Pressed finishes
Three ways to make a card people feel before they read: paper pushed up, paper pressed in, or ink pressed in.
From about Get a price for 100 · Custom
About 3 weeks after proof approval (estimate).
Pressed business cards are made by force rather than ink alone. Embossing pushes your design up out of the paper with a pair of metal dies, debossing presses it down, and letterpress presses an inked plate into soft cotton. All three need heavy uncoated paper, start from about Get a price and take about 3 weeks after proof approval.
Still torn? Feel all three in the sample pack ($8, with $10 back on your first order) →
Ink pressed into soft cotton with a bite you can catch a nail in. Best when the card is mostly words. Variations: two-colour, duplex cotton, Colorplan, blind deboss.
$340 for 250
One die cut from your logo, pressed into 32pt cotton, blind or with foil in the impression. The pressed card that also carries metal.
$350 for 250
General Bakeshop · blind deboss and letterpress on thick kraft
No ink at all: a plate pressed hard into thick cotton. The quietest card we make, and the lowest entry price for a pressed card.
around Get a price for 100
Run a thumb across all three and you can tell them apart with your eyes closed. An emboss is a soft hill: the cotton stretches up over the die and the shape rises less than a millimetre, with rounded shoulders. A deboss is a clean hollow with a flat floor you can catch a fingernail on. Letterpress feels like a deboss, but the colour sits at the bottom of the bite, so the type looks set into the paper rather than printed on it. All three live on heavy uncoated cotton, so the card has weight in the hand before anyone notices the mark.
Detail. An impression reads only by its shadow, so anything thinner than the paper can stretch around disappears. For emboss and deboss that means strokes of at least 0.5 mm, gaps of 1 mm and text at 10 pt in a medium or bold weight. Letterpress holds finer lines, down to 0.15 mm, because the ink carries them. If your logo is finer than that, it isn't a reason to give up on pressing; it's a reason to redraw the mark for the die. We check every file before a die is cut and tell you which parts will hold.
Emboss needs open counters and one clear depth. Strokes under about 0.5 mm and gaps under 1 mm collapse as the paper stretches over the die. We open the drawing up so the shadow reads.
Embossing pushes the paper up from behind between a male and a female metal die, so your logo, name or pattern stands above the surface. It can be blind (no ink or foil, just the raised shape) or registered to foil or print. Because the paper is stretched over the die, a single sheet always carries a mirror-image hollow on the back. Many designers plan the back around it. When both faces must be clean, two sheets are pressed separately and bonded.
Debossing presses the design down into the paper, leaving a crisp recessed impression. On thick, soft cotton the deboss sinks deep into the fibres and holds a flat, sharp floor, which is why it's the finish we pair with foil. A deep deboss can still show faintly on the back of a single sheet, so we keep the reverse layout clear of it.
Letterpress inks a raised plate and presses it into the paper under heavy pressure, so the colour sits at the bottom of the impression. It uses mixed Pantone inks rather than CMYK, which gives deeper, more even colour, and it's at its best with one to three colours on soft cotton. Letterpress ink is translucent, so light colours on dark paper go to foil instead.
Emboss, deboss and letterpress compared, in depthEmbossing vs debossing guide
The most legible pressed card puts metal where the paper is pressed. One combination die stamps the foil and presses the shape in the same pass, so the gold or copper sits exactly inside the deboss, protected from scuffing. Configure it on our embossed card page: choose deboss, add foil, choose "registered".
Upload your logo and our Studio shows you a concept of it embossed, debossed or letterpressed on the paper you choose, in a few minutes. It's a rendering for direction; a person rebuilds your file and sends a proof before anything is made.
