Creating transparency in printed business cards

[MIKE3]

This is more of a general question rather than one directly related to the software; but I'm trying to design a transparent business card for myself and am currently wondering if it's as simple as setting the transparency of the colors then uploading the design somewhere to have it printed, or are there more steps required to achieving this? I am using Affinity Designer and cannot find any information about this on the web.

Also, I only see examples of transparent business cards with solid cards. Are gradients something that will come out fine on something like this as well or is it not a good idea?

Edited December 9, 2021 by MIKE3

[R C-R]

If you mean transparent business cards printed on clear stock material so the card itself is transparent, why do you want to set the transparency of the colors of whatever is printed on them to anything other than 100% opaque?

IOW, do you want to be able to see through the text or whatever else is printed on the card?

If not, could you explain a bit more about what you want to do?

[MIKE3]

Thanks for replying. I'm actually interested in both types of design, opaque color and semi-transparent color because I have seen examples online that don't look too shabby. I'm just not sure yet which I would like to do for myself. If I get to a point where a client is also interested in having me do this for them, I would like a good grasp on how to achieve both ways.

So would a transparent business card with opaque color not require anything beyond say leaving the background empty in the design process? Or if I did want all the color to be transparent as well, what would need to be done for that, if anything?

[carl123]

4 hours ago, MIKE3 said:

So would a transparent business card with opaque color not require anything beyond say leaving the background empty in the design process?

Yes

You can use opaque colours, semi-transparent colours (e.g. 50% opacity) or gradients. Bear in mind semi-transparent only really comes into effect if the object covers another object or of a low enough opacity to allow light to shine through them

Which techniques you decide to use for specific parts of the designs, will determine the ultimate sucess or failure of the design 

[Old Bruce]

13 hours ago, MIKE3 said:

Or if I did want all the color to be transparent as well, what would need to be done for that, if anything?

????

Practically there are not actual transparent printing inks so that the text would show the underlying card-stock. Ink on paper covers up the paper, Ink on glass/acetate/plastic/celluloid makes those areas covered by the ink no longer see through.

Having said that I am also fairly certain that there are transparent inks. I know of no readily available source for home/office printers if they in fact exist for them. They would be a commercial printing specialty.

[MIKE3]

That's what I would do is have them printed at a commercial business with the proper equipment. I just saw a lot of images of examples showing all the color being somewhat transparent as well, like the image I found online below.

[Old Bruce]

You would then need to ask that house if they want the Blue colour at 100% opacity in your file or some other value. 

[Old Bruce]

Actually having thought about it, that is all opaque ink. There is no transparency through to the paper (Still too darn early here on the wet coast). So the transparency on the Blue will be controlled by the layer opacity in Designer, Photo or Publisher.

[MIKE3]

So if I were to attempt and draft something like this up, I can simply change the colors to any % opacity then export it as a .png in CMYK and the result should come out as I intended? 

Second question is, in theory if I were to make the background a semi-transparent white would that create a frosted look on the business card or is that mostly dependent on the kind of material that the card is printed on?

[R C-R]

38 minutes ago, MIKE3 said:

Second question is, in theory if I were to make the background a semi-transparent white would that create a frosted look on the business card or is that mostly dependent on the kind of material that the card is printed on?

The kind of material that the card is printed on.

If you want the cards printed on transparent stock, you should talk to the printing company about the best choice of inks & how they want the file sent to them.

[Old Bruce]

1 hour ago, MIKE3 said:

Second question is, in theory if I were to make the background a semi-transparent white would that create a frosted look on the business card or is that mostly dependent on the kind of material that the card is printed on?

Only and biggest problem with this is that you'll need to go to a commercial printer because home / office printers do not have white ink.

Having said that the answer to your question is: Yes you would get a 'frosted' look. Provided you had a dark card stock or a transparent stock to print on. You would also need to make a Spot colour swatch.

[R C-R]

2 minutes ago, Old Bruce said:

Having said that the answer to your question is: Yes you would get a 'frosted' look.

To me, a 'frosted look' means what is sometimes called a satin finish -- a slightly rough surface that breaks up reflected light so there are no specular reflections -- IOW, a slightly dull surface finish.

If that is what is wanted, I don't think the effect can be achieved using just semi-transparent white ink.

[Old Bruce]

Actually having had a bit of a thought about this you might be better off using a Frosted Card stock instead. I am sure there are some paper companies making such stuff.

[MIKE3]

Good stuff. It's hard finding this info out there but that helps a bunch. First time I saw a transparent business card in use was the company I work for so I'm very curious about the possibilities and limitations with creating designs on these.

[BofG]

There's a bit of misinformation above (based on perfectly reasonable assumptions, but ones that are incorrect).

Your file transparency likely won't be a match for the ink transparency, unless the printing company is doing pre-press work to compensate.

Ink isn't 100% opaque, try print a bright colour on white paper then on a dark or coloured stock and you'll see different results. The underlying substrate affects the end result (there would be no need for profiles otherwise). Ideally you would be provided with an ICC profile for the print on the clear cards.

You may have to accept that what you see on your design is simply "close" to what the output will be.