Thirteen sheets and fifteen finishing operations, each with its caliper in millimetres and the tooling it needs — and whether that tooling is kept for the reorder.
EZ Print is a printing company in Singapore, trading since 2017 and working in the Central Business District. This library states what EZ Print prints on and what it can do to a printed sheet: coated and uncoated card, cotton, kraft, linen and felt-marked textured stock, synthetic film, carbonless sets and bonded duplex and triplex board, together with matt, gloss and soft-touch lamination, spot UV, hot foil stamping, embossing, letterpress, die cutting and painted edges. Stocks measure 0.13 mm to 1.24 mm in caliper. Weight and thickness are different measurements, so every entry states both. Where a finish needs a die, a block, a screen or a plate, that tooling is made once and kept on file for the reorder. Standard turnaround is 7–14 working days for every job, and express is quoted against the specification. EZ Print quotes from the specification and does not publish prices.
13stocks
Every one drawn with its cut edge at true thickness, and labelled with the reading rather than photographed.
15finishes
Each with what it is physically doing, the tooling it needs, and whether that tooling is kept for the reorder.
Weight is not thickness.
GSM is grams per square metre. It says how much fibre is in the sheet, not how far apart its two faces are. Coating is heavy and thin, so a coated sheet is carrying clay where an uncoated one of the same weight is carrying air. These two cards are both 350 gsm. One is more than a third thicker than the other, and in the hand that is the entire difference.
Coated
0.36mm
350 gsm matt art card — clay-coated both sides, left dull.
Uncoated
0.49mm
350 gsm uncoated woodfree — no coating at all, so the sheet bulks.
That is the scale of every drawn edge in this library, including the two above and the bar under each swatch. Nothing here is drawn to look right; it is drawn to measure right. If thickness is what is being bought, specify the caliper in millimetres and not the gsm.
The stocks
Thirteen sheets, thinnest first.
Weight is only half the decision. What the sheet does under ink, and what it does to a ballpoint pen, is the other half. Each entry states what the stock is, how it feels in the hand, what it is good for, and the mistake made with it most often — because the last of those is the one that costs a reprint.
0.13 mmCoating at 8×
Coated and calendered, both sides0.13 mm · 157 gsm
Gloss art paper
Also called C2S gloss text, gloss coated paper, art paper.
Held at 128–157 gsm. The drawing and the reading are at 157 gsm.
What it is
A wood-free base with a clay coating on both faces, calendered under pressure until it takes a shine. It is the text weight of the same family as gloss art card.
How it feels
Thin, cool and slightly slippery. It snaps rather than bends, and it holds a fingerprint long enough to be annoying.
What it suits
Flyers, leaflets, inserts, and the inner pages of a saddle-stitched booklet, where an image has to survive being reduced.
The common mistake
Choosing it for anything that will be written on. A ballpoint skids across the coating and a pencil will not mark it at all.
Held at 100–120 gsm. The drawing and the reading are at 120 gsm.
What it is
An uncoated sheet formed against a wire that leaves fine parallel chain lines roughly 5 mm apart, with fainter laid lines running across them. The pattern is in the sheet, not printed onto it.
How it feels
Dry, faintly ribbed under a fingertip, and audibly crisper than a smooth sheet of the same weight.
What it suits
Letterheads, compliment slips, certificates, and the endpapers of a bound document.
The common mistake
Running a large photographic image across it. The ribs break the halftone dot, and the image reads as a pattern rather than as a picture.
Polypropylene film, printable both sides0.20 mm · 200 micron
Synthetic stock
Also called polypropylene, PP synthetic, tear-proof paper.
What it is
A polypropylene film with a printable surface. It is not paper at all: there is no fibre in it, so there is nothing for water to swell and nothing to tear along.
How it feels
Smooth and slightly waxy. Bend it and it springs back; pull it and it stretches before it gives.
What it suits
Menus, luggage tags, plant labels, membership cards — anything handled wet, handled outdoors, or handled thousands of times.
The common mistake
Specifying it and then asking for a fold. Synthetic stock does not hold a crease; it needs a scored hinge, and the hinge has to be designed in.
Three plies, coated to transfer under pressure0.24 mm · 3 plies, 50–55 gsm each
Carbonless set
Also called NCR, no-carbon-required, bill book paper.