Design exploration
Hollow & HearthDesign exploration
Merle & WarpDesign exploration
OrielDesign exploration
Nimbus Bath| Embossing | Debossing | Letterpress | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Effect | Raised above the surface | Recessed into the surface | Ink pressed into the surface |
| Best for | Logos, monograms, simple patterns | Logos, foil marks, cards with painted edges | Type-heavy designs, 1–3 Pantone colours |
| Paper | Cotton; colored uncoated stocks (black, navy, kraft, blush, forest, burgundy, slate) | Cotton; colored uncoated stocks | Cotton (white, two-colour, duplex); Colorplan |
| Ink / foil | Blind, or with foil | Blind, or with foil in the recess | Pantone spot ink; blind deboss has none |
| Reverse side | Mirror-image hollow on a single sheet | A deep bite can show faintly; keep the back clear | A deep bite can show faintly; duplex hides it |
| Won't work on | Laminated, soft-touch, plastic, metal | Laminated, soft-touch, plastic, metal | Coated or laminated paper; light ink on dark paper |
| Turnaround | About 3 weeks | About 3 weeks | About 3 weeks |
| From | $350 / 250 (32pt cotton) | $350 / 250 (32pt cotton) | $340 / 250 (48pt cotton) |
| If you want… | Pressed is right when… | Choose instead |
|---|---|---|
| Shine | You want shine and texture together → foil in a deboss | Foil business cards |
| A glossy raised logo on a full-colour card | Never, because pressing needs uncoated paper | Raised spot UV business cards |
| Weight in the hand | Pressing already needs heavy stock | Thick business cards |
| Waterproof or see-through | Never: we don't emboss plastic | Plastic business cards |
| A card that lasts for years in a wallet | You reprint every year or two anyway; a blind impression has no ink to wear off | Metal business cards |
Blind-debossed wheat and wood grain, maroon letterpress, thick kraft
Two-colour letterpress on bright white cotton, PMS-matched red painted edge
Foil front, the same mark blind embossed on the reverse, red edge
Multi-level blind emboss on 48pt cotton, grey letterpress name
If you're not happy, we reprint.
An embossed card has part of the design pushed up out of the paper; a debossed card has it pressed down into the paper. Both are made with custom metal dies and can be blind (no ink) or combined with foil. On a single sheet, an emboss always leaves a mirror-image hollow on the back.
A metal die is made from the artwork, in two halves: a recessed female die and a matching raised male die. The card is pressed between them, so the paper is stretched up into the shape. It needs soft, heavy, uncoated paper such as cotton, and lines thick enough to hold a shadow: at least 0.5 mm.
A deboss card has a design pressed down into its surface rather than printed on it. The recess reads by shadow, so a blind deboss is subtle in flat light and striking in side light. Adding foil inside the recess makes it legible from across a table.
It depends on the design. Letterpress is better for type-heavy cards, because the ink carries fine lines and small text. Embossing and debossing are better for one strong mark, especially with foil. Many of our favourite cards use both: a blind emboss for the logo and letterpress for the details.
Fine detail disappears, a single sheet carries a mirror image on the back, and it only works on soft, uncoated paper, never on laminated, soft-touch, plastic or metal cards. Each has a fix: a redrawn mark, a planned back or a bonded second sheet, and the right paper.
A blind deboss letterpress card starts around Get a price for 100. Embossed or debossed cards with a custom die start at $235 for 250 on 16pt ($350 on 32pt cotton), and letterpress at $340 for 250 on 48pt cotton. Foil, a second colour or painted edges add to that; each product page shows the live price.
About 3 weeks after you approve your proof, because a die or plate is made from your artwork first. Shipping is on top: most US deliveries arrive 1–3 business days after production. Lead times are estimates, not guaranteed delivery dates.
"Embossed gloss" is a marketing name for raised spot UV: a thick clear coating printed on top of a flat, usually soft-touch, card. You can feel it, but nothing is pressed into the paper. See raised spot UV business cards.
Wedding invitations, yes: see embossed wedding invitations. For postcards and other flat pieces, postcards and flyers offers letterpress and foil; ask for a custom quote if you want a blind emboss.
Yes. Upload it to the Studio for a concept in a few minutes, then a person sends a real proof after you order. To feel the finishes first, order the sample pack.