email us get quote
plastic cards special offer

Email: sales@cpcards.co.uk
We typically reply within 30 minutes during office hours

Translucent Plastic Business Cards

Our translucent plastic cards have always been incredibly popular with our customers and we take as much pride in printing them as you will take in handing them out.

Our translucent plastic business cards are a solid semi-transparent plastic with a high quality frosted finish plastic that diffuses the light as it passes through to create a frosted effect.

Translucent Plastic Cards

Our translucent frosted plastic cards are 760 microns thick (0.76mm) and measure 86 x 54mm with rounded corners. They can be printed with upto 4 ink colours from our stunning range of metallic and pigment colours.

Once you have placed your order we will email a wonderful realistic proof usually within one hour.

Our state of the art automated printing machinery ensures perfect printing for each and every card with perfect registration and fast turnaround.

Our translucent plastic cards are printed by a hot foil printing process.

Free Artwork

free artwork

Don't struggle with creating the artwork yourself, place your order with us and let us create your artwork FREE of charge.

We check your artwork

check artwork

If you supply artwork, we will check it and fix technical issues FREE of charge so your plastic cards will print perfectly!
Plus we will email a photo-realistic proof to you for approval.

Free Delivery

free delivery

That's right!
We offer FREE delivery on all orders (within England).

Fast Turnaround Time

fast turnaround time

Turnaround for our frosted cards is
7 working days
Express turnaround available, we guarantee to dispatch your order in
4 working days by next day courier.

Made in England

made in england

All our Cards are printed in England, they are not cheap imports from China.

We take care and pride in our work and offer the highest quality and service.

Get your Quotation Now!

Get your personalised quotation from our sales team.
We aim to email your quotation to you within 30 minutes during working hours.

Realistic Email Proof

We email a photo-realistic proof to you for approval before we proceed with printing your translucent business cards.

Ink Colours available

We have lots of stunning metallic colours and vibrant pigment colours. We have lots of photos and videos showing the colours printed on Translucent Frosted Business Cards.

Stunning Metallic Foils


We have lots of lovely metallic colours.
The most popular are metallic silver or metallic gold.

We also offer holoprint which refracts the light to create a rainbow effect of colour.

Clear Ink to create a Watermark Effect

We can print clear ink on the back creating a subtle watermark when viewed from the front. The areas printed with clear ink are more translucent than parts not printed with clear ink.

Artwork Guides for our Translucent Business Cards

Our Translucent Plastic Business Cards are a solid plastic that diffuses the light as it passes through to create a frosted effect.

They are 760 microns thick (0.76mm) and measure 86 x 54mm with rounded corners.
They can be printed with upto 4 ink colours from our
stunning range of metallic and pigment colours.


See Translucent Business Card Examples

We have many examples of Translucent Frosted Business Cards to give you ideas and inspiration.

Solid PVC - 100% Recyclable

solid PVC plastic cards

Our plastic cards are solid PVC so they are
very durable and can be easily recycled.

Prices for Translucent / Frosted Business Cards

View our frosted plastic card prices. All our prices include FREE ARTWORK plus if you are supplying your own artwork we can check and fix technical issues (if possible) FREE of charge

How to Order your Frosted Business Cards

Learn how quick and easy it is for you to order your
Translucent Frosted Business Cards.

Click on an image to see a larger photograph



Hot Foil Printing

Our Translucent Plastic Cards are printed by a hot foil printing process, this page explains a little about the process and it's history.

A quick overview of the hot foil printing process

Examples of finished, printed plastic cards When you look at our range of products, the first thing that probably catches your eye is the precision, the depth of colour and the design versatility that we can produce. All of this is possible thanks to the technique we use to get our printing done; the hot foil stamping or printing process.

This process is gaining adherents day by day and with good reason because the finish and elegance that we can achieve with this printing technique is simply stunning. Although the advancement of technology has made it possible to get 100% accurate results and to enable printing of virtually any design today, however complex, the process itself is not exactly new.

