Greeting Card

What is greeting card

A greeting card is a kind of card that people greet each other when they meet a festival or event. The days when people usually give greeting cards include birthday, Christmas, New Year’s Day, Spring Festival, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Valentine’s Day and other days. There are usually some words of blessing on the greeting card.

Origin of greeting cards

Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty in ancient China used greeting cards to greet his ministers in the New Year. Every New Year and Spring Festival, from the head of state to the common people, it is customary to send greeting cards to relatives and friends. In traditional Chinese culture, “ceremony” is emphasized very much, which used to be the essence of Chinese culture. Much of etiquette is expressed in form, such as greeting cards. Presenting greeting cards before important personal events or public holidays is a solemn form, and secondly, it is convenient for others and yourself to inform the other party in advance. Therefore, since the Han Dynasty, greeting cards have been retained as a traditional form, but the name has changed.

Materials and craftsmanship of greeting cards

There are actually many kinds of paper for greeting card printing, such as coated paper, matte paper, pearl paper and so on.

Paper material selection, for greeting card printing, pearl paper is very good for printing greeting cards, there will be silver or gold glitter, but color printing is light, because pearl is a special paper that is not easy to color, and pearl is slow to dry, while double-sided greeting card printing will take a little longer than normal printing (with coated paper).

In terms of craftsmanship, customers must have a rough printing production budget before designing, and do the following work on this basis, because greeting card printing is different from album printing, single-page printing, etc., Choose a special paper as material for greeting card, the cost will be very high. Secondly, many processes of greeting cards can be superimposed in the later stage, such as hot stamping, UV, embossing, etc., which will increase the printing cost of greeting cards. The most common greeting card printing combination is the most economical cardboard paper, and it is still possible to cooperate with a bronzing effect.

Factors to consider for greeting card design

1. Overall concept. When designing, we should pay attention to the ease of use of the structure, such as: the convenience of opening, viewing, and use of greeting cards. The main design elements must be closely related to the main purpose of the greeting card. For example, warm-colored pictures should be used for birthday cards, and corresponding picture elements should be added to holiday cards.
2. Determine the structure sketch and the materials used. It is suggested here that if conditions permit, when encountering complex structural requirements, a brief structural sketch should be drawn by hand, and how the structural functions are realized. Because greeting cards should maintain a certain width and be suitable for writing information on one side, it is recommended to choose cardboard with a gram weight of not less than 180g/m2.
3. Collect pictures. The main problem in the process of graphic design is that in order to ensure the printing quality, the selection and combination of pictures should not be lower than 300dpi as much as possible. Because of the consideration of the later cutting problem, cutting and bleeding should be reserved.
4. Typesetting and printing. This process is generally completed by the printing manufacturer. It is recommended that before copying, the printing manufacturer can be asked to provide digital proofing for verification, and the product quality can be known before printing.
5. Post-press processing. The post-press processing of greeting cards is a diverse process, and the commonly used methods are as follows: cutting, creasing and die-cutting, bronzing, and glazing.

Greeting card printing requirements

During Chinese New Year, people often use greeting cards to express their blessings. Greeting cards are generally made of paper, and the production process seems simple, but it is not, because there are many points to pay attention to.

• How to handle files. Create greeting card files with software such as CorelDRAW, Illustrator, Freehand, Photoshop, and more. Use CorelDRAW, use CDR format when saving, and need to convert special fonts into curves to avoid changes, and set the resolution to 350dpi for bitmaps (the resolution is sometimes required by the printing factory, set as needed). Using Freehand and Illustrator, save the final page file in EPS format, and the attached image file needs to be attached; using Photoshop, save the final page file in TIFF or JPG format with a file resolution of 350dpi or more.
• The color processing. The color mode of the file is set to CMYK; the printing color cannot be required by the color of the screen, and the spot color should be avoided as much as possible when selecting the color; black characters should not be filled with four colors of C100, M100, Y100, and K100. Large color blocks with a total color value of more than 250% are likely to cause the back side to be dirty during printing. .