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What Are Silk Business Cards?
By NexCards
Your card is extremely important, because it is part of the equation when potential clients form their first impression of you and your company. Therefore, a high-quality, professionally-printed card is critical. This is not an area for self-service; always hire a reputable printing company to produce your cards.


Top-notch card printers typically offer a variety of cardstocks to choose from. One such cardstock option at the high end of the quality scale is silk, sometimes referred to as “silk-satin.” This is one of the classiest and most elegant cardstocks you will ever see.

Silk Lamination

First and foremost, let’s talk about what exactly the silk is comprised of. The silky coating is accomplished via silk-lamination, typically on 10pt or 15pt cardstock. This laminate coating is completely unnoticeable and invisible unless you try to tear the card. If you try and rip a silk card, you will see the ultra-thin, transparent layer of silk-laminate peel away from the card.

It is this lamination which gives silk cards their uniqueness. For one, it makes the cards more durable. The laminate coating makes the cards a little more difficult to tear, and helps minimize the possibility of corners and edges getting frayed.

Additionally, the silk lamination is completely writeable, meaning you can write on the card with pens, pencils, and markers with ease. This is a nice feature and is something that is not possible with glossy cards. This attribute works well for jotting down appointments, so it is particularly appropriate for doctors, dentists, attorneys, or similar professionals.

No-Gloss Elegance

Another key attribute of silk cards is that they are non-glossy, which eliminates the common inconveniences associated with glossy cards such as fingerprinting, streaks, smudges, and the cards sticking together.

Glossy cards are coated with a varnish-like

substance known as glossy UV (ultra-violet), which is completely different from the lamination associated with silk cards. It is this glossy varnish that creates the aforementioned inconveniences. Conversely, non-shiny silk lamination eliminates these types of problems.

Additionally, the non-shiny look is more upscale and elegant. Many people correctly perceive glossy UV cards to be a relatively low end card product. The non-shiny look seems to be “in” these days, which positively influences people’s perception of quality.

Enhancements

Finally, the durability and composition of the silk cardstock make it the best choice for card enhancement features like spot UV, embossing, and foil stamping.

Spot UV cards in particular offer a unique look, as the areas treated with the spot UV are slightly raised and shiny compared to the non-shiny silk cardstock. Thus, the treated areas “jump off the page” and provide a striking visual impact. It would not be possible to produce spot UV cards on an inherently glossy cardstock.

Embossing also works better on silk cards. Embossing is the process of raising certain design elements by virtue of them getting “pushed through” from the backside. The net effect is similar to the account number on a standard credit card, where the numbers are raised on the front and recessed on the back. As you can probably guess, embossing is a delicate process that puts much stress on the cardstock, and thus is a more appropriate enhancement feature for durable cards like silk.

Summary

To sum it all up, silk cards are laminated, durable, writable, non-glossy, and support enhancement features. Outside of metal cards or plastic cards, silk cards are generally considered the highest-end cardstock in the market today. They have an elegant look and feel, and do not have the same inconveniences as glossy cards.
About NexCards.com
www.NexCards.com is a leading retailer of business cards, specializing in unique, custom cardstocks utilizing only the highest quality offset printing technology. NexCards.com features competitive pricing, professional one-on-one customer service, and a 100% satisfaction guarantee, and an easy 1-2-3 online ordering process. Upload your own business card artwork, or design a card online using our intuitive point and click interface