Paper and Its Uses/Chapter 11
CHAPTER XI
CARDS AND CARDBOARDS
In the chapter devoted to the manufacture of boards a brief description of the method of the production of each variety is given. Pulp boards, triplex (or multiplex), and pasteboards are there described, and coated boards of various sorts are included in Chapter IX.
Pulp boards are frequently looked upon as soft and flexible, and many may be so described, but for card index work a stiff snappy card, thin in substance, is required, and as pasteboards and other cards made up of layers tend to split when subjected to much use, pulp boards are essential for that class of work. The boards which most closely resemble ivory boards in appearance will be found the most suitable for system use. A smooth writing surface, free from spots and other imperfections, is required, but the cards should be easy to rule and print. It is impossible to manipulate successfully cockled or wavy boards in ruling, printing, or cutting, so time will be saved if the selection of boards for index cards is made from the kinds which can be obtained perfectly flat. The softer kinds of pulp boards are excellent for a great deal of advertising matter, folders, post-cards, and for jobs for which something stouter than the usual tinted papers is required. Where rigidity is demanded pasteboards will be found of service. Some boards are made with grey middles and poor facings, but it is possible to obtain a good class of boards at a moderate price, and it is far more satisfactory to keep a stock of material of good appearance than to obtain the lowest quality possible. White cardboards should be rigid, of good colour, smooth, and should be so well sized as to be suitable for post-cards or similar work. Pasteboards can be obtained in various substances, being described as three-sheet, four-sheet, etc., but there is no point system in card thicknesses, as one maker's six-sheet will be the same as a four-sheet of another manufacturer. A very fair range of colours can be obtained in paste-boards, but if a special colour is desired a making order is frequently necessary to ensure sufficient of the special facing paper.
Triplex boards are not made in the same variety of thickness or colours as pasteboards. It is not possible to build up the substance in triplex and to dry the web successfully in the thickness of the heavier pasteboards, but it is possible to procure very good triplex boards with the attributes specified for paste-boards.
The better qualities of cardboards will be found suitable for most classes of printing, even for half-tone work, but if three-colour blocks are to be printed, coated boards are necessary. Chromo boards, one- or two-sided, are obtainable from three- to twelve-sheet in substance, and on these any class of work will stand well. Owing to the burnished surface of these boards show cards keep clean for a much longer period than when ordinary cardboards are used, and frequently varnishing can be dispensed with if enamelled boards are not exposed to weather. Coated boards must be handled with care at all times, as the surface is sensitive to grease and moisture, notwithstanding its dustproof tendency. Cloth-lined and cloth-surfaced boards are used for club cards, being very durable and folding well. The white side should always be the inside.
Wholesale stationers keep a large and varied stock of cut cards, plain, round cornered, gilt edged, embossed, plate sunk, with fancy borders and fancy surfaces. A list of stock sizes will be found on page 140, but this list does not refer to every variety of card. Some kinds, such as ivory cards, are stocked in all the regular visiting and business card sizes and multiples of the same, and others in the usual ticket and correspondence card sizes. Reference to the stock book of any maker will serve as a guide in ordering for stock or for special purposes. Post-cards, plain and with printed fronts, are procurable in a variety of qualities, and often prove very useful to small printers.
The standard size for boards of all kinds is royal, 25 inches x 20 inches.