How many to a plate?

I was wondering w/ a 6x9 boxcar deep relief base… how many business cards do ya’ll print at a time? I am printing on an 8x12 C&P new style

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A few questions first. Do you have bleed on the cards? Do have crop marks? Is it a 3.5 x 2 business card or a larger or smaller size? I would think you could get 4 up with smaller crop marks for a 3.5 x 2 size.

lets just say a standard 3.5x2 card with a .25in bleed and crop marks

WillyP,

I have a 6X9 Boxcar base and print on an 8X12 C&P too. As cmcgarr said, it depends. I think 4 up would be the best arrangement. If you had the plates or type to do six at a time the first photo would be the correct way. Any other doesn’t leave enough wiggle room for bleeds and such. All this assuming you are printing on 3.5 x 2 standard business card size.

image: 100_1108.JPG

100_1108.JPG

image: 100_1106.JPG

100_1106.JPG

thanks for taking the time to take those images… the last run of business cards i did had 6 and it requires very precise registration and trimming. and when i was trimming them down i cranked the trimmer by accident and ended up chopping off part of the artwork and luckily i had plenty of extras, but that meant i chopped up all my ‘samples’ :(

the next run i planned on doing 4-up to a plate like your second photo to allow for plenty of bleed and crop marks… i just wanted to ask how other people are doing it.

thanks again!

maybe a better layout

image: card.gif

card.gif

Thank you for posting this question and for those who answered both have been really helpful.

at cmcgarr… that is exactly how i was thinking of doing it because it allows for the most bleed.

thanks again to everybody for helping.

Casey’s last suggested layout (card.gif) is good, but I would eliminate the trim between the cards unless some of the cards are full bleed and some are not. If the form is 4-up of the same base card with just copy changes and all bleed, you could have them all common cut in the center gutters and eliminate a lot of extra cutting.

If the images just bleed on three sides (color bar at top, for instance) you could build the form with heads out and run a bleed job with a non-bleed job.

I’m always looking for ways to eliminate cuts as I use a hand-lever guillotine.

I’ve worked in shops which used the 100_1106.JPG layout, and that works well for cards which have no scrap at all, just cut cards with three cuts. You might have to position the form at the bottom of the base if you are using standard height gage pins, but it certainly does save stock.

Cupcake Press’s image 100_1108.JPG probably allows for maximum efficiency, but if the paper has a strong grain, you will run into subtle differences in the way the cards feel and flex.

It might matter, it might not.

WiilyP

I think you want to go with jhenry on this one.

I love the fake names on this list, who ARE you people? There is a wiki term for this on the web by the way, term is “anonymous coward.”

Gerald
http://BielerPress.blogspot.com

Since a lot of Card Stock comes in 8 1/2 x 11, we just cut it into 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 (that’s 4 out of 8 1/2 x 11). This gives us a card that we can print 2 up (2 x 3 1/2) or both sides on a 2 sided card with 1 plate (work & tumble). Just remember to make plate head to head. Leaves room for cut marks & side register marks if more than one color. We do this letterpress & offset press. Maybe an alternative to a larger plate. Of course I have printed business cards 1 at a time (2 x 3 1/2).
Good luck,
Bob