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Design Support

Design Support for Print-Ready Production

This page explains the file formats we support, essential artwork setup rules, and common design considerations for card printing.

For projects that require additional assistance, EzraCard also offers optional, paid design support.

  • Print-Ready File Check
  • Prepress & Finishing Review
  • Optional Paid Design Support
  • Confidential & NDA Available
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Illustrator

1. File formats we accept

  • Best: PDF (X-1a / X-4), AI, PSD

  • Also ok: TIFF, PNG, JPG

  • Color mode: CMYK (not RGB)

  • Resolution: 300–600 dpi at final size

  • Fonts: embed or outline

  • Linked images: embed in AI/INDD files

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Illustrator

2. Size, bleed & safety

  • Trim size: final cut line
  • Bleed: 3 mm (0.125″) beyond trim on all sides
  • Safety zone: 3 mm (0.125″) inside trim—keep text/logos inside
  • Dielines: keep on a separate non-printing layer named “DIE”

You can see 3 different colors of marking lines in the pictures below, each line is about 3mm (0.12″) apart from each other. Among them:

  • The innermost green line is the Safety line. All important content such as your characters, logos, text, etc. should be inside this line to account for slight trimming differences.
  • The middle red line is the Trim line. This is the final size of your card or box after cutting.
  • The outermost blue line is the Bleed line. The artwork must extend to the Bleed line to ensure that the edges of your project do not show any white border.

Card Area

box Area

If you’re starting from scratch, grab our card & box templates (Poker/Bridge/Tarot/Oracle, round cards, flash cards, tuck & rigid boxes, booklets).

3. Special finishes – file setup

When you add a finish, place each finish on its own spot-color layer:

Important

  • Avoid tight registration of tiny foil lines to detailed CMYK art.
  • Don’t mirror emboss and deboss simultaneously unless specified.
  • For full-cover laminations (gloss/matte/anti-scratch), artwork is standard CMYK—no extra layer needed.

4. Color management (CMYK vs RGB)

  • Screens = RGB. Print = CMYK. RGB has a wider gamut, so on-screen colors often look more vibrant than what CMYK can reproduce.

  • Convert before you send. Always convert your files to CMYK and check the result. If you submit RGB, colors will shift in print.

RGB design effect

CMYK design effect

Why prints can still look different

  • Displays vary by calibration and settings.

  • Printing is affected by press, inks/toners, paper, temperature/humidity, drying and storage conditions.
  • No printer can match file colors 100% every time, but we work to keep variance within an acceptable range.

Practical setup tips:

  • Deep solids: use Rich Black = C75 M75 Y75 K100 for large fills.
  • Small text / fine lines: use K100 only to avoid halos/registration issues.​
  • Pantone/spot colors: will be simulated in CMYK unless your quote specifically includes spot inks.

Convert to CMYK before export, review the conversion, and set blacks appropriately for the cleanest, most predictable results.

5. Black Ink & White Ink Techniques

In custom card printing, understanding black ink options is crucial for professional results.

Rich Black

  • Large black areas, card borders, background elements
  • Deeper, more saturated black appearance
  • Creates dramatic contrast and premium look

Use for areas where maximum black density is desired

Standard Black

  • Card text, fine lines, detailed artwork
  • Eliminates registration issues and ghosting
  • Small text readability and precise elements

Essential for rules text and intricate design details

Always maintain consistent black usage throughout your design. Use rich black for large areas and standard black for text and fine details to prevent printing issues.

When White Ink is Essential

  • Colored card stocks and specialty papers
  • Transparent plastic cards
  • Metallic or dark-colored materials
  • Any non-white substrate requiring vibrant color reproduction

Benefits of White Ink Underprinting

  • Colors appear more saturated and true-to-design
  • Complete coverage on dark materials
  • Better ink adhesion on non-porous surfaces

White ink enables printing vibrant, opaque colors on dark materials – perfect for premium card sets and special editions.

Need Guidance? Our technical team can advise on optimal ink selection for your specific card project and materials.

