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It comes down to the coating. Soft Touch has a velvety film laminate that feels like suede or peach skin. Warm, tactile, and noticeable right away. Matte has a flat, smooth, non-reflective film with no added texture. Both sit on the same 20pt cardstock with the same brightness rating. If feel matters to how your brand is perceived, Soft Touch. If you want clean and neutral, Matte.
Soft Touch vs Matte Business Cards
At a glance, these two finishes look nearly identical. Pick them up and they feel completely different. This guide covers both from every angle: feel, print quality, durability, design fit, and price.
Both finishes are printed on the same thick 20pt stock. Both are part of the business cards lineup. The finish is what changes everything about how someone experiences your card.
Two finishes. Same foundation.
Same 20pt thickness. Same Jukebox print quality. Different in every way that counts the moment the card changes hands.
Soft Touch
A heat-applied film laminate bonded directly to the printed surface. The result is a velvety, suede-like texture that is warm to the touch and impossible to describe without holding one. This is a true film coating, not a varnish. Previously known as Silk Matte. It is our most-ordered finish for a reason.
Thickness20pt
CoatingSoft Touch (velvety)
Brightness93
Starting from$32 for 50 cards
Write on it?Ballpoint / marker
Finish feelSuede, warm, textured
Matte
Also a heat-applied film laminate, not a matte varnish. That distinction matters: film gives you a more consistent, durable surface with a cleaner finish than a varnish can achieve. Non-reflective, smooth to the touch, and reliable across every design style. The finish stays out of the way and lets your artwork lead.
Thickness20pt
CoatingMatte (flat, smooth)
Brightness93
Starting from$30 for 50 cards
Write on it?Most pens work great
Finish feelSmooth, flat, clean
The part specs don’t tell you
Both finishes are heat-applied film laminates, not matte varnishes. That is worth knowing because film bonds more consistently, holds up better over time, and produces a cleaner surface. The difference between them is what that film does to the card in your hand.
Soft Touch: the one people always ask about
The Soft Touch coating goes on after printing is done. The result is a finish that most people reach for words like “suede,” “peach skin,” or “velvet” to describe. It’s warm and tactile in a way no flat finish really gets close to. When someone picks up a Soft Touch card for the first time the reaction is almost always the same: they pause, and they feel it again.
Colors under the coating look rich and saturated, with a slightly muted, cinematic quality. That works particularly well for dark or moody designs. Light-colored and minimalist layouts look clean and intentional against the velvety surface.
Tactile intensity
Color depth
Uniqueness factor
Matte: clean, sharp, and out of the way
Matte is smooth with no surface texture. Flat, non-reflective, reads as clean and professional without trying to say anything on its own. That’s the point. Your typography, logo, and artwork carry the weight without the coating competing for attention.
If you’re building a corporate brand identity, ordering for a big team, or working with a minimal design that relies on precision and legibility, Matte is a solid choice. It handles handwriting well too, which matters if you jot notes or personal details on the back.
Tactile intensity
Color accuracy
Versatility
Side-by-side comparison
| Soft Touch | Matte | |
|---|---|---|
| Thickness? | 20pt | 20pt |
| Finish | Soft Touch | Matte |
| Coating | Heat-applied film laminate. Velvety, suede-like surface | Heat-applied film laminate. Flat, smooth, non-reflective surface |
| vs. varnish | Film, not varnish. More durable, more consistent, better over time | Film, not varnish. More durable, more consistent, better over time |
| Texture | Velvety / suede-like (peach skin) | Smooth and flat. No surface texture |
| Brightness? | 93 | 93 |
| Paper source | High-brightness coated cover stock | High-brightness coated cover stock |
| Color quality | Rich, deep, warm. Slight muting effect from the film adds a cinematic quality | Accurate and clean. Colors print exactly as designed with no coating influence |
| Painted edges | Highly recommended. The velvety surface makes painted edges stand out more | Available, but the contrast is less pronounced on the flat surface |
| Writable | Ballpoint or permanent marker. Gel pens may smudge | Any pen works cleanly |
| Best suited for | Most brands. Particularly strong in luxury, beauty, real estate, fashion, hospitality, and creative services | Corporate, B2B, teams, and any brand that wants clean, accurate, no-surprises results |
| Turnaround | Next business day* | Next business day* |
| Starting price | $32 for 50 cards | $30 for 50 cards |
| Order | Order Soft Touch › | Order Matte › |
Prices shown in CAD. USD and EUR available at checkout.
* Next business day turnaround on orders approved by 10:00 am PST.
