Does anyone know of a vendor who does a better job producing cut cards than these Plastic Printers jokers? I mean with all of the wonderful vendors associated with PCF, and all of the many thousands of PCF members across the globe, I have to assume that someone knows a reputable company that can produce cut cards that are at least properly centered and don't look like a drunkard made them. I'm not looking to spend megabucks on this, of course, but I'd absolutely be willing to spend more per cut card than what we paid during this group buy... as long as I am assured that the quality will be solid. Anyone know of another vendor I can approach? Or is Plastic Printers and their shoddy work somehow really the end-all be-all when it comes to this stuff? Thanks in advance.
I've been using an overseas vendor, Aura Print, for some smaller GBs (100-200 cut cards) that I ran last year. I would have gone with Plastic Printers because I do like their products (when they print them right), but their prices for smaller quantities were way out of the price range I wanted to pay for them or charge to others.
For example, this was what PP quoted me for 200-250 cut cards last year:
200 $728
250 Price Break $538
That's just for a single design/size. Add on setup fees for multiple designs, and and the price would have ballooned up to $4+ per card for 200 (or $3+ per card for 250).
There's a reason why past GBs were 500-1000 cards with a smaller # of designs overall. The pricing doesn't come down until you hit those quantities.
I looked at a
lot of vendors, trying to find a shop that would do custom sizes (most only do standard business card sizes, or a list of fixed sizing that are not cut card sizes) in 100% plastic, and could accommodate smaller quantities. Most required large MOQs, like 250-500. For example, the one
@mugenpowr linked to has a minimum of 250 for 30 mil plastic cards, which is a bit too thick. For a thinner 24 mil plastic, the MOQ is 5000!
As have been mentioned, there will always be some inconsistency in these kind of products, when printing have to line up on both sides, and the cutting is done separately. Unless it's a product that requires extremely narrow tolerances (in our world, I'd imagine it's playing card backs, since uncentered cuts could result in "marked" cards), we just have to accept that we won't get a dead-centered product. Even with the GBs I ran last year, I saw some shifting...
For example, for the Faro Dunes cut cards, I did not catch that the cut line in digital proof was slightly off-center, but by only 0.16mm (and that could just be due to the resolution of the image file). But the cut cards ended up being 1.24mm off center:
Edit: Actually, the 1.24mm difference between the two edge distances would actually be 0.62mm (half) off-centered.
It was noticeable to me as I scrutinized the cards that I received, but most people didn't really notice it unless I called attention to it. I did ask about the offset, and the response I got was that movement was inevitable, but that up to ~1mm was acceptable within the industry. At least my designs did not feature any elements near the edges, like a printed border, that would have called more attention to any off-centered cuts.
(And the above was the worst possible example. Depending on quantities ordered and the production equipment capacity, chances are a run of cut cards will require multiple larger sheets to be made and cut, so you'll get better/worse results within an order.)
As I mentioned, I do like Plastic Printer's products when they're done right. They are 100% plastic, more flexible, and fully waterproof, vs. PVC-encased cardstock that feels stiffer at similar thickness and is water
resistant but not waterproof along the edges. I did run into a few production issues, which were all eventually been made right. The real advantange is that I can place smaller quantity orders while still keeping costs/pricing down, when compared to Plastic Printers.