What it is
Three thin plies coated so that pressure on the top sheet releases an image onto the ones beneath. White, pink and yellow is the usual order here, and the colour is how each copy is filed.
How it feels
Light and faintly powdery. The set is padded along one edge and tears cleanly along a perforation.
What it suits
Delivery orders, job sheets, receipt books, service reports — anything signed on site where each party keeps a copy.
The common mistake
Designing heavy solids onto the top sheet. Ink coverage stiffens the coating, and the transfer beneath goes patchy exactly where the signature lands.
Coated and calendered, both sides0.28 mm · 310 gsm
Gloss art card
Also called C2S gloss card, gloss coated card.
Held at 260–350 gsm. The drawing and the reading are at 310 gsm.
What it is
The card weight of the coated family — a wood-free base carrying clay on both faces, polished to a hard shine.
How it feels
Cool, hard and reflective. It is the surest way to make a photograph look sharper than it actually printed.
What it suits
Product cards, food and beverage, property listings, and any job that is carried by an image rather than by type.
The common mistake
Setting dense reverse type on it. Under office lighting the sheen becomes glare, and the fine white shapes inside the letterforms fill in.
Held at 310–400 gsm. The drawing and the reading are at 350 gsm.
What it is
Coated on both sides exactly as gloss art card is, but left dull instead of being calendered to a shine. It is the default card in this market, and it is the right default.
How it feels
Smooth, slightly warm, no reflection. At 350 gsm it creases cleanly and folds without cracking along the score.
What it suits
Corporate name cards, professional services, anything set in fine type, and any job that will later take spot UV.
The common mistake
Building a large black area as K100 alone. On a coated sheet a single-channel black dries flat and grey beside a rich black built with support behind it.
No coating; ink dries into the fibre0.42 mm · 300 gsm
Uncoated woodfree
Also called uncoated natural, offset paper, natural card.
Held at 300–400 gsm. The drawing and the reading are at 300 gsm.
What it is
No coating at all. The ink dries into the fibre rather than sitting on top of it, so the surface stays completely matt however heavy the coverage.
How it feels
Dry, with a faint tooth. It takes a pen, and it is the one common card stock an appointment can be written on without smudging.
What it suits
Architects, designers, clinics, and any card that gets written on after it is handed over.
The common mistake
Expecting it to match a coated proof. Chroma drops roughly fifteen per cent as the ink sinks, so the build has to be compensated before the job runs, not argued about after.
Unbleached, brown through the sheet0.46 mm · 350 gsm
Kraft board
Also called brown kraft, recycled kraft, natural brown.
Held at 300–350 gsm. The drawing and the reading are at 350 gsm.
What it is
Unbleached pulp, brown the whole way through, with visible fibre and a shade that shifts a little between reels.
How it feels
Coarse, dry and warm to hold. The cut edge is part of the design, which is why it is worth guillotining with a fresh blade.
What it suits
Cafés, bakeries, craft and wellness brands, swing tags, and packaging sleeves that are meant to look unfinished.
The common mistake
Printing four-colour process on it. There is no white in the sheet, so every colour is mixed with brown. Use one or two spot colours, an opaque white, or foil.
Also called felt finish, mould-made, textured natural.
Held at 270–300 gsm. The drawing and the reading are at 300 gsm.
What it is
An uncoated sheet marked by a felt roller while it is still wet, so the texture is irregular rather than repeating. No two sheets carry the same pattern.
How it feels
Soft, open and bulky for its weight. It absorbs sound in a stack as readily as it absorbs ink on press.
What it suits
Invitations, menus, letterpress, art catalogues, and anything intended to be kept rather than filed.
The common mistake
Setting type below 7 pt on it. The irregular surface breaks small letterforms, and reverse type closes up entirely.
Two sheets bonded, seam visible at the edge0.72 mm · 600 gsm bonded
Bonded duplex
Also called duplex, bonded card, coloured-core card.
What it is
Two sheets laminated face to face to reach a caliper no single sheet in the range will give. The bond line shows as a stripe along every cut edge, and where the inner sheet is a colour that stripe is the design.
How it feels
Stiff without being a plank. It flexes slightly and returns flat, and the edge is noticeably square under a fingertip.
What it suits
Name cards meant to be kept, painted edges, and any job where the edge is doing as much work as the face.
The common mistake
Specifying a fold. Bonded stock delaminates at a crease; a job that has to fold needs a single sheet.
