Pressed finishes · Studio
A metal die made from your logo, pressed into heavy cotton. No ink, no shine, just shadow, and a card people run their thumb across before they read it.
From $350 for 250 on 32pt cotton · $1.40 a card
About 3 weeks after you approve your proof · free shipping within the continental US
Custom embossed business cards are pressed between a matching pair of metal dies cut from your artwork, so your logo or name rises out of the paper, or sinks into it if you choose deboss. We press them into 32pt cotton, blind or with foil. On 32pt cotton they start at $350 for 250 and take about 3 weeks after proof approval.
Not sure? Feel it first: the sample pack is $8 with $10 back on your first order →
We price every embossed card the same way: start with everything the press can do, then take away what your design doesn't need. For most marks, we'd start you in the middle.
Full production
Deboss with registered foil (one combination die) on the front, plus edge foil (square or rounded corners). Our press team confirms edge foil on cotton before production.
The whole card works: the mark has depth and metal, and the edge flashes when the card turns. If you came looking for luxury embossed business cards, this is that build.
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Our pick
Your mark debossed and foiled in a single pass with one combination die, on 32pt cotton
The foil sits at the bottom of the impression, so it can't scuff and lines up exactly with the deboss. It's the most legible pressed card we make.
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Essential
Your mark blind embossed (no ink, no foil) on 32pt cotton; contact details printed
The quietest card in the room. It reads only when light rakes across it, which is the point.
From $350 for 250
Pick it up and the first thing you notice is weight: 32pt cotton is about as thick as a credit card. Then your thumb finds the mark. An emboss rises up to about a millimetre out of the sheet, with a soft shoulder where the cotton fibres stretched over the die. A deboss is the opposite: a clean, flat-floored hollow you can catch a fingernail in. A blind embossed print has no ink in it, so nothing can fade or rub off in a wallet. That's what imprint business cards and stamped business cards really are: the mark is pressed in, not printed on. In raking light, its shadow moves as the card turns.
Embossing is pressure and paper, not ink, so the ways it goes wrong are physical. We'd rather tell you now than on the proof.
An impression reads only by its shadow. Strokes under 0.5 mm, gaps under 1 mm and type under 10 pt flatten into a blur as the paper stretches over the die.
What we do: we check every file against those minimums and, where a logo is too fine, our designers redraw it so the die can hold it. That's included in your proof; a full press-ready redraw is there for complicated marks.
On a single sheet, an emboss always leaves a mirror-image hollow on the reverse, and a deep deboss can show through too. Put your phone number behind the logo and it lands in a dent.
What we do: we lay the back out around the impression, or bond a second sheet behind it (duplex) when both faces need to be clean. Duplex is quoted on request.
Laminated and soft-touch cards are wrapped in a film that won't take a clean impression, and we don't emboss plastic at all. On black or dark paper, a blind impression is so quiet it almost disappears.
What we do: we emboss soft, uncoated cotton and colored stock only. On dark stock, if the mark has to be read, we'll suggest foil in the impression. If you want it whisper-quiet, it stays blind.
Your logo, pressed into the paper
Blind embossed business cards have no ink and no foil: the die pushes your mark up out of the sheet, and paper and shadow do the rest. It's the classic choice for a business card with an embossed logo. Centred or symmetrical marks work best, because the mirror image on the back is part of the deal.
Can't: hairlines under 0.5 mm.
Deboss business cards are pressed down into the sheet instead of up. A debossed card has crisper edges, a flat floor, and on 32pt cotton a bite you can see from across a table. It's the one we pair with foil and with edge colour, because the face stays flat around it.
Need fewer than 250? Our blind deboss letterpress cards use a plate rather than a die pair and are quoted by hand for small runs.
Can't: fully hide a deep bite on the back of a single sheet.
One combination die stamps the foil and presses the shape in the same pass, so metal and depth line up exactly. Gold, silver, rose gold, copper, black or red.
Can't: gradients (foil is one flat tone per die), or lines under 0.6 mm.
Foil on your name and contact line, blind emboss on the logo: two dies, two passes, each doing what it's best at. A little more set-up than registered, and a lot of flexibility in layout.
Can't: stack foil on top of printed ink. We knock the ink out under the foil.
Black, navy, kraft, blush, forest, burgundy or slate. Ink sinks into dyed paper and nearly disappears, so on colour we let foil carry the design and the impression carry the texture.
