Description of technological capabilities
NovaCard fulfills the requirements of the Mir payment system and international payment systems for the production and personalization of smart cards and ensures maximum protection of its customers' products at all stages: from data collection to shipment organization. The quality, safety of production and professionalism of the staff are confirmed by relevant certificates, certificates and licenses. Our specialists regularly undergo training and advanced training in their field of activity and are certified by certifying authorities.
Elements Visible Only Under Ultraviolet (UV) Light
Design elements intended for UV printing must be placed in a separate layer/block in the layout.
Metallic, Pearlescent, Glitter, and Special Inks
Offset metallic inks hinder compliance with card-delamination requirements and do not provide the same metallic effect as screen-printing inks. Offset metallic inks are recommended only for cards with a protective lacquer coating.
Special screen-printing inks must be used to create metallic, pearlescent, optically variable backgrounds, or other effects (iridescent, fluorescent, thermochromic, etc.).
Before using any new special effect on production cards, a preliminary ink test is mandatory.
When screen printing, the minimum printable line thickness - depending on particle size in the ink (fine or coarse pigments) - ranges from 0.2 to 0.5 mm.
For offset metallic inks, the minimum line width is 0.2 mm.
Pigmented Screen-printing Inks
Their color gamut is smaller than that of offset inks.
Minimum line thickness is 0.15 mm. For metallic screen-printing inks, see above.
Varnishing
The degree of matte finish depends on the ink properties and the application method (offset varnish or screen-printed varnish).
Laminated cards may receive an additional varnish finish to create various effects depending on the varnish type - visual (e.g., glossy areas on a matte background), tactile, textured, scented, etc.
Before using any new varnish on production cards, a preliminary print test is mandatory.
Misalignment between the image under the laminate and varnish overprint may reach up to 3 mm.
Fine details and thin lines below 0.3 mm cannot be reproduced.
Digital Printing
Precise alignment with screen-printed elements is impossible (tolerance > 1 mm).
It is recommended to avoid smooth color gradients and large uniform fills (solid or raster).
Magnetic Stripe (Characteristics)
The characteristics and placement of the magnetic stripe comply with ISO 7811 Identification Cards - Recording Techniques.
According to ISO 7811-2, the placement requirements are:
- Maximum distance from the top edge of the card to the top edge of the magnetic stripe: 5.54 mm
- Minimum distance from the top edge of the card to the bottom edge of the stripe: 15.84 mm for a 3-track stripe
The magnetic stripe used in production has a width of 12.5 mm and is positioned 4.35 ± 1.0 mm from the top edge of the card, fully meeting the standard requirements.
Standard colors: Dark brown for 300 Oe, Black for 2,750/4,000 Oe. Other stripe colors are available.
By special agreement, holographic magnetic stripes or narrow stripes with 2 tracks may be used.
It is also possible to print white or silver graphics on the magnetic stripe.
Hot Stamp Printing
Hot stamp printing is applied to plastic cards with a thickness of 0.65-0.84 mm.
The hot stamp printing area on the card must have a margin of at least 5 mm from the top and bottom edges. An existing stamp (die) may be used, or a custom stamp (die) can be produced.
Stamp (die) dimensions:
- Maximum vertical size: 30 mm;
- Maximum horizontal size: - 84 mm when the vertical size is up to 20 mm, 40 mm when the vertical size is between 20 mm and 30 mm.
The minimum line thickness for decorative (shaped) embossing dies is 0.2 mm.. Hot stamping may be done using silver, gold, holographic foil, as well as colored or special-effect foils.
Signature Panel and Scratch-off Stripe
The signature panel may be transparent, semi-transparent, or opaque white, and may also include a printed pattern. The scratch-off stripe is opaque and may have a protective pattern or holographic design; it is used to conceal a PIN or password for one-time access by scratching with a non-sharp object.
Placement and dimensions of the signature panel and scratch-off stripe are not defined by standards. Depending on configuration, various application methods are used - stamping or screen printing. The placement area for stamping panels is defined in the Embossing and Inkjet Printing sections.
Hologram
The standard does not define the size of hologram dies. The area for applying a hologram and the maximum possible die dimensions are defined in the Embossing section and depend on the hologram design. The hologram field on the foil must be 2 mm larger than the die size.
