Our December 26, 2003 newsletter featured 1to1greetings.com and how they specialized in making personalized greetings for their clients. 1to1greetings used the old Epson 3000 (with it's large dye-ink cartridges) and printed on uncoated (non-inkjet) papers to greatly reduce their printing costs. Personalization, price and timely mailings were more important to their clients than image quality: http://www.inkjetart.com/news/archive/IJN_12-26-03.html
Today's article will cover the options and supplies that are available for artists who want to make higher quality note cards or greeting cards of their art for retail sales, or for their own gift giving.
PRE-CUT & PRE-SCORED CARD STOCK. InkjetART has four fine art, 100% cotton, inkjet-coated, card stocks that are pre-cut and pre-scored:
Both of these excellent quality papers are C2S (coated two sides), allowing for highest photo-quality printing on both sides. For a professional look, you do need to score or emboss the card stock before you fold, and these papers are pre-scored. All four papers are just the right weight for stiffness and thickness without being too heavy (so you can use the auto-feed feature from your sheet tray, rather than having to manually assist each feed). The Crane Museo Artist Cards are nicely packaged with matching envelopes. In packages of 50, they cost just under $1.00 each in the 5.5" x 7.5" size. The Moab Entrada cards, although not supplied with envelopes, are less expensive ($.60 each) than the Crane product and come in the very popular 5" x 7" size.
ENVELOPES: You can purchase standard 5.25 x 7.25 "LEE" or "A7" size envelopes from many stationary or printing supply stores for about $29 per box of 250. Xpedx carries them for $20/250 ($.08 each). You can also purchase them from us for the same price ($20/250) in either an acid-free "white" or "natural", or in smaller packages of 50 envelopes ($.10 each). Go to "Note Card Products": http://www.inkjetart.com/misc/envelopes.html
ADVANTAGES & DISADVANTAGES OF A PRE-CUT CARD STOCK: Having a product already pre-cut to a standardized size and pre-scored are two convenient and time-saving features. These features allow one to quickly produce a greeting card or note card with a professional look. However, these features increase the cost over doing it yourself and create these potential problems:
PRINT (IMAGE) ALIGNMENT: The score position may not align properly with the way your print handles paper. Epson printers, for instance, can typically start printing within 0.12 of the top or leading edge of the paper, and most Epsons require at least a 0.55" margin at the bottom or trailing edge of the paper (this area is non-printable unless you use the "minimize margins" - which changes the bottom margin to the same .12" as the other 3 sides - or the "borderless" feature of your printer, but this dramatically increases your printing time). By the way, Red River Paper has some good instructions for helping you to properly align things when printing on standard pre-cut and pre-scored inkjet papers:
http://www.redrivercatalog.com/cardshop/help/instructions.htm
FULL BLEED PROBLEMS: If your printer can print borderless, and you want to print your image borderless on the 5 x 7 area, it will take 2-3 times longer to print with this feature on pre-cut paper, than if you printed the image on larger paper and trimmed it down to 5 x 7. The "borderless" feature also takes away some of your image crop/size controls, as the software slightly enlarges your image (not allowing you options to precisely determine that crop) so that your image will "bleed" past the edges of the paper. This option also wastes ink, which is absorbed by special pads, when the ink squirts beyond the edges of the paper.
SCORE ALIGNMENT: If the score line is not done precisely, the two halves will not meet exactly upon folding. (We have seen some alignment problems with the Moab Entrada Cards in the past, but these problems seems to be rare now, with better scoring equipment and quality controls.)
ECONOMICS OF MAKING YOUR OWN CARDS FROM LETTER-SIZE PAPER STOCK: Making a few note or greeting cards for your own gift-giving from pre-cut and pre-scored card stock is the smart way to go. However, if your are selling your cards at $2-$4 each, having to pay up to a dollar for the card stock and envelope can cut deeply into your profits. (And using desktop inkjet printers with the small, name-brand cartridges will typically cost about $.60 for ink coverage on a 5" x 7" image area. Compatible brand ink cartridges, larger ink cartridge systems [like the Epson 4000] and bulk ink feed systems [like the Lyson Cave Paint for the Epson 2200] can greatly reduce these costs.) If you are willing to do the cutting and scoring yourself, you can reduce your inkjet card stock costs considerably --to a little as $.14 per card, for C2S (coated-two-side) 11 mil, 195 gsm inkjet stock (plus $.08 for the envelope).
