A great photo taken of the Graphite team during PG Live 2021, remembering our dear friend and team mate Simon.

frequently asked questions
Welcome to the Graphite Creative Advice Centre. Graphite Creative is a specialist greetings cards printer with over 25 years experience and the top all-in-house finishing company in the business. We work on B2 presses and print for the biggest to the smallest publishers. We use our expertise to bring out the very best in your cards and wrap.

In our experience the most common sizes are:

125mm square – 10up
150mm square – 6up
160mm square – 6up
240mm x 170mm [7″ x 5″] – 8up
250mm x 135mm – 10up
C6/216mm x 156mm – 9up

The advantage of using one of the most common sizes for your cards is that standard envelopes and cellowraps are readily available and will cost much less than ordering bespoke sizes.

Trim refers to the area where the final cut is made and bleed is where the image or colour extends over the trim line to avoid any white space being left after the trim is applied.

The preferred method for print-ready artwork is a hi-res PDF with trim marks and bleed. But we can help with further information on this if you need support.

No, the price includes delivery to one UK mainland address.

A die is a metal form that is an essential first stage in achieving a number of different finishes, such as embossing, foiling and die-cutting. Our dies are made by our experts. They work from the images supplied via your print-ready PDF, to create exactly what you need. Once a die has been made, we will store it for you and it can be used again on repeat print runs, so you only pay for it once.

This gives a raised effect on the paper or card through the use of a die, and can be used on its on, as a ‘blind’ emboss, or in combination with litho printing.

Foiling is the application of a very thin sheet of metal (like the aluminum foil you use in your kitchen, but thinner) to paper, using a die and heat process. Foil can be shiny or matt, textured and coloured, and is a fantastic way to bring out details, add contrast and give a luxurious feel.

This is a very flexible process that again uses a die to create shapes. These could be to make an overall shape (for example, a piece of point of sale material in the shape of a flower, or a bottle) or to cut shapes out of the paper body.