Blank greetings cards (Thick)

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connersz

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I know it's been asked before and probably even by myself but I'm still struggling to find blank greetings cards that are thick enough. I've got about three different types which are all too thin. If you stand them on a desk you see them slowly bend.

For all the ones I look at online they say something like "super think professional 240gsm" but 240gsm isn't thick at all for a greeting card. I'm guessing it's because the consumer grade printers can only print so thick but I don't have consumer grade printers. The thickest one of my printers can go is 1.5mm.

There must be some thicker card somewhere, after all the likes of moonpig etc. are all printing thick enough cards somehow.
 
If you are talking about printing blanks yourself then surely the limitation is what weight card will your printer take?

In regards to the likes of Moonpig I surmise they would be printing digitally on for example an HP Indigo, multi up, guillotine to size and then run the finished cards through a creaser. As such the maximum card weight is greater than say a canon or Epson can handle.

Edit - I found this info http://blog.brunelone.com/useful-guides/paper-thickness-guide/
 
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connersz said:
The maximum from that site is 320 which I don't think will be good enough. I have some 300 and they're still weak. As I mentioned before my printer can take up to 1.5mm thickness which is about 1000gsm so I'm keen to use some proper thick paper (obviously not 1000gsm).
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I wonder if the folk at the first link I posted who it appears handle a lot of board and make printed greetings card would be able to help, because it does sound like you are after a bespoke solution. Have you contacted the manufacturers of the printers you use as they possibly will have contacts/advise to offer.

The thicker the card the greater the potential that creasing it will not yield an effect sufficient to fold it without the fibres at the crease splitting and/or the card not 'holding' the fold so it will stand up.
 
Using the moonpig virtual assistant I got this answer to the what weight their cards are:-

After we have received your order we print your card onto a blank sheet of board. We use the same board used by all good greeting card manufacturers. The cards are printed using an HP Indigo 7000 digital press, which is the most sophisticated digital printing press available.
Depending on the design, the cards are either printed on a flat smooth board and then varnished with a durable UV varnish, or they are printed on a textured art board with an unvarnished finish.
We use the following boards for our cards :
Soho Indigo Symbol Card Two Side cards – the vast majority of cards are printed onto this board, it's 300 gsm, which is standard greeting card paper board that you get in the high street.
Soho Indigo Symbol Card Two Side – Me to You cards, Tatty Teddy etc are printed on the same 300 gsm board, but with no varnish, (as requested by the publisher Carte Blanche)
Fedrigoni (Non Varnish) – this is the paper board used for the textured cards, it is still 300 gsm but due to the type of paper it is less 'stiff' and has a watercolour paper type of feel.
The dimensions for each Card size are shown in the "Information" link found above where you select the Card size.
 
If moonpig are using 300gsm it leads me to think that maybe the stuff I'm buying is not what it says it is.

I'm quite sure I'm not after anything bespoke, just some cards that can hold their weight when stood up. I want to be able to sell greeting cards to clients but the ones I have bought in the past have been complete rubbish.
 
connersz said:
If moonpig are using 300gsm it leads me to think that maybe the stuff I'm buying is not what it says it is.

I'm quite sure I'm not after anything bespoke, just some cards that can hold their weight when stood up. I want to be able to sell greeting cards to clients but the ones I have bought in the past have been complete rubbish.
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The paperspectrum site I linked offers free samples of the higher weight card(s), granted not precut and creased but hopefully good enough for your appraisal/approval??? That should lay to rest whether the ones you have bought to date are lower weight that claimed and allow you to see if what they offer meets the standard you are trying to find.
 
Box Brownie said:
The paperspectrum site I linked offers free samples of the higher weight card(s), granted not precut and creased but hopefully good enough for your appraisal/approval??? That should lay to rest whether the ones you have bought to date are lower weight that claimed and allow you to see if what they offer meets the standard you are trying to find.
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If I get chance to tackle this over the weekend I will take a photo of the blank cards I have along with a Christmas card I have printed by another company. You will see how much difference there is.
 
connersz said:
If I get chance to tackle this over the weekend I will take a photo of the blank cards I have along with a Christmas card I have printed by another company. You will see how much difference there is.
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Do you also have access to a micrometer as the thickness of the card has relevance that a photograph will not show.

Also though not that accurate but helped with as many cards as you can I.e. than just a couple........if you have kitchen scales with a resolution of 0.1gram weight at least 10 cards and extrapolate, yes there will be accuracy errors based on the number in the block you are weighing but that simple test should at least indicate the GSM of the material used to make the blanks.
 
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connersz said:
I've just ordered some from the paper spectrum link you sent me so will see how I get on with those.
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I look forward to your update :)
 
Box Brownie said:
I look forward to your update :)
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Well they came today and although they're 310gsm they are significantly thinner than some shop bought greeting cards I compared them with. I expected it though so I ordered a small size which will hopefully be able to support it's own weight without bending.
 
a few years ago staples used to sell a5 blank greeting cards which i had some success with but looking on there site recently i couldn't find them, i can't remember the card weight but they could stand up without bending
 
connersz said:
Well they came today and although they're 310gsm they are significantly thinner than some shop bought greeting cards I compared them with. I expected it though so I ordered a small size which will hopefully be able to support it's own weight without bending.
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If you're looking for thickness you require microns not grammage
 
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