HOW TO PRINT CARDS FROM LETTER-SIZE STOCK: Printing onto a full-size letter sheet is less expensive, allows for faster full-bleed printing (because you are not using the borderless feature of your printer, which slows it down), and your folds can be more precise because you trim the two halves at the same time (after folding), allowing them to perfectly match.
This PDF file is only set to 180 ppi (verses the optimum 360 ppi) so that it will download quickly (a 360 ppi file is 4 times larger than a 180 ppi file), and so that it will protect the larger files for commercial sales (this download size and pricing is only for personal use). The PDF shows how the 5x7 image is laid out on a letter size sheet of paper for proper folding and trimming (fold first and trim last). You can make a similar template for yourself using the "layers" feature in Photoshop, and drop the image into your template. Keep the layers in these files "unflattened", so they can always be edited. All the cut and fold lines are grayed back (to about 15%-20% opacity) so that if you slightly miss a cut or fold, the error is hardly noticeable.
SCORING: You're probably wondering, how do I score my own paper or put down an emboss on the fold line? You'll need a good scoring tool if you do this a lot (available a most art supply stores). If you do scoring only occasionally, some people make-do with a very dull knife (like a butter knife). Another make-do tool is a ball point pen that has run out of ink. Just run this empty pen across the fold line with the guidance of a ruler, and use enough pressure to put down a good emboss. This indents and weakens the fibers in this area so that the paper folds cleanly along the emboss. Other scoring tools can be purchased at art supply stores. For production scoring (and folding), consider these tools and machines:
CUTTING & TRIMMING: As we mentioned before, cutting is best done AFTER scoring and folding, so that the sides of your folded card match perfectly. For heavy production work, a heavy-duty Guillotine-type cutter with clamping (to hold the stack of cards during the cutting process) is best http://www.officezone.com/mancut1.htm. For individual card cutting and trimming, we prefer the rotary cutter/trimmers. We think the British-made Professional Rotary Cutters (24" to 54" models) by RotaTrim are the best, and no professional inkjet printer user should be without one or more of these units. Our staff has four models, one of which is over 15 years old, has never had the blade replaced and still cuts perfectly! http://www.rotatrim.com/ http://www.rotatrim.com/professional.htm
SINGLE-SIDE (C1S) INKJET PAPERS FOR CARD MAKING: If you are printing "blank" note or greeting cards (with no image on the inside) almost any inkjet letter-size paper stock will work as inkjet card stock as long as it is between 10 mil and 12 mil thick (about 190 gsm to 225 gsm in weight), AND it does not have the paper's brand name watermarked on the back! Thinner than this, and the stock is too flimsy for cards. Thicker than this, and the stock cannot feed unattended, and manually assisted feeds give inconsistent alignment or registration.
The only problem with a lot of papers like the Epson "Premium" papers is that they have a "plastic" feel due to the RC (resin coated) polyethylene layer(s) that are use to provide a water-resistant barrier (to your printing inks) so that the papers don't get wavy (cockle) when you lay down a lot of ink. The RC layer makes the inside of the greeting card have kind of a "plastic" feel that makes it somewhat hard to write on for some pens (fountain and "gel" pens), and even causes ball point pen ink to smear for several minutes. There are very few good "cast coated" papers (that don't use the RC and micro-porous coating technologies used in the "Premium" papers), and therefore have regular fiber-based paper back sides. Epson's old Glossy Photo Paper is one of them, but it is only 9 mil thickness, and only gives acceptable quality with pigment inks (not "great" quality).
Your best bet (only if you want to avoid the RC papers) is to go to a matte paper, i.e. as the Epson Enhanced Matte --which is a popular choice for many card makers, because it is relatively stiff for its weight and thickness, prints very well with pigment and dye inks, and is quite economical (about $.30/letter-size sheet): http://www.inkjetart.com/epson_paper/enhanced_matte.html
Moab Entrada Fine Art 190 (white or natural, 190 gsm, 11 mil) - $.84/sheet NOTE: the 10x7 (fold to 5x7) pre-scored stock is less expense ($.60) than letter-size sheets - a great deal!
