Color postcard printing, while it may not be the hardest of all tasks, still can take a fair amount of time your time and effort. From the moment you design your postcards to the time you would be actually ready to print, you would still have to study your options and decide wisely – on the what’s and the how’s of color postcard printing.

With color postcard printing, you would want to produce nothing else but colorful, rich and vibrant postcards. Four color process printing is the service provided by printing companies to give you such prints.

5 Color Postcard Printing Pointers

In order for you, however, to successfully accomplish such colorful postcard prints, here are some ideas you should know to understand certain processes and some ideas that would clearly help you out to.

1.Always make sure that you do your postcard design in CMYK mode. Printing companies do not accept files that are done in RGB and would most likely hesitate to convert your file from RGB to MYK.

2.Make sure too that when you upload your postcard design, you also upload the original images that you used in it. The fonts that you used are also important, especially when the fonts are not common. Times New Roman and Arial are some of the most common fonts and need not be included if and when you have used them in your postcard design.

3. Images should be set at 300dpi or dots per inch. Fonts or text on your postcard design, on one hand, should be set at 400dpi. The high-resolution for your text makes it much clearer and legible to read. Setting them at 400dpi makes them sharper when printed out.

4.When choosing a printing company, choose one that offers 14pt. card stock. The 14pt. card stock is an ideal and high-grade card stock which you can and should use for your postcard.

However, choosing this card stock need not necessarily mean that you are choosing something that is much more expensive. There are quality printing companies out there who offer this card stock when others are merely offering a 12pt. card stock, all at the same price.

5.Remember that choosing a finish, more importantly, the right finish for your postcard is important. UV coated postcards does not allow you to write on them and the back side of the postcard may be coated with UV as well. Aqueous gives your postcard a soft shine while Matte gives it a flat finish.

Whatever your design may be, printing companies can readily prepare and print your colorful postcards in a matter of days. You can have postcards with 2 day’s rush service turnaround time. As for regular turnaround times, you can have a choice between a 4-day turnaround time and 6-day turnaround time.

Turnaround time, as it should be noted, is the production time. This means, it’ll take the printers 2, 4 or 6 days to produce your colorful postcards. This time does not include shipping time. It does not also take effect during weekends and holidays.

Turnaround times too only take effect when you have received and approved a proof that came from your color postcard printing company and when you have paid the job order in full. These are the standard operating procedures. Then again, there are printing companies who have different requirements and may have a different set of terms and conditions.