Three sheets bonded, coloured core1.24 mm · 900 gsm bonded
Bonded triplex
Also called triplex, three-ply card, coloured-core board.
What it is
Three sheets laminated together, the thickest stock on this list by some distance. The middle ply is usually a colour, so the seam shows as a stripe along every cut edge.
How it feels
Rigid. It does not flex in the hand at all, and it lands on a table rather than settling onto one.
What it suits
Cards where the edge is the design, painted edges, and anything that has to survive a year in a wallet.
The common mistake
Sending it through a desktop printer or a card reader. At 1.24 mm it is outside the feed tolerance of most office equipment, which is worth knowing before the run rather than after.
This band is judgement rather than specification. It is the half of a printer’s knowledge that otherwise arrives as a reprint.
A stock and a finish are one decision, not two. Almost everything that goes wrong in finishing is a pairing rather than a part.
Pairings that work
+350 gsm matt art card, matt lamination both sides, spot UV on the logo alone. The most-requested premium card in this market, and it reorders without a new decision.
+450 gsm cotton, blind deboss, nothing printed on the reverse. No colour, no film, and it still outperforms almost everything else on a table.
+Bonded triplex with a coloured core and a painted edge. The edge does the work, so the faces can stay plain.
+Kraft board with a single hot-foil hit. Foil is the only thing that reads cleanly on brown, and it needs no white underprint beneath it.
+Uncoated woodfree, four-colour front and one-colour back, 3 mm rounded corners. Writes like paper, never looks cheap, and there is no tooling to make or to remake.
Combinations that fail
×Soft-touch film with spot UV over it. The varnish will not key without a tie-coat and it lifts at the edges within weeks.
×Hot foil across deep laid or felt texture. The block bottoms out on the peaks and skips the valleys, and the line breaks into dashes.
×An emboss with a heavy solid on the reverse. The relief ghosts through as a dent that no amount of press care removes.
×Painted edges on a fibrous uncoated sheet. The paint wicks into the fibre and the line goes soft within a millimetre.
×Foil or spot UV inside 3 mm of the trim. Registration tolerance on a name card is about half a millimetre, so it looks cut off on part of the run.
×Full-bleed photography on uncoated woodfree. Chroma drops as the ink sinks, and the image goes soft and grey.
The second currency
What each finish needs, and what you never pay for twice.
Other printers publish money. This page publishes millimetres, grams and tooling, because those are the facts that decide whether a job exists on the date it is needed. One standard turnaround of 7–14 working days covers every operation in the table below — and where an operation needs a die, a block, a screen or a plate, that tooling is made once. After that it is kept on file with the approved artwork, so the reorder never waits for it again.
Finishing operations, what each one is physically doing, and whether its tooling is made once and kept for the reorder
Finish
Tooling
What the reorder pays for
Round-corneringStandard radii, on a die held as stock tooling
None
Nothing to make, so nothing to remake.
Matt or gloss laminationSingle pass, both sides
None
Nothing to make, so nothing to remake.
Creasing and foldingA creasing line is scored above 170 gsm, so a coated sheet does not crack at the fold
None
Nothing to make, so nothing to remake.
Hole-punchingStandard bits. A shaped or slotted opening is die-cutting, not punching
None
Nothing to make, so nothing to remake.
Soft-touch laminationThe film settles before the sheet is guillotined
None
Nothing to make, so nothing to remake.
Spot UVNeeds a screen; reads best over matt film
Made once
Kept on file with your approved artwork. The reorder runs from it.
Painted edgesHand work. Coated or bonded stock only
None
Nothing to make, so nothing to remake.
Die-cuttingA forme is cut once, then kept for the reorder
Made once
Kept on file with your approved artwork. The reorder runs from it.
Die-cutting, forme already madeNothing to make — the shape is cut on the forme from the first run
Made once
Kept on file with your approved artwork. The reorder runs from it.
LetterpressPhotopolymer plate, made once and kept
Made once
Kept on file with your approved artwork. The reorder runs from it.
Duplex or triplex bondingTwo or three sheets bonded to reach a caliper no single sheet gives
None
Nothing to make, so nothing to remake.
Hot foil stampingFirst run carries the block; reorders do not
Made once
Kept on file with your approved artwork. The reorder runs from it.
Blind embossingMale and female dies, kept
Made once
Kept on file with your approved artwork. The reorder runs from it.
