- What it is
- A score is a deboss with a job to do: a rule presses a channel into the sheet and raises a bead on the other side, so that when the piece is folded the outer fibres stretch around a known radius instead of splitting across an unknown one. A perforation is a rule with teeth, cutting through the sheet and leaving short ties between the cuts. The tie length is the whole specification — long ties hold together in the post and tear raggedly, short ties tear cleanly and fall apart in a bag. Both are set into the same kind of forme, and both are usually cut alongside the outline.
- What it is printed on
Card and board heavy enough that folding without a score would crack them, and any laminated sheet regardless of weight — film has nothing to stretch into and shows a white line the moment it is bent. Coated card takes a crisp score. Uncoated woodfree is the most forgiving. Synthetic stock takes a score and refuses a perforation, because plastic film stretches rather than parting.
- Matt art card, 350 gsm0.36 mmCreases cleanly against a score and folds without cracking along it.
- Uncoated woodfree, 300 gsm0.42 mmThe most forgiving sheet to fold, and the one a perforation tears through most cleanly.
- Gloss art paper, 157 gsm0.13 mmLight enough to fold unscored, which is the comparison that shows why heavier stock cannot.
- How it feels
- A good score folds with a soft, even resistance and shows no white line along the crown. A good perforation tears with a short series of ticks rather than a rip, and the torn edge has a fine tooth on it that a fingertip can read as deliberate. A bad one is obvious to the hand before it is obvious to the eye: the fold cracks, or the stub takes a corner of the main piece with it.
- What it suits
- Vouchers and tickets with a tear-off stub, reply cards, coupon strips, booklets with a removable page, folders, presentation covers and every packaging net. It does not suit synthetic stock, it does not suit a tear line crossing a heavy laminate, and it does not suit a perforation running very close to a fold — the two lines weaken each other and the piece fails between them.
- Lead time
- Standard turnaround is 7–14 working days. A cutting forme, a foil block, an embossing die or a screen made for the first time is made before anything can run; a tool already held is not.
- The common mistake
- Folding a heavy or laminated card that was never scored, then blaming the stock when it cracks. Any card substantial enough to feel like a card will split along an unscored fold, and a laminated card will split at any weight. Score first and fold second — and fold so the raised bead sits on the inside of the bend, because folding it the other way pulls the outer fibres apart exactly where the score already weakened them.
Print idea
Perforation and scoring
Two operations that are constantly confused. A score is a channel pressed into the sheet so it folds without cracking. A perforation is a line of cuts and ties so a part comes away straight.
Standard turnaround is 7–14 working days.
What perforation and scoring is
A score is a deboss with a job to do: a rule presses a channel into the sheet and raises a bead on the other side, so that when the piece is folded the outer fibres stretch around a known radius instead of splitting across an unknown one. A perforation is a rule with teeth, cutting through the sheet and leaving short ties between the cuts. The tie length is the whole specification — long ties hold together in the post and tear raggedly, short ties tear cleanly and fall apart in a bag. Both are set into the same kind of forme, and both are usually cut alongside the outline.
Card and board heavy enough that folding without a score would crack them, and any laminated sheet regardless of weight — film has nothing to stretch into and shows a white line the moment it is bent. Coated card takes a crisp score. Uncoated woodfree is the most forgiving. Synthetic stock takes a score and refuses a perforation, because plastic film stretches rather than parting.
- The cut contour, at finished proportion.
- The scores. A channel pressed into the sheet, with the bead raised on the inside of the bend.
- The perforation run — cuts and ties. The tie length is the whole specification.
- The caliper at the fold, drawn at the estate scale of 1 mm = 22 px. It is the reason the score exists: a sheet cannot bend around a radius smaller than its own thickness without splitting.
The specification
Six fields, and the last one is the useful one.
The same six questions are answered for every entry in this section, in the same order, so two objects can be compared without reading two pages of prose. The mistake is stated last and stated plainly, because it is the one that costs a reprint and it is the reason this page is worth sending to a colleague.
Where this sits.
Every entry is indexed three ways, because a buyer arrives knowing the occasion, the object or the material and almost never all three.
- Application
- Format
- Material and effect
Also worth looking at
- Die-cut shapesStandard turnaround is 7–14 working days.
- Synthetic stock menus and tagsStandard turnaround is 7–14 working days.
- Soft-touch laminated coverStandard turnaround is 7–14 working days.
- FlyersThe specification, and how it is quoted
- BrochuresThe specification, and how it is quoted
- BookletsThe specification, and how it is quoted
- CalendarsThe specification, and how it is quoted
- TicketsThe specification, and how it is quoted
- NCR booksThe specification, and how it is quoted
- PackagingThe specification, and how it is quoted
- Digital printingThe specification, and how it is quoted
- Every print idea, indexed three waysThe section index
- The materials libraryCaliper, weight and what each finish costs
Send the specification for this, and it comes back quoted.
Every job is quoted from its specification — stock, quantity, sides, finish, size and deadline.
- Quantity
- Stock — or the feel you want, if you do not know the stock
- Sides printed
- Finish
- Flat and finished size
- The deadline
Artwork is welcome but not required to start. Email sales@ezprint.com.sg if you would rather attach files.