Val-Hues 750-DGP Heavy weight Dual-Sided Glossy (185gsm, 10 mil) - $.90/sheet NOTE: a cast-coated paper that give acceptable pigment ink printing, but is best for dye ink. Will cockle with heavy ink loads.
InkjetART Duo Brite Matte (11 mil, 195 gsm) - $.17 to $.14/sheet (in bulk) NOTE: Like Epson's Double-Sided Matte, this is NOT an considered an archival paper, but will give very serviceable results.
The following C2S papers are a little light-weight for card use. Most of these cast-coated papers will produce acceptable pigment ink printing, but are best for dye ink use. All will cockle with heavy ink loads.
COMING SOON: Illuminata Alpha Smooth should be available from our Illuminata family of papers in about two weeks. This unique "alpha-cellulose" paper will provide the economy of a wood pulp paper (like the Epson Enhanced Matte and the InkjetART Duo Brite Matte), but will offer the archival standards of a 100% cotton paper, because it is lignin-free (just like cotton), acid-free and buffered! Illuminata Alpha Smooth is a C2S paper that is similar in weight (205 mil), thickness (12 mil), color and brightness (natural white, with a 93 brightness) and surface (smooth matte, C2S) to our Museum Digital Art, but at a cost that will be only about one-fourth that of a cotton sheet. We expect this paper to roll out at about $.22/letter-size sheet! http://www.inkjetart.com/wc/illuminata/family.html
CLEAR ENVELOPES & SLEEVES FOR DISPLAYING & MARKETING CARDS: If you plan to retail or sell your printed cards, most markets expect the card and envelope to be packaged within a clear sleeve to keep the two pieces together and protect against handling damage. InkjetART offer four different clear sleeve/envelope solutions. The least expensive is the open-end sleeve or "envelope" without a closable flap ($.10 each). The next three solutions are all $.12 each: An envelope with a closable flap, an envelope with a closable flap at the bottom AND a hanging hole at the top for for retail display (w/vertical card orientation), and a similar envelope with a horizontal orientation. You can purchase a sample pack with all four envelope types and our two standard LEE/A7 stationary envelopes (white and natural) for only $2.95.
In our May 27th newsletter, we said the "The HP prints cannot meet the longevity standards needed for photography and fine art."
We said that because the HP DesignJet 130 has only two HP papers (swellable-polymers), a gloss and a satin (luster), that can reach a Wilhelm-rated permanence of 70 years with the HP dye inks used in this printer. In comparison, the Epson printers, using the UltraChrome pigment inks can print on a wide variety of Epson and non-Epson media (including fine art-like papers and canvas) that reach and surpass this permanence. However, upon further review, we think our statement was too broad, because having even two papers (a gloss and a satin) that can meet this kind of permanence DOES qualify it as a very acceptable PHOTOGRAPHY printer for many, and even as a "fine art" printer, IF one preferred only to exhibited their fine art as photo-glossy or photo-satin prints.
There are some high-profile photographers that are using the HP DesignJet 130 to print their work for exhibits, because they like the gamut of this dye and how it prints on these two HP papers.
Only today and tomorrow left to save up to 20% on Epson Pro media! From now through June 30, 2004 you can buy almost any of Epson's large-format papers and canvas at deeply discounted prices -- PRICES SO LOW, you'll gladly pay for the shipping! NOTE: These discounts are ONLY available to those who order ONLINE (no phone orders). Our shopping cart does NOT require you to enter your credit card info in order to generate shipping cost information. You will find that even with shipping charges, you will typically save 10% - 20% over our regular prices. To start saving, go to:
FREE EPSON "FINISHING TOUCHES" DVD with any Epson Pro Graphics media purchase. This new DVD is packed with dozens of great NEW IDEAS to help make your large-format printing business more profitable! Some places are charging $35.00 for this DVD. But at InkjetART, you can order it for FREE (while supplies last), when you place any order for Epson PRO (large-format) media or ink:
Here are some answers and TIPS to some frequently asked questions from our subscribers:
Q: [Best ink / printer for uncoated papers?] Actual question was: "I need to determine whether Epson's (or 3rd party's) pigment-based inks will work well with archival non-glossy paper. I'm trying to set up a digital printing process for my smaller works, [and] I want to reproduce (and charge less for) smaller work reproductions. I've been reading various sources on inkjet printing, including wetcanvas member message boards and Harald Johnson's Mastering Digital Printing. I was about to buy an epson 2200, rather than a canon i9900, in order to use pigment-based inks. But now I've read in Johnson's book that pigment inks won't work well with the kind of archival matte paper I want to print. Can you advise whether the Epson pigment inks are likely to do all right on archival, non-glossy paper? Or should I stick with dye inks? If the latter, is there a significant difference in fade potential between epson's dye inks (for the 2200) and Canon's (for the i9900)?"
