safe for use with orthochromatic films.

Rubylith is used in many areas of graphic design, typically to produce masks for various printing techniques. For example it is often used to mask off areas of a design when using aphotoresist to produce printing plates for offset lithography or gravure. It is also frequently used during screen-printing.

Perforation and Creasing

http://digitalprintingtips.com/printing-tips/t-30-550/applying-perforations.asp

Rotogravure Printing

Gravure printing is ideal for large runs such as magazines as it is fast process but hold the quality of the image and body copy. The indented image is created by plates and holds the ink tightly whilst maintaing speed, several colours can be applied with a machine such as the one above in the video.

The SPY Guide to Design and Print, 1988, Spy design.

Lino cut

http://www.lyndaburke.net/linocut-technique

Thermography

The SPY Guide to Design and Print, 1988, Spy design.

The process is incredibly simple, powder is added to the ink which is heated creating a raised surface. The example below from Piccolo Press has been put through the thermography machine, fine details and bits of information become the focal point rather than the stock or imagery on the card itself.