Upon additional agreement, a customer-supplied hologram may be used, provided the holographic foil meets the technical requirements.
Sublimation Printing
Sublimation printing is possible only on laminated card surfaces. It is not possible on lacquer-coated cards.
Single-color printing
The printed image must be placed with a margin of at least 2 mm from any card edge and from the magnetic stripe (if present). A 3 mm margin or more is preferred.
For personalized text elements, the font name, typeface (style), and size must be specified. Guaranteed legible text sizes: At least 6 pt (for Bold) At least 8 pt (for Normal) Sans-serif fonts (Arial, Pragmatica) are preferred, Bold, 9 pt or larger.
The standard color for sublimation personalization is black. In some cases, the following colors are available: gold, silver, burgundy, white, blue, and others.
Color printing
The image may cover the entire surface of standard laminated cards.
The image must be placed with a margin of at least 2 mm from the magnetic stripe (if present). A 3 mm margin or more is preferred.
Text element requirements are described in Section 6. Text Elements.
Embossing
Embossing is performed using large (Farrington OCR 7B, 4 mm) and small (OCR-B Standard Gothic and Standard Cyrillic, 3 mm) fonts. The large font contains digits 0-9 only. The small font contains digits and uppercase letters of the Russian and English alphabets, plus six punctuation symbols: . , ' - / &. Cards made of transparent plastic may be embossed only with digits and English letters.
Embossing may be performed with color tipping (gold, silver, black, white, blue, etc.) or without color. Color tipping is possible only on laminated cards. Cards with color sublimation printing or lacquer coating do not allow tipping.
Embossing area requirements Without color tipping:
- At least 7 mm from the top edge At least 3 mm from the bottom, left, and right edges (These limits are dictated by the physical constraints of embossing equipment.)
- With color tipping (ISO 7811-3): At least 7 mm from the left edge At least 3 mm from the bottom edge At least 5 mm from the right edge Maximum distance from the bottom edge to the top of the embossed area: 24 mm
When combined with magnetic-stripe encoding performed according to ISO 7811, embossing must be done on the front side of the card.
If embossed text with tipping is combined with sublimation printing, the minimum left margin increases to 8 mm.
Indent Printing
Indent printing is performed using the small (3 mm) font, which includes digits 0-9 and uppercase Russian letters, and the large (4 mm) font, which contains digits only. Indent printing may be done in black or white.
When combined with magnetic-stripe encoding performed according to ISO 7811, indent printing is applied on the front side, or using a reverse-slant (3 mm) font on the back side.
At least 3 mm from the bottom, left, and right edges.
Barcode Printing
Barcodes on personalized cards may be printed using: Digital offset, Sublimation, or Inkjet methods. For static (unchanging) barcodes, traditional offset printing may be used.
Almost any industrial barcode type may be printed. The most common include: Code 3 of 9 (Code 39), Interleaved 2 of 5, Code 128, EAN-13. Barcode width and placement depend on the type of scanner to be used and are defined in standards governing each barcode type. The barcode length depends on the encoded data and the barcode format and is also standard-defined.
Minimum bar height: 5 mm, excluding human-readable digits. The barcode must be placed within the area allowed by the chosen printing method. Mandatory quiet zones (clear spaces) before the first and after the last bar must be observed. These are an integral part of the barcode and are defined by standards. Interference is greatest when adjacent graphic elements are black. Barcodes are typically printed black on a white background. Read reliability decreases when the diffuse reflectance component increases (e.g., due to coarse metallic substrates).
Printing barcodes in colors other than black requires additional approval. When using infrared scanners, the barcode can be protected against photocopying by printing a black underlayer using special ink.
Inkjet Printing
Inkjet printing is performed using black ink only. It is possible to print digits, uppercase Latin letters, and the symbol “/” in various font sizes.
In inkjet printing, the number of dots forming a character may vary - from 10 to 160. The optimal number depends on the card material, surface texture, and character shape, and must be agreed upon with the Customer. Character dimensions may vary both in height and width, but are typically 2-3 mm in height. Characters may be placed anywhere on the card, but no closer than 5 mm from the edges.
Струйная печать возможна одновременно по нескольким строкам (до 4 строк), причем только вдоль или только поперек карты. В одной строке печати в зависимости от величины шрифта можно располагать до 4 полей текста. Символы также можно печатать в утолщенном виде.
