The printing of raised business cards uses a technology known as thermography to achieve a unique and high quality finish. Thermography produces the raised text and images on your business cards, something that better brings out that executive look and helps differentiate your from your competitors. First impressions matter and many times the business card is the opening statement of many business relationships.

A unique business card can leave a lasting impression on the person you hand it to and thus give your business that competitive edge that can often very well be the tipping point on who gets the first call for a lucrative deal. Therefore, by going for raised business cards, you can start to get it right from the start and create the atmosphere of confidence required to close that business deal.

Like many other types of business services today, you can look for and engage the services of a quality online print business that provides thermographic printing for business cards. Often, thermography printing will just be one of several types of services that you can obtain from a particular website or printing company. Some firms also have graphic design services available for those people that might not already have a business card design at hand or are thinking of changing their existing design.

If you do not want to pay a premium for a designer, you can opt to use either a standard word processor or one of the many free applications available online to design the card yourself. These applications will usually have a broad range of well designed templates for you to use and which you can modify based on your own tastes and preferences. Designing your own card can save you significant cost.

Before you settle on a company to print your raised business cards for you, you must take time to perform some due diligence on the various firms that provide the service. If you want to pick a company you have seen online, check out the reviews of the service from credible and independent review sites. Look at discussions among persons that have used the service before to see if there is anything that would incline you not to use a particular firm. But using the internet alone is often not sufficient. Try and get references from friends, family and business associates that might have recently had raised business cards printed for them.

Be careful not to fall for the lowest priced firm. The business card can be a strong statement of your brand and business values and a poorly done card can see you passed over on the best business opportunities. It is better to pay a higher amount for thermographic printing and get good quality cards than pay cheap and end up with poorly looking cards that you may have to discard and replace later. That said, there are many firms that provide thermographic printing services at a reasonable cost. Also remember that if you are engaging the services of a remote thermographic printing firm via the internet, make sure that you clarify whether the final charge is inclusive of shipping or mailing costs.

If you can get a company in your neighborhood or city to do the printing for you then the better. Even though you will still need to perform a background check on the quality of their service, their close proximity can give you greater control during the printing. If there are any errors on the cards that would require the cards to be redone, you can pick the errors out quickly when you go to collect the cards. This is as opposed to a distant thermographic printing firm where you would only pick out the errors when the card is sent to you meaning that correction can take a number of days or weeks since you have to send the cards back.

In business card printing, the more cards you print per order, the less unit cost you pay. Nevertheless, you have to strike a healthy balance between ordering too few cards and thus paying too much or requesting for a large quantity of cards that will take very long to exhaust and might have to be discarded later due to business changes such as change of logo or address.

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Thermography printing is achieved by adding a specific powder to ink after it has been printed on the paper. When the print is heated the ink and the powder combine to create a raised effect. This was often called ‘poor man’s engraving’ however the effect is quite nice. The enhancement it provides to wedding invitations gives them a sophisticated and prestigious look.

Thermography has been Used for Many Years

Although the first machine was not developed for thermography printing until 1915, often people would accomplish the process by hand. After the second World War, the process gained popularity because of the elegant look it created for many projects such as invitations, announcements and other printed messages.

Thermography Printing will Give Your Invitations a Look of Subtle Elegance

When consid ering thermography printing for your wedding invitations, you will be establishing the sophisticated style you prefer. The wedding invitation is an event announcer, so designing your custom look is part of what makes this event so special. The raised ink or thermographic printing often uses one or two colors to create a beautiful effect. Often black ink is used on a crisp white or a cream colored card. This is the more traditional look.

However, if you want to custom design the wedding invitations to match a theme being used for the wedding, this is another option. The possibilities are endless and no matter what colors are used, thermography printing provides a unique look.

Elegant but Affordable

The advantages of thermography printing are many. If you are pressed for time, this can be done much faster than engraving. Since engraving involves using a custom made block that is pressed into the paper, the time required just to make the block is lengthy. The engraved invitations will have to be ordered about six weeks before you need them. Add this to the fact that most wedding invitations are mailed from 4 to 6 weeks before the wedding and you are looking at a three month time line.

The thermography printing technique usually makes the printing somewhat glossy and this is a look often preferred by couples. In addition, thermography printing is much less expensive than engraving but the results are just as elegant. A savings of 70% to 75% less can be realized by choosing thermography instead of engraving, so if a custom look on a budget is what you are after, this is the best method.

Because thermography is a sleek look and can be used with gold and other metallic colors, the luxurious look it creates gives the same impression as engraved invitations. This printing process can also be used in combination with other printing such as lithography or letterpress for a truly magnificent look.

According to the bridal industry experts many couples today are choosing wedding invitations with more color and patterns that are not traditional. Thermography printing is the perfect choice for this because any color chosen for printing can be thermographed. One of the trends noticed recently for wedding invitations is pastel colors.

When choosing the type of wedding invitations you want for your special day, consider thermography printing. The invitations are announcing one of the most important events in your life, so make them stand out in the crowd by using thermography printing.