Who orders each one
Real patterns from thousands of orders. Not guesswork.
Soft Touch is the right call if…
- → You want people to notice the card the moment they pick it up
- → You work in a client-facing, creative, or impression-driven field
- → Your design uses dark backgrounds, rich photography, or bold contrast
- → You want a finish that stands out in a stack of cards on a table
- → Beauty salons, photographers, agencies, realtors, consultants, hospitality brands
- → The card itself is part of the brand experience you want to create
Matte is the right call if…
- → You want a clean, professional finish that works across every design style
- → You are ordering for a team and need consistent quality at volume
- → You hand-write notes, numbers, or personal details on your cards
- → Your design is typographic, minimal, or relies on sharp color accuracy
- → Corporate professionals, law firms, accountants, startups, and tech companies
- → You want the finish to stay out of the way and let your branding do the work
The details that actually matter
Print Quality
Color and print reproduction
Both finishes are heat-applied film laminates bonded to the stock after printing. Film behaves differently to matte varnish. Varnish sits on the surface and can crack or wear unevenly over time. Film bonds directly to the stock and produces a cleaner, more consistent finish. Both Soft Touch and Matte share that foundation.
The difference is in how each film interacts with color. On Soft Touch, the velvety layer creates a slightly muted, warm version of your design. Colors come out rich and deep, which works particularly well on photography, dark palettes, and designs with strong tonal contrast.
On Matte, the flat film renders colors clean and direct, faithful to your CMYK values. No warmth added, no softening. If color accuracy and sharpness are the priority, Matte’s the better call. Neither finish uses gloss, so you won’t get the reflective sheen that washes out detail in bright light.
Design
Which designs work best on each
Soft Touch is particularly strong on dark or black backgrounds. The depth of color against the velvety surface creates a look that’s hard to get any other way. Minimalist layouts with a lot of white space also land well here, and the coating adds a premium quality even when the design is simple. Photography and gradient-heavy work benefit from the warmth too.
Matte is the more neutral surface. Typographic cards, illustrated designs, geometric layouts, anything where color precision matters, it handles all of it without adding its own opinion. If your design needs to print exactly as it looks on screen, Matte is the safer choice.
Functionality
Writing on your cards
If you write on your cards regularly, whether that is a personal note, a direct number, or pricing details, this one matters. Matte is the more forgiving surface. The flat coating accepts ink from most pens cleanly, including felt-tips, ballpoints, and fine-liners.
Soft Touch is fine with a ballpoint or fine-tip permanent marker. Gel pens and felt tips tend to smudge on the coating though, so avoid those. If you write on cards occasionally, either finish works. Daily habit? Matte is the safer pick. For maximum writability, our uncoated stocks like Cotton or Mohawk Superfine are the easiest surfaces to write on.
Customization
Add-ons and upgrades
Both finishes are available with rounded corners, and both can be ordered in all four of our standard sizes. Painted edges work on either, but they read differently. On Soft Touch the contrast between the velvety coating and the hand-painted edge is sharper and the combination tends to get noticed.
On Matte, painted edges are a nice upgrade but the contrast is subtler. If edge color is part of your design, Soft Touch is the better canvas for it. Browse all edge color options on our business cards page.
Still unsure? Hold them in your hands first.
Our sample pack includes Soft Touch, Standard, Mohawk Superfine, and more. Feeling the difference in person is the fastest way to decide.
Order a sample pack →Quick decision guide
Find your scenario and follow the arrow.
If you said
“I want the card to make an impression before they’ve even read my name.”
Go with Soft Touch. That tactile moment of recognition is exactly what the coating is built to create.
If you said
“I need something clean and professional. I’m ordering for a 20-person sales team.”
Matte is the right call. Consistent, reliable, and sharp at any volume without the premium price bump that comes with a specialty coating.
If you said
“I have a dark, moody design and I want it to look incredible.”
Order Soft Touch. The coating amplifies dark designs in a way that flat Matte cannot. The depth and contrast is genuinely striking.
If you said
“I need to write appointment times or notes on the back of my cards.”
Matte handles any pen cleanly. If writability is your top priority, also look at our uncoated stocks. Cotton and Mohawk Superfine are the easiest surfaces to write on.
If you said
“Can I add painted edges to my cards?”
Yes, and they look better on Soft Touch. The velvety surface makes the painted edge pop in a way that a flat matte finish just does not. It is one of those combinations that consistently gets noticed.
If you said
“I genuinely can’t decide and I’ve been overthinking this for 20 minutes.”
Order the sample pack. Hold them. Decision made in under a minute, guaranteed.
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