Saddle-stitch binding
None
Nothing to make, so nothing to remake.
Perfect bindingIncludes the glue cure
None
Nothing to make, so nothing to remake.
Scroll the table sideways to see every column.
Every operation here is quoted inside the one standard turnaround, so nothing in this table is a second promise stacked on top of the first. What differs between them is the tooling — and eleven of 241 verified Singapore printers offer a reorder at all, none of them stating which tooling they hold.
Nine operations, and what each one is physically doing.
Finishing is where deadlines are lost, and it is lost to physics rather than to policy. Lamination runs inline with the print and adds nothing. A brass block has to exist before anything can be foiled, and until it is cut there is no foil job. Soft-touch film has to settle before the stack can be guillotined.
So each operation below states the same four things a stock does — what it is, how it feels, what it suits, and the mistake made with it most often — plus the tooling it needs and whether that tooling stays on the shelf afterwards.
A thin polypropylene film bonded to the printed sheet under heat and pressure. It is a film, not a varnish, and it is the difference between a card that scuffs in a wallet and one that does not.
How it feels
Dry and slightly soft, with the reflection taken off. Colours drop about half a step and blacks go from shiny to deep.
What it suits
Anything handled repeatedly, and every card that will later take spot UV — matt film is the ground that makes the varnish read at all.
The common mistake
Laminating one side only. In this humidity the bare face takes up moisture and the sealed face does not, and the card bows towards the bare side inside a week.
Tooling No tooling. It runs inline with the print.
None
nothing to make
Gloss lamination
Also called gloss film, gloss encapsulation.
What it is
The same polypropylene film, polished instead of matted.
How it feels
Hard, cool and reflective. It lifts chroma noticeably, which is why a photograph laminated gloss looks sharper than the same photograph laminated matt.
What it suits
Image-led work, food and beverage, product cards, and anything that has to keep looking bright after being handled.
The common mistake
Running it behind fine reverse type. Glare under overhead lighting swallows the small white shapes inside the letterforms.
Tooling No tooling. It runs inline with the print.
None
nothing to make
Soft-touch lamination
Also called velvet, suede, or matt soft film.
What it is
A rubberised matt film with a micro-textured surface, bonded the same way as ordinary lamination.
How it feels
Like chalk, or like suede. It is the most-noticed finish in a stack of cards, and it takes a mark from a fingernail.
What it suits
Premium corporate cards, folders and covers — anywhere the first thing that happens is a hand picking the piece up.
The common mistake
Adding spot UV over it. The varnish will not key to the film without a tie-coat and it lifts at the edges within weeks. Specify matt lamination with gloss spot UV instead; from a metre away it is the same effect and it does not fail.
Tooling No tooling, but the film has to settle before it is guillotined.
Once
made once, then kept
Spot UV
Also called spot gloss, selective varnish, UV coating.
What it is
A clear varnish screened onto selected areas of the sheet and cured under ultraviolet light in a separate pass.
How it feels
A raised, hard gloss a fingertip finds before an eye does. Over matt film, the contrast between dull and shiny is the entire effect.
What it suits
A logo, a single word, or a pattern sitting behind type — anything that benefits from being found by touch before it is read.
The common mistake
Specifying it on an uncoated or cotton sheet. The varnish sinks into the fibre and there is nothing left standing proud to catch the light.
Tooling A screen, made once and kept on file with your approved artwork. The reorder runs from it.
Once
made once, then kept
Hot foil stamping
Also called foil blocking, hot stamping.
What it is
A heated brass block presses metallic or pigment foil onto the sheet. No ink is involved — the foil is a coating carried on a carrier film and released by heat and pressure.
How it feels
A mirror surface sitting slightly below the level of the sheet, because the block debosses as it strikes.
What it suits
Dark and uncoated stocks, kraft, and anything where process colour cannot give enough contrast. Foil is the only thing that reads cleanly on brown, and it needs no white underprint.
The common mistake
Placing foil closer than 3 mm to the trim. Registration tolerance on a 90 × 54 mm card is about half a millimetre, so a hit that close looks cut off on some cards in the run and correct on others.
Tooling A brass block, cut once and then kept for every reorder. The first run carries it; the second does not.
Once
made once, then kept
Embossing and debossing
Also called blind emboss, blind deboss, relief stamping.