A: My understanding is that you want to print on non-coated archival matte paper, i.e. non-coated art paper. By "non-coated", I mean that the paper does not have an ink jet receptive coating. For instance, you can buy Arches Hot Press and Cold Press, which are uncoated fine art papers used for painting watercolors: http://www.inkjetart.com/arches.html
The uncoated papers are MUCH less expensive, but will not give you as photographic results (detail, DMax, contrast and color gamut) as the ink jet coated version. However, some people still prefer the more soft and "painterly" effect they get with the uncoated papers on some subjects. They certainly appreciate the lower prices.
Some non-inkjet papers are coated to make them smooth or glossy, but the coating rarely helps improve their inkjet printability (these coatings are usually to help improve their printing with other printing methods, i.e. offset or litho).
Your question was which ink (dye or pigment) and inkjet printer will do better on the uncoated papers. Dye inks usually do better than pigments on uncoated papers. Although I have not tested the i9900 against the Epson 2200, because the Canon is a dye ink printer, it would typically do better than the Epson. However, our customers using the older Canon S9000 printers have told us that the Epson 1280 (which is also a dye ink printer), has done better on matte papers than the Canon. Many of our customers rave about how well the Epson 1280 does on uncoated papers. The 1280 also does a better job of handling (feeding) heavier papers than does the Canon (but the Canons are about three times faster in printing speed). The HP dye ink printers (i.e. the HP DeskJet cp1700ps) are typically better at printing on non-coated papers than even the dye ink Epson inkjet printers.
So far, we've only compared 13" x 19" format printers. You said that you were "...trying to set up a digital printing process for my smaller works..." If letter-size will fit your needs for some projects, you can have both the longevity of pigment ink (up to 5 time greater fade resistance than dye) and the better printability of dye ink. You can get that combination with the Epson DuraBrite inks and the Epson C84 printer. These inks are also very water-resistant. The C84 (and the older C82 and C80) are "plain paper" champs. Here's a comparison: http://www.inkjetart.com/c80/uncoated_girl.html The Epson C84 printers are available at most office supply stores (i.e. Office Depot and Staples) for $99, and Epson is offering a $20 mail-in rebate (until Sept. 30, 2004), effectively reducing the price to $79.
Q: [Best semi-gloss, dual-sided paper for pigment ink?] Actual question was: "What is the best double-sided paper for highest quality on an Epson 2200? We tried the Mitsubishi semigloss and found it lacking. We need something heavier and brighter."
This is a 48-lb (about 170 gsm) "cast coated" paper. This paper performs very well for most dye ink users (i.e. the Epson 1280), and it will do an acceptable job with pigment inks, when the ink load is not too heavy. If you want something dual-sided, that is heavier, has an RC barrier layer to allow for heavier ink loads without cockling, and has micro-porous coating technology (works much better with pigment inks, like UltraChrome), then you ought to try the "InkjetART Micro Ceramic Luster Duo (formerly 'Gloss Duo')". Although this paper is called a "gloss", it has more of a semi-gloss look when compared to the high-gloss Epson Premium Glossy and Micro Ceramic Glossy. http://www.inkjetart.com/photo_papers/ceramic/luster_duo.html
All longevity estimates should be treated as such, Inkjet Art Solutions is not liable for pre-mature fading of prints or damage to printers through use of our products. Be sure to properly research your purchase and follow the directions given. If you need help, please contact us.
For more information regarding our policies, including our return policy, please visit our Policies Page
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