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No matter what kind of business you are in, you need to make sure that you have a business cards that represents what you need. Some people think that as long as they have a white card with their name and phone number on it, that is all they need. While those plain business card technically provide the same function as any other, they will not get noticed. Is this a real problem? Why is it important to make sure that the business card gets noticed?

Simply put, your business card is a traveling advertisement for you and your business. The more attractive your card is, the more likely the person you handed it to, will actually keep it. Also, if you end up posting your business card on a bulletin board, leave it with your tip at a restaurant or it ends up floating around the parking lot of a gas station and gets picked up by a stranger – it will be noticed more than a plain card. When your card is noticed, people will remember your name or the name of your business. Any advertisement that gets people to remember you is great advertisement.

Get Creative With Shapes

There is no rule out there that says your business card has to be the same exact size and shape as everyone else’s. However, with that said, you might want to make sure that your business card will still be able to fit within a person’s wallet. Still though, there is plenty of room for a little creativity.

For example, if you have a company that sells flower arrangements, you could have a card created that is in the shape of a flower. Cards that are shaped differently than the standard card are fun to look at and most people will take the time to read what’s on those cards, before they read what’s on all of the boring looking cards.

Be Careful With Colors

While you do not want to stick with just black, white and gray, you want to make sure that you are not going overboard with the colors as well. You could end up with a card that hurts peoples eyes when they look at it and that is not what you want. Basically, a little added color or sparkle is alright, too much color is not.

Have a Design Like None Other

If you are ordering your business cards online and you use one of the provided designs, you will find that there are many other people out there using the same design as you. This is not a good thing because you want your card to stand out. The design of your card should be unique. You can create your own design in a program like Photo Shop or you can hire a graphic designer to design the card for you.

Graphic Designers Can Be A Wise Investment

A quality graphic designer can be a wise investment. You will want to make sure that you are shopping around for prices and that you are asking for samples of some of his or her past work. One thing that you will need to remember is that just like paint artists, a graphic designer may be strong in some areas, but not in others. You want to make sure that you are dealing with a graphic designer that has done work similar to what you are looking for. It would also be a good idea to ask for three or four different designs. This way, you will be sure to find the one that is perfect for you. If you luck out, you might have multiple designs that you can use. This means you will be able to rotate the designs used for your cards, ensuring that they stay fresh and exciting.

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In order to be successful in business you need to present a front that says your business is successful and professional. Many times your business card is the introduction new clients and customers have to your business. For that reason it is important that your business card not only looks professional and sophisticated but, that it stands apart from the other 100 business cards a potential client or customer sees each week.

For many years businessmen had the options of either using flat printed business cards or paying the high expense of having engraved cards with raised printing. While there was little doubt that engraved cards look sophisticated and elegant and add a very successful air to businesses cards they are extremely expensive making them cost prohibitive for the small businessman or those just starting out. However, advancements in technology has lead to a new process known as the “poor man’s engraving” which allows businessmen to have the look of the raised lettering that engraved cards have without the high cost of engraving. While these cards are somewhat more expensive than flat printed cards they are doubtlessly affordable to most small businesses.

What exactly is Thermography?

Thermography uses a traditional method of printing and then a plastic resin powder is added to the ink then heated in a thermography machine that heats to between 900 and 1300 degrees drying the ink and powder together and the dried mixture forms a raised effect on the business card.

When used correctly this effect can give the illusion of the more expensive engraved card and looks chic and elegant while only costing a fraction of the price of engraving. This is due in part to the process that adds a rich look and feel to the card as well as the fact that due to the high heat used in this process high quality paper and ink is needed in order to create a successful process. When you combine the quality of the material used with the end result of the raised lettering effect you have a smart looking business card that very likely will stand out against the flat printed cards.

Business cards can be made using almost any color and metallic resins and glitter can also be used with this method to give your card an even more distinguished and refined look. For those looking for the raised look on a strict budget one color printing is usually less expensive than using two or three colors on your business card and can still create a rich and more sophisticated look.

How To Know if Thermography is the Right Look for Your Business Cards?

The only way to know if thermography is the right look for your business card to actually see samples of a card done using this method. Many print shops and even online printing businesses are willing to let you see samples of cards done in this manner. In addition ask the printing service you are planning on using if they will make up a sample of your particular card so that you can see the exact result of what you may be purchasing.

Many printing companies will even allow you to design your own business card and will help you by offering advice and suggestions of what will work best.

Should You Order Online or Locally?

The decision of whether or not to order online or locally should boil down to who can give you the best product for the best price. You are going to want a company that will work with you to help you create the most professional business card possible for a price you can afford. That means wherever you purchase your business cards from you are going to want a real person available to speak to and someone willing to provide you with a sample of how your finished product will look. Don’t be afraid to ask questions to find out how long the company has been doing thermography business cards and if they will give you a list of satisfied customers that you can call. Ask about how long after ordering you can expect your new business cards and if they have some sort of policy if you are not happy with their product or service. It’s your business and you want the right type business card at the right price.

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