What is hot foil stamping / printing?

A close look at the fine detail of a printed plastic card It is a special process that is used for printing onto different surfaces. The process requires heat and pressure as well as metal dyes and foil. During printing, what happens is that the die (that has the design to be printed) comes in contact with the foil film. Thanks to the heat and pressure in force at this time, a wafer thin layer of the foil film is actually transferred onto the surface on which you need the print to appear. The metal plate or die is hot and this ensures that the foil only sticks to the surface in the shape or form of the design that is on the plate or die.

Each individual colour is printed one colour at time on one side at a time and a different printing plate (dye) is required for each colour printed on each side.

As you can see, this process is perfect for getting a stunning metallic finish on the surface because it imparts a shiny, glossy print on it. At the same time, the print is not garish because it reflects the true metallic nature of the foil itself and it is not artificially created through paint or dye. The limitations that many people assume comes with foil stamping or printing is that it works well only with metallic finishes and a wide range of colours cannot be achieved in the output. However this is far from the truth because foil rolls are available in a wide range of colours today. In fact, you can even get colour foil rolls in a variety of finishes, such a matt finish or glossy finish.

The most commonly used foils are metallic shades like silver, copper or gold but this is only because this process yields such spectacular results with these and such results are not easy to obtain with any other printing technique. If you are familiar with the letterpress process or engraving, you will see that the hot foil stamping/ printing process is quite similar. Here, too, the colour is applied onto the printing surface by exerting pressure over the die or metal plate with the design.

History of hot foil stamping / printing

some magnesium hot foil printing block This printing / stamping method can be traced back to ancient Egypt although it has evolved quite a bit since then. Back in those days, the Egyptians used to hammer gold sheets until they became thin like foil, merely some 0.0001 mm thick.

The gold foil was then used to decorate the pharaoh’s coffin, or the mummy itself or also as jewellery for the royals. This can be said to be the first instance of foil stamping although heat was not in the picture at this point. Later, during the Middle Ages, machines were used in place of manual labor to create embossed designs on surfaces that were then embellished with gold foil. You will find that thin gold leaf covered bibles were the rage in these days and the popularity of this decorative printing technique made it quite popular and widespread.
A close look at the fine detail of a printing block


In the 19th century, right at the beginning, the technique underwent yet another transformation that brought it closer still to the present day method that we use. The printing was simplified now by affixing the gold foil to paper to create paper- foil rolls. Heat began to be used now to make it easy to transfer the gold from the paper onto the printing surface, more efficiently and effectively. Not only was a better, more precise design created with gold, the gold foil was also affixed to the print surface better, thanks to the heat factor.

It is important to mention the name of Dr. Ernest Oeser, who was the first to patent the gold and colour stamping foil in 1892. He used 23 carat gold powder or bronze powder along with dyes to get rich metallic shades in the output.

As the years went by and gold prices escalated, other, more affordable metals came to be used in the same way to create different metallic finishes. Other issues, such as the tarnishing of bronze were also tackled by bringing in various other kinds of metals to get the printing done. Today, it is not just metals but also different hues that are transferred onto surfaces using hot foil stamping or printing.

Hot foil stamping may mean different things in different applications. The term is used to describe simple foil stamping, embossing along with foil stamping, holographic foil stamping and also foil embossing on structural embossing.

About the foil

Some of our stunning foils The foil used for hot stamping is made up of several layers that include a layer of adhesive. When the pressure is applied against the foil through the die and the heat acts upon the foil at the same time, the adhesive layer kicks into action and helps fix the foil onto the surface. Helping this along is the fact that the release layer is also melting at the same time.

There are different types of foil paper that can be used to get very different finishes on the printing surface. The metallic foil paper is an all- time favourite that adds shimmer and glitter to the print design. You can pick silver, gold, copper, bronze or any other metallic sheen and get your hot foil stamping done