6. Resolution Requirements

For optimal printing results, we require 300-600 DPI at final size. Unlike screen graphics measured in PPI, professional printing uses DPI (dots per inch) for precise color reproduction.

  • Cards & Packaging: 300 DPI minimum at actual size
  • Oversized Elements: 150-200 DPI acceptable for large background textures only​
  • Avoid Upsampling: Increasing resolution after design completion creates blurry results - set DPI correctly from the start

Complete Confidentiality Assurance

As we emphasize, we do not modify or steal your any work without your permission throughout the design and production process. In general, we will only quote or display a portion of your print images or parameters for only promotional purposes. If you still have concerns, we support the signing of a separate Confidential Disclosure Agreement with our clients to protect their copyright:

  • We shall not disclose that the other party is a client of our company;
  • We shall not use all information about the other party’s work in any publication, promotional material or advertisement, including, but not limited to, any references in social media, print, photographic or video material;
  • We shall use no less than reasonable care to prevent the unauthorized use, dissemination or publication of any confidential information.

Paid design support is available to help prepare manufacturable, print-ready artwork for different card products and their related packaging.

What This Service Covers?

  • Print-ready artwork setup for cards and related packaging
  • Layout structure alignment across decks, boxes, and booklets
  • File preparation for special finishes and materials
  • Multi-file and version management for complex projects
  • Internal coordination between design and production teams
  • Pre-production validation to reduce revisions and risk

Support the design of playing cards, tarot cards, game cards, TCG, and learning cards.

Card Design

How we work

Step 1: Brief

We confirm product type, quantity range, components (cards, packaging, booklets), design scope, and delivery items. This step defines what is included and what is not.

Step 2: Trial

We create trial designs or key visuals based on your brief.
This step is used to verify style direction, structure, and feasibility before full design.

Step 3: Structure

We define card structure, finishes, and production setup.
Design files are adjusted for printing, finishing, and sampling requirements.

Step 4: Delivery

We deliver final design files, production-ready files, packaging files, and other agreed materials.

How Design Support Is Charged

Design support is a paid service. Charges are based on scope, workload, and the number of items involved.

Trial Design (Free)
  • Limited trial used to check direction and feasibility
  • Confirms layout logic and production approach
  • Does not include full deck or packaging delivery
Design Fee
  • Quoted after scope, components, and deliverables are confirmed
  • Based on complexity and the number of card, box, and booklet files
Payment Terms
  • 50% design deposit to start the project
  • Remaining 50% before final file release
  • Final design and production-ready files released after full payment
Manufacturing Credit
  • When EzraCard prints the project, 20% of the paid design fee is credited against the production order
Quick View
Trial design: free, limited scope
Design work: quoted by scope
Payment: 50% deposit / 50% balance
20% credit if EzraCard manufactures
EzraCard design support workflow

Give it a try?

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Design Support​ FAQs

Yes. Unfinished artwork, draft layouts, and early packaging concepts are acceptable for preliminary review. Our team can check manufacturing feasibility, dimensions, bleed, safe areas, image resolution, color setup, finishing layers, and other file risks before you prepare the final production files.

Print-ready PDF files, preferably PDF/X-1a or PDF/X-4, are recommended for final production. We also accept editable AI and layered PSD files. TIFF, PNG, and JPG files can be used for draft review, but they may not contain the editable layers, vectors, fonts, bleed, or finishing information required for production.

Yes. Templates are available for standard card sizes, tuck boxes, rigid boxes, booklets, and other common packaging structures. Custom dielines can also be prepared after the card count, finished dimensions, material thickness, box style, inserts, and accessories are confirmed.

Each special finish should be placed on a separate vector layer and assigned a clearly named 100% spot color, such as FOIL, SPOT UV, EMBOSS, or DEBOSS. Do not use gradients, transparency, shadows, or raster effects on these layers unless confirmed in advance. Our prepress team can identify missing layers, registration risks, and artwork that is too fine for the selected process.

Production begins only after the final print-ready files, dielines, finishing layers, and proofs have been reviewed and approved. Any required sample approval, payment, material confirmation, or production authorization must also be completed before the order is released to manufacturing.

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