We often are asked about the difference between clear plastic cards versus frosted plastic cards. Both types of cards are absolutely outstanding finished products, but the difference between the products starts at the very beginning of the manufactring process. We’ll discuss the differences between the two in this article, in an effort to help you make a better informed decision for this or your next card order with Best Plastic Cards.
Clear Plastic Cards Are A Fan Favorite, But Are They Better?
The very first thing that happens when we start actually printing a card order, is choosing the proper substrate for the finished product. Clear and frosted cards are printed on two completely different types of materials. Depending on what type of design your card has, a frosted or satin card may actually present a better finished product than a clear card. Another thing to think about with clear cards is they are like white clothing, in the fact that they show every scratch or smudge.
This isn’t the end of the world though, because it really depends on the design of the card, as to which type of card will be best. We recommend people use frosted plastic cards when there are large areas of open space on a card design, and use clear cards when the card design has a flood of various colors, with smaller areas of transparency. The picture above is an example of a frosted plastic card, which can easily translate to the difference between a clear versus frosted light bulb.
Is There A Clear Winner Between Clear Plastic Cards Versus Frosted Plastic Cards?
Not even close. We see nearly an equal amount of orders for both types of plastic cards, usually depending on either personal preference or the design of the card. One area that is very important regarding both types and magnetic stripes, is there needs to be enough color flood on the front side of the card, in order for our machinery to feed the card into the machine for magstripe application. When trying to feed a clear card into the mag stripe applicator, it generally will not sense the card is present for feeding, if there is too much open area for it’s sensors.
Back to the real question above. Clear vs Frosted Cards generally is a sense of style. Do clear plastic cards look cool? Sure thing. Do frosted plastic cards look cool? You bet they do. Do you prefer Ford or Chevy? Given a choice, there are people on both sides of the fence. One of the easiest ways to determine which will be the best option, is to ask your salesperson from Best Plastic Cards their opionion of which would look better, based on your card design. If we are designing the card for you, we will generally ask you to choose some examples of our work that draws your attention, then ask a few more qualifying questions as to why you have a particular interest in that specific card design.