Whether you are printing on plastic because you want a high-end look for your business cards, or you need a gift card with a functioning magnetic stripe or barcode, you should first decide if you have the equipment needed to print them yourself, or if you should order PVC cards from a vendor.
Unlike paper card stock, plastic can’t be run through a regular inkjet or laser printer. If you plan to print plastic cards at your home or office, make sure you are using a printer that is designed specifically for plastic. Otherwise, it is highly likely that your equipment will be damaged.
The most popular type for non-commercial use is a thermal ID card printer. They are most popular for printing ID cards but can actually print just about any type of design you’d like onto blank PVC cards.
The top brands of thermal card printers include Datacard, Evolis, Fargo / HID, Magicard, and Zebra. The cost for the machine itself typically ranges from $1,500 - $5,000+ which often does not include the necessary software.
As with any printer, it is important to determine what your needs are first. There are a lot of features to consider. Some are single-sided while others can print double-sided cards. Do you require a magnetic stripe encoder? Is speed important? Are you printing a single card or many at a time?
The actual cost is more than just the price of the machine. Don’t forget to factor in ribbon and cards. Rather than using inks or toners, ID card printers use thermal ribbons. These are available in black and color. Some manufacturers also offer fancier ribbons like gold foil or specific colors like red or blue.
Black ribbon is not very expensive and averages $0.01 - $0.02 per card side. Color ribbon can get very pricey, averaging $0.28 - $0.40 per card side depending on the brand.
This means that the ink / ribbon cost alone for a single plastic card printed with color on both sides is $0.56 - $0.80 per card. The ink costs for a card printed with color on the front and black ink on the back is $0.29 - $0.42 per card.
When calculating the cost to determine if it makes sense to print your PVC cards yourself or outsource printing to an online printing company like Print Robot, don’t forget the blank plastic cards. Pricing on these can vary depending on the quantity, color, and finish selected.
The standard configuration on blank PVC cards is similar to a credit card in size and thickness. They measure 3.375” x 2.125” (CR-80) in size and 30 mil thick. The standard finish is gloss, with satin and matte finishes also available on most colors.
The cheapest blank plastic cards are white with gloss finish. They are priced at roughly $0.05 each through our website on quantities of 1,000 - 5,000. Make it a magnetic stripe card for another penny or so.
Cards are also available in a variety of colors. Standard blank card colors include light blue, medium blue, dark blue, hospital blue, cranberry, medium green, dark green, grey, orange, pink, red, tan, and yellow. They are priced at about $0.085 - $0.09 each through our website on quantities of 1,000 - 5,000 with a gloss finish. Make it a LoCo or HiCo magnetic stripe card for another penny or so.
If you are looking for something with an upscale look, try black or metallic plastic cards. The metallic cards are available in red gold, green gold, silver, and copper. They are priced at $0.098 - $0.11 each through our website on quantities of 1,000 - 5,000 with a gloss finish. Order as a magnetic stripe card for roughly a penny more.
Looking for something super bright? Try our fluorescent plastic cards - available in fluorescent yellow, pink, green, orange, blue, and red. These are priced a bit higher at $0.125 - $0.14 each through our website on quantities of 1,000 - 5,000 with a gloss finish. A LoCo or HiCo magnetic stripe can be added for a bit more.
If you’ve priced out the cost of a thermal ID card printer, along with the necessary software, and ribbons, and determined that you’d like to print your own ID cards, gift cards, membership cards, or plastic business cards, that’s great!
BlankPlasticCards.com is one of the largest manufacturers of blank PVC cards and proudly produces its cards in the USA. In addition to incredibly low prices, we offer the largest select of blank plastic cards including a wide range of colors and magnetic stripe options.
If you are curious to see if ordering printed cards makes more sense, get instant pricing on printed cards for gift cards, ID cards, membership cards, and business cards at Print Robot.
A third option to consider is ordering printed card shells for any portions of the card that are in color and/or remain constant from card to card.
For example, if you ordered membership cards, your design would contain the logo, background color, everything but the member name and number. You could then run the card shells through your thermal printer to personalize them on-demand. If you add the member name and number in black ink, it will be a more cost effective solution than printing the entire thing in color yourself.
Print Robot also offers a prepaid shell program that provides on-demand personalization and can even include turnkey fulfillment solutions.
As you probably already know, most card stock with colour(s) on it is simply white card stock that has been printed a specific colour using either CMYK inks or a pantone (spot colour). The ink sits on the surface of the white card which gives it the appearance of colour. Any white areas are simply the white card stock left unprinted. What you may not be aware of is the growing trend and popularity of using coloured card stocks. These boards are dyed with specific colours that are unique to that particular paper brand. Popular coloured boards include Colorplan, Gmund, Senses and Vanguard, all of which we use here at AHC.
If you're curious as to how coloured boards are made, explore the short video showing how James Cropper produce their Raspberry Vanguard card.
1) You can be sure they will be the same colour every time. Since most people use CMYK printing due to it being more cost effective than pantone printing, you can get quite a bit of variation in colour. For example if you brand colour is a dark blue, you will get multiple variations of it using different printers and even during different print runs with the same printer. With a coloured board, that blue will be the same every time.
2) Coloured card stocks have a unique finish which you can't get by printing white card. There's something about seeing small fibers of paper with a lovely matt finish that just oozes luxury.
3) No white edges. Because coloured card stocks are dyed they are that colour throughout, which means no white edges. This makes them ideal for guillotining as there is no ink surface cracking and they are also perfect for sanding and edge gilding for the same reason.
4) Duotone edges and coloured cores. Using a coloured board means the edges of the card stock is the same colour as the surface. This allows for exciting duotone edges when gluing two board colours together, or a coloured core when gluing 3 board colours together. It adds a little something extra to your business card or invitation for very little additional cost.
1) Limited colour range. Despite their popularity increasing, there are still only around 3-400 coloured board colours. Compared to the multitude of colours you can create with CMYK inks and nearly 2000 pantone colours, it does mean you may not be able to find a colour to match your brand. Many designers and brand agencies are now creating brands with coloured boards in mind, versus creating brands based around pantone colours. If you're starting a new business venture it's worth speaking to your designer/agency before they start if you'd like to use coloured stocks.
2) They are most expensive to print. Working with coloured boards means you're either going to need foil stamping or white ink printing. Foil stamping uses opaque foils which means the colour beneath the foil won't show through, even if it's a white foil on a black card stock. White ink printing can also be used, however it isnt as opaque as white foil. Many of our customers use the coloured board and foils as the combination immediately looks distinct and upmarket. Some coloured boards can also be printed with colour designs using a white ink underpin, however this can result in colour shifts depending on the colour of the board and the density of the white ink being used.
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