Colorplan Business Cards

Below are the approximate CMYK breakdowns of the Colorplan stocks:

Ink colours will appear differently over the coloured stocks, compared to how they appear when printed on a white paper.

The amount of colour shift will vary depending on the colours used in your design and the colour of the paper you choose. Stocks with more intense or deeper shades will have a more obvious affect on the printed colours, and are therefore recommended to print with black ink for the best results. This includes options like Fiery Red, Royal Blue, Ocean Blue and Army Green.

Mahogany Red is the darkest stock within this collection, and is only available to order with a foil stamped design, as printed ink cannot be seen.

If you are planning to print a full colour CMYK design on one of the coloured stocks, it is important to note that we do not print white ink as part of regular CMYK printing. Elements in your design that are white will be considered blank (hence show the natural colour of the paper). The paper stock will effect the way that colours appear due to the slightly translucent quality of the ink (you will see the paper through the ink, especially in lighter shades). Lighter ink shades or colours similar to the colour of the paper you are printing on may not be very visible, as there won't be enough contrast between the paper colour and the ink. This occurs most often with light and pastel colours.

As a general rule, it is best to avoid printing colours that are lighter than the paper itself. Pure Black ink is always a good choice when printing on coloured stock if you are concerned about the contrast.

If a white or light coloured design is important to your design, you should order this product with foil stamping instead of ink printing.

Foil is a premium printing service that involves the creation of a custom metal die of your artwork. The die is then used to stamp the foil material onto the surface of your product. We offer many different colors and finishes of foil; ranging from Matte White, to metallic colors like Gold or Silver. The cost of Foil is calculated based on each color used on each side of your design.

While printed ink has a somewhat translucent quality and will show the color of the paper through light ink colours, Foil is an opaque material that sits on the surface of the stock and will not alter.

You should not choose Foil if:

• You want the most economical option available
• You are printing a photographic image
• Your design includes gradients

You should choose Foil if:

• You have a vector design that you need printed in white and on a colored paper stock
• You want a true metallic color in your design
• You want a premium product
• You are able to set up the proper files for foil stamping

See: File Setup for Foil

The stocks within the Colour Collection have many environmentally friendly qualities. They are 100% recyclable and biodegradable, heavy metal free and made without chlorine. The stocks are created with pulps from managed forests, and these stocks are FSC certified.

Aside from the stocks within this collection, we do also offer Coloured Kraft stocks (Green, Burnt Orange, Dark Brown, Navy and Burgundy), Pulp stocks (Off-White, Cream, Vanilla, Beige and Grey), Grey stocks (Vibrant Grey, Dark Grey and Cool Grey) and our signature Brown Kraft which has a natural earthy brown colour. Our Pearl stocks are also available in a wide range of colours, all with a pearlescent shimmer.

If you need a coloured background in specific CMYK colour, this can also be achieved by incorporating a full background colour in your design to be printed on the card. This tends to work best on coated stocks with offset output for more consistent results in solid ink coverage.

You can request samples of the full Colour Collection by ordering our Specialty Sample Pack here.