Can't: CMYK on dark stock. Edge painting isn't offered on colored stock.
With a deboss, the card face stays flat enough to clamp, so all four edges can be painted by hand or foiled. A painted edge is matched to an accent in your design; a foiled edge matches your face foil.
Can't: an emboss has raised areas that stop the stack sitting flat, so online, edges come with deboss only (an embossed two-ply card with a painted edge is a custom quote). Our press team confirms edge foil on cotton before production. On black, navy and other dark stocks, edges are foil only, never painted.
3D embossed business cards use a hand-engraved brass die that presses two or more levels (a monogram whose layers each throw their own shadow). It costs more and takes longer, and we confirm the depth plan before the die is cut.
Can't: be configured online.
Letterpress inks a raised plate and presses it into soft cotton, so you get the bite of a deboss with colour sitting at the bottom of it. It's ideal for type-heavy cards in one to three Pantone colours.
Can't: light ink on dark paper.
Upload your logo and our Studio will show you a concept of it as a blind emboss, a deboss or foil in a deboss, on the paper you pick. It takes a few minutes. It's a rendering, not a proof: a person rebuilds your file and checks every line before anything is made.
Design exploration
| Quantity | Blind emboss (Essential) | Foil in a deboss (Our pick) | Full production |
|---|---|---|---|
| 250 | $350$1.40/card | Get a price | Get a price |
| 500 | $495$0.99/card | Get a price | Get a price |
| 1,000 | $765$0.77/card | Get a price | Get a price |
| 2,000 | $1,280$0.64/card | Get a price | Get a price |
| 5,000 | $2,620$0.52/card | Get a price | Get a price |
Painted edges +$50 · foiled edges +$60 · rounded corners +$10 (works with foiled edges too). Add-on prices at 250.
Why the price drops so fast: the die is made once. After that, each extra card is paper and a press stroke.
Peppermint Promise
If you're not happy, we reprint.
Free design proof
A real designer reviews your files before we print.
Free shipping in the continental US
Every order ships free.
Custom · Configure & price
$350 for 250 cards · about 3 weeks after proof approval
Embossing raises your design above the card surface. A mirrored impression will appear on the reverse side — this is inherent to the process. Works beautifully when your embossed element is centered or symmetrical.
Ink is invisible on colored stock — foil expresses your design.
Your foil fills the embossed or debossed area — the metallic finish and dimension align for maximum impact.
Embossed surfaces prevent clean edge application. Switch to deboss to enable.
Embossed surfaces prevent clean edge application. Switch to deboss to enable.
Quantity
Ordering multiple designs? Add each set separately.
If you're not happy, we reprint. How reprints work
Embossing and debossing are among the most tactile printing techniques available. Both use custom metal dies to create a dimensional impression in paper — embossing pushes elements upward from behind, debossing pushes elements downward from the front. The result is a card you can feel, not just see.
The depth of the impression depends on the paper. Soft, uncoated stocks like cotton produce the most dramatic effect because the paper fibers compress cleanly under pressure, revealing sharp edges and visible depth.
Blind embossing — without any ink or foil — is one of the most refined effects in print. The raised or recessed impression catches light and creates subtle shadows that shift as the card moves. For a bolder look, embossing can be registered to printed elements or combined with metallic foil for a dimensional metallic finish.
Embossing vs debossing — what's the difference?
How each technique works, which papers pair best, and how to design for dimensional printing.
Read the guide →Four ways to make a card you can feel. Here's where each one wins, including where it beats ours.
