Good place to buy photopolymer plate
I have a vector design for a business card that I want to have made into a plate that I can print from. There are tons of places I have found that will do this, but I’m sort of confused about the terminology and don’t know what to look for. Can anyone recommend a good place to get this done cheaply? I’m located in Ohio, are there any good places nearby?
Thanks!
Do you have a base to mount your photopolymer plate? They can take your vector file (make sure you outline your type) and create the polymer plate. The output will have a sticky back so it mounts to your base. If you have a 2 color file make sure you put crop marks on the file for registration. Make sure the colors are flat color and not process color. If you have a halftone in the file then a 85-100 line screen is good for your press depending on the press your running this on.
What you should do is call one of the places you’ve found and ask a bunch of questions. However, maybe your first question would be, “I’ve never ordered a plate, tell me what I need to know”.
Casey
www.inkylipspress.com
I don’t have any sort of base. That’s been one of the most confusing parts of looking around, because I don’t know all the parts I need. If I get a polymer plate, can I mount it on something like a block of wood? The vector is very simple; one color, no halftone.
Can you recommend a specific place to buy from?
You can do it either way…. mounting it on a base, or mounting it on wood. I mount the majority of my plates on wood…. but that’s mostly because I’ve been doing it that way for years. For a person not familiar with the process, a base is probably the best way to go.
Go visit the Boxcar website. They have a lot of information on how to use a base, and you can order your plates from them.
nigel
The simple solution for you, as winking cat suggested, is to go to Boxcar.
As a newbie, all the information and materials you need are there. They are supportive and their pricing is more than fair.
Gerald
I always like to throw in some support for our favorite vendor, Atlas Photoengraving. They can get you a magnesium cut for about the same price as photopolymer.
Their website is http://www.atlas-photoeng.com/
And you can read about them on our blog at http://www.eleganceisbliss.com/2008/03/richard-and-michael.html.
I second Boxcar press!