People always want to know the price. That's a hard question to answer. Prices are all over the place, depending on a lot of variables like quantity, ink and paper choices. the number of ink colors, whether you like flat or raised ink, and the printing process chosen.

Black and White

Probably the most popular and often the most economical. Expect to pay more for textured and glossy white papers. Choose either raised ink (thermography) or flat inks—it's just a matter of personal choice. If you're in a hurry, chances are thermography will be faster.

Logo, design, and layout by Semi-Serious Artist.

As long as the ink doesn't go to the edge of the paper (called a "bleed"), the amount of ink doesn't affect the price of the card. And gray is still black, made up of tiny dots of ink. Puffins are Toni's artwork; layout and design are mine.

Still a "Black & White" card...only the white is a colored stock paper, a little more expensive than standard white paper. There aren't as many paper choices as there used to be...the industry is leaning toward printing color backgrounds instead of using colored stock. Sasquatch was drawn by somebody else; logo (also used on their signage), design, and layout are mine.

All the artwork was either created 
by me unless otherwise noted as contributed by my customers.

A Second Color

A touch of color can make an impact. There are standard ink colors that add only a few dollars to the price of the card. A color that has to be matched exactly must be mixed so it costs more. When you get into three or four colors of ink, it's time to talk about printing full color.

When colors have little or no wiggle room, there is an extra charge for "registration". Some printers may charge registration fees for this amount of space, and some may not. Customer art and layout.

Since the black and red are so close, count on a registration charge. Custmer art and layout.

No wiggle room at all here; definite registration charge. Customer art and layout.

Here we have bleeds off the top and both sides. Bleeds have to be printed oversized and then trimmed back to 2 x 3.5", the size of a standard business card, so the printer charges extra for that. Logo, design, and layout by Semi-Serious Artist.

Full Color

Not a lot of limits these days when it comes to full color. No extra charges for all the colors in the world, or the registration between them. No bleed charges, either. Flat printing used to be the norm for full color, but new full color thermography gives the card a textured, shiny look.

Looks like black and white plus red, right? Printing all the way to the edge and having no wiggle room at all between the red and the black add substantial extra charges. Plus the gradient in the gray will look grainy with standard ink prices. Better to go with full color at this point. Customer art and layout.

Choose matte or glossy papers, or glossy fronts with matte backs so you can still write on the back. Logo, design, and layout by Semi-Serious Artist.

When the store burned down, we added flames to the front and back of the card. With full color, printing on the back is only a few dollars more.

This card is folded to be used as a tag. Flowers are the customer's. Logo, design, and layout by Semi-Serious Artist.

The back side—or the inside—of the business card sized tag above.