Ink Swatches

Our translucent, satin and tinted plastic cards are printed using traditional artisan hotfoiling techniques. This method allows for the reproduction of highly detailed graphics, extremely accurate registration between the canvas and inks and the use of beautiful metallic foils as well as standard pigment colours.

Each colour is applied, by hand, in separate passes through the printing press. The ink itself is held on rolls. While we stock a wide variety of colours, it’s impossible to carry every hue visible to the human eye. It also prevents us from reproducing full colour images, like photographs, on these types of plastic card. For customer who need full colour reproduction on plastic, we suggest our full colour plastic cards.

The diagram below shows the ink colours we keep in stock by default. If you require a very specific colour, please contact us and supply a Pantone reference. We can then compare that colour to the inks available and let you know how close we can get.

It is worth noting that the estimated Pantone references supplied below are based on the ink in question being printed on a white or translucent plastic. Pigment inks in particular are prone to darkening when printed on black plastic.

Pigment inks

Description	Est. Pantone ref.	Swatch

White	Not applicable
Black	Pro. Black C
Powder blue	291C
Light blue	299C
Blue	2935C
Deep blue	2736C
Dark blue	302C
Royal blue	293C
Dark green	349C
Green	347C
Bright green	368C
Lime green	382C
Yellow	Pro. Yellow C
Warm yellow	135C
Orange	021C
Deep orange	1665C
Red	186C
Dark red	1795C
Burgundy	187C
Light brown	174C
Dark brown	476C
Purple	259C
Lilac	7444C
Hot pink	205C
Light grey	7543C
Dark grey	Cool Grey 11C