Inkjet printing can be performed on multiple lines simultaneously (up to 4 lines), but only along or only across the card. Depending on the font size, up to 4 text fields may be placed on a single print line. Characters may also be printed in a boldened (thickened) style.
It is possible to print serial, logical, and bar codes (EAN-8, EAN-13, Code 39, Interleaved 2 of 5, Code 128), Data Matrix codes, and others. Barcode height is 5 mm, excluding human-readable digits. When personalizing cards with a scratch-off security strip, there are restrictions on the placement of lines containing the card number and PIN code.
PIN code placement area under the scratch-off strip:
- 8 mm from the bottom and top edges of the card for the PIN placement;
- 7 mm from the bottom and top edges for applying the scratch-off strip.
Card number placement area: No closer than 5 mm from the card edges. When multiple personalization fields are placed on a card, equipment limitations must be considered; additional coordination is required.
For fields containing date information, restrictions apply to valid data formats. Allowed delimiters: “/” and space.
Card Die-cutting and Perforation
On non-laminated cards, GSM punch-outs and perforations can be applied to allow extraction of SIM modules in various form factors, as well as perforations for splitting the card into parts.
This finishing option is available for cards with a thickness of 0.65-0.84 mm.
Edge Coloring
It is also possible to apply foil to the card edges using gold, silver, or diffraction (holographic) foil.
File requirements for developing the original layout
NovaCard fulfills the requirements of the Mir payment system and international payment systems for the production and personalization of smart cards and ensures maximum protection of its customers' products at all stages: from data collection to shipment organization. The quality, safety of production and professionalism of the staff are confirmed by relevant certificates, certificates and licenses. Our specialists regularly undergo training and advanced training in their field of activity and are certified by certifying authorities.
File Formats
Vector (line-art) elements of a plastic card design must be supplied in vector format: EPS, PDF (software: Adobe Illustrator up to version 12, Macromedia FreeHand up to version 11). Raster elements must be provided in raster formats: TIFF (CMYK, RGB, Grayscale, Bitmap), PSD, and EPS (Duotone, Multichannel modes) (Adobe Photoshop up to version 9, etc.). Other formats may be accepted upon agreement, though they may require additional processing. Transparency and complex effects based on raster elements should be avoided in vector graphics and implemented in raster graphics instead. Formats that use compression with data loss are strictly prohibited. Files may be transferred via email, the Internet, or the following physical media (IBM PC, Macintosh platforms): CD/DVD-ROM and Flash memory devices.
Color Scheme
The card layout must be prepared in the CMYK or IndiChrome color system (for digital printing, see p. 12). If necessary, additional (Spot) colors may be selected from the Pantone Formula Guide, special palettes provided by screen-printing ink manufacturers, or matched to a physical color sample. Please note that the color gamut achievable when printing on plastic is smaller than that shown in the Pantone Solid Coated palette - some Pantone colors cannot be reproduced, and certain colors depend on the whiteness of the base material (paper/plastic). To achieve a saturated color across a large printed area, using a double layer of ink is permissible.
Print Area
The printed area (image) must include a 1 mm bleed on each side, meaning its total size must be 87.6 × 56 mm.
Placement of Elements
All design elements - other than those intended to bleed - should not be placed closer than 1 mm to the card edge, magnetic stripe (permitted placement described below), signature panel, scratch-off strip, or chip to avoid trimming errors or misalignment between printed artwork and card elements. Finishing and personalization elements must also not be placed in the area of the micromodule (both external and internal).
Raster Elements
Raster images must be created at 400 dpi (dots per inch) in CMYK or Grayscale, and at not less than 800 dpi in Bitmap (monochrome). They must be supplied as separate files. Files in RGB are accepted for subsequent color separation and color correction. For maximum offset-printing quality, use of compressed source images - such as JPEG - is not allowed.
Text Elements
If text editing is required, the font used must be supplied separately.
Using the actual font file is also recommended for digital printing to ensure accurate rendering of small text.
Microtext and Micro-patterns
The minimum permissible line thickness in a single-color micro-pattern is 0.04 mm.
Microtext is not used in digital printing due to its limited resolution; the minimum printable line thickness is 0.06 mm.
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