| Embossed / debossed (this page) | Letterpress | Hot foil on cotton | Raised spot UV (“embossed gloss”) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What you feel | Paper raised or pressed in, no ink needed | Ink pressed into a soft bite | A slight bite with a metal film on top | A glossy ridge of clear coating on a flat card |
| What you see | Shadow; foil only if you add it | Saturated Pantone colour in the impression | Mirror or matte metal | Shine against a soft-touch matte face |
| Wear in a wallet | No ink, so nothing to scuff | Very good | Good; foil can scuff at the edges | Good; the coating can chip on corners |
| From, 250 cards | $350 | $340 | $310 | Get a price |
| Lead time | About 3 weeks | About 3 weeks | About 3 weeks | About 3 weeks |
| Best for | A single mark that should be felt first | Type-heavy cards, 1–3 colours | A logo that has to shine | Photo and full-colour designs with a gloss accent |
| Where it loses | Fine detail, text under 10 pt | Light ink on dark paper | Gradients, hairlines | It's a coating, not a pressed impression |
White cotton, name blind embossed vertically, black type on the reverse
Off-white 100% cotton, large blind emboss + one-colour black letterpress
Red-orange foil on navy, the same mark blind embossed on a white reverse, red painted edge, duplex
Watercolour process print, copper foil, deep blind deboss of the same mark, 48pt cotton
Leaf-cut corners, blind-embossed branches, navy front
Gloss black foil and a deboss in one hit on black uncoated 32pt, painted orange edge
Design exploration
Marks we drew to test blind emboss and deboss. Labelled "Design exploration", never presented as client work.
Embossed printing starts with metal, not ink. Here's how business card printing with embossing runs, from your file to your door.
If you're not happy, we reprint. How reprints work
The sample pack is $8, with $10 credited to your first order. Real embossed, foil and letterpress cards in your hand.
A 15-minute call. Bring a sketch or a logo, and you'll hear what the press can hold and what it costs.
Embossing means part of the card, usually a logo or name, has been pressed upward out of the paper by a pair of custom metal dies. The raised shape catches light and casts a shadow, so you see it and feel it. “Blind” embossing has no ink or foil at all; the impression is the design.
Embossing raises your design above the card surface. A mirrored impression will appear on the reverse side of a single sheet. Debossing does the opposite and presses the design down into the surface. A deboss reads crisper and pairs best with foil, but a deep deboss can also show faintly on the back, so we keep the back layout clear of it.
Ours start at $350 for 250 blind embossed cards on cotton, which is $1.40 a card, and drop to $0.77 a card at 1,000. Adding foil, a second side or painted edges changes the price; the configurator shows it live. The die is made once, which is why bigger runs cost much less per card.
About 3 weeks after you approve your proof, because a custom metal die is made from your artwork first. Shipping is extra time on top: most US deliveries arrive 1–3 business days after production. We can't promise an in-hand date, so if you have a deadline, tell us when you order.
Three honest ones: fine detail (lines under 0.5 mm, text under 10 pt) disappears; an emboss leaves a mirror image on the back of a single sheet; and it needs soft, uncoated paper, so it won't work on laminated, soft-touch or plastic cards. We check every file for the first, design around the second, and choose the paper for the third.
A vector file (PDF, AI or EPS) with the emboss or deboss shape on its own layer or spot colour. Strokes need to be at least 0.5 mm, gaps 1 mm and text 10 pt in a medium or bold weight. If your logo is only a PNG or too fine, we'll rebuild it; the emboss and deboss file setup guide has the details.
Both. To emboss a name card, the name needs to be set at 10 pt or larger in a medium or bold weight; thin, high-contrast type loses its shadow. Many embossed name cards put the name in foil or print and keep the emboss for the mark. Small contact details always go in ink or foil, never in the impression.
Soft, heavy cotton. Its long fibres stretch over the die without cracking and hold a crisp edge. We also emboss colored stocks (black, navy, kraft, blush, forest, burgundy and slate), where foil carries the design because ink disappears on dark paper.
No. We don't make embossed or debossed plastic business cards: our pressed finishes need soft paper fibres to hold the shape. For something you can feel on plastic we use raised spot UV, or hot foil, which we confirm for your sheet. See plastic business cards.
No. “Embossed gloss” is a raised clear coating (raised spot UV) printed on top of a flat, usually soft-touch, card. It's shiny and you can feel it, but nothing is pressed into the paper. If that's the look you want, see raised spot UV business cards.
Yes. Foil can be registered to the impression with one combination die, or placed on separate elements. Painted and foiled edges are available online with deboss on cotton, because an embossed face has raised areas that stop the stack clamping flat. Foiled edges work with square or rounded corners, and our press team confirms edge foil on cotton before production. Dark stocks get foiled edges only.
Yes, in two ways. Upload your logo to our Studio for a concept in a few minutes; it's a rendering for direction, not a proof. Then, after you order, a person sends a real digital proof for approval before the die is made. To feel the real thing, the sample pack is $8.
More ideas: minimalist business cards
Who orders these: notaries who want an embossed emblem that isn't their official seal. See our notary business cards.