Fortress Social Club Custom Xmas Cards

Before Xmas, we had the pleasure to print custom Christmas Cards for the Fortress Social Club guys. This Los Angeles based ensemble of highly talented musicians is always on the cutting edge, and this year they really wanted to send out custom printed Xmas cards to all their fans. Shawn Harris threw out the idea last minute and we had to scramble to make it happen for them, but we love to come thru for like minded artistic individuals as ourselves, and here we did.

Because of the quick turnaround time, we decided to print these cards FOUR to a page to limit the number of paper cuts that were needed. Cutting paper perfectly (making sure the edges are even, etc) is time consuming and if we can just do 2 single cuts (center & center), that would speed things up, even if it meant printing a few more pages.

First we aligned up the film to the paper, to assure the print will be centered on the paper.

Then, taking the film and creating registration marks in order to get every single sheet lined up in exactly the same place is KEY. We usually use registration guides, except when the border is very close to the edge, which forces us to just use tape.

Next, Pantone ink mixing is the key to making any paper prints look amazing. 2 Pantone colors were given to us by FSC, which we custom mix with our Pantone Color Matching System (PMS) books.

Finally, were ready to start printing. Getting everything prepared before the ink gets printed into the mesh of the screen is key, since once you begin printing, the time clock begins and the ink starts immediately drying. We have to make sure we thought of everything before printing begins. On paper, each color must be printed separately, then dried and brought back for the other colors. Here, were printing the green color first:

After breaking down and cleaning the 1st screen, we align the 2nd screen, throw on the premixed RED ink, and print away!

Finally, the paper gets dried after a few hours...we then machine cut each sheet into 4 separate pieces, making 4 FINAL cards out of each printed sheet here.