What it is
A matched pair of dies, male and female, that press the sheet into relief. Embossing raises the image towards the reader; debossing pushes it away.
How it feels
Relief that can be read with the eyes shut. Blind work — no ink, no foil — is the version that ages best, because there is no colour to fade.
What it suits
Cotton, felt-marked and other bulky uncoated stocks with enough compressible fibre to take the shape and hold it.
The common mistake
Putting a heavy solid on the reverse of an embossed area. The relief ghosts through as a visible dent — keep the back light, or bond two sheets so the seam hides it.
Tooling A matched die pair, made once and then kept with your approved artwork.
Once
made once, then kept
Letterpress
Also called relief printing, impression printing.
What it is
A relief plate is inked and pressed into the sheet, so the image is printed and impressed in the same action. It is the oldest process here and the slowest.
How it feels
A crisp bite that can be felt from the back of the card. Depth is a decision, and it is made on press rather than in the file.
What it suits
Cotton and other soft, thick, uncoated stocks. One or two colours, solid areas, and type drawn to be impressed.
The common mistake
Supplying a photograph for it. Letterpress prints line and solid, not halftone — the tonal range is simply not available.
Tooling A photopolymer plate per colour, made once and then kept.
Once
made once, then kept
Die cutting
Also called forme cutting, shape cutting.
What it is
Steel rule bent to a shape, set into a plywood forme, and pressed through the sheet.
How it feels
A cut edge a guillotine cannot make: a curve, a slot, a window, a silhouette.
What it suits
Swing tags, sleeves, folders with a card slot, shaped cards, and every packaging net.
The common mistake
Drawing the cut on the same layer as the artwork. The cutter has to be a separate 100% K vector path at the same trim, on its own named layer, or it prints as a hairline.
Tooling A steel-rule forme, made once and kept. A shape already on the shelf has nothing left to make.
None
nothing to make
Painted edges
Also called edge painting, edge colouring.
What it is
Colour applied by hand to the cut edge of a guillotined stack, then left to cure before the stack is separated.
How it feels
A band of colour around the perimeter, most visible when the card is held at an angle or seen edge-on in a stack.
What it suits
Bonded duplex and triplex, coated card, and any stock dense enough to hold a hard line.
The common mistake
Painting the edge of a fibrous uncoated sheet. The paint wicks along the fibre and the line goes soft within a millimetre.
Tooling No tooling, but it is hand work and it has to cure.
Every answer is in the page source rather than behind a click. An answer engine has to be able to read them without executing anything, and so does a reader with a slow connection.
Asked most often
Questions about the material.
Is 350 gsm thicker than 300 gsm?
Usually, but not reliably, because gsm is weight per square metre rather than thickness. Coating is heavy and thin, so a 350 gsm coated card can measure thinner than a 300 gsm uncoated one. If thickness is what is being bought, specify the caliper in millimetres — every stock in this library states its own.
What gsm should a name card be?
310 gsm and 350 gsm cover most corporate work and are what people mean by a normal card. 400 gsm reads as premium in the hand. 450 gsm cotton, and bonded duplex or triplex above 600 gsm, sit at the top of the range and are usually chosen for the edge as much as for the face. Below 260 gsm a card starts to feel like a flyer.
What is the difference between matt and gloss lamination?
Both are thin polypropylene films bonded to the printed sheet, and both stop a card scuffing. Gloss lifts colour and makes photographs look sharper. Matt kills reflection, feels drier in the hand, and is the better ground for spot UV, because the contrast between dull and shiny is the whole effect. Neither needs tooling, and both are quoted inside the standard turnaround.
Can spot UV go over soft-touch lamination?
Not reliably. The varnish will not key to a soft-touch film without a tie-coat, and it tends to lift at the edges within weeks. For that dull-and-shiny contrast, specify matt lamination with gloss spot UV instead — from a metre away it is the same effect, and it does not fail.
Is tooling kept for a reorder?
Yes. A brass foil block, an embossing die pair, a spot UV screen and a steel-rule cutting forme are made once and kept on file with the approved artwork. The first foil run waits for the block to be cut; every run after it does not.
Why did my name cards curl?
Almost always single-sided lamination in this humidity. Film on one face and bare stock on the other means the two sides take up moisture at different rates, and the card bends towards the unlaminated side. Laminate both sides, or laminate neither.
Name the sheet, or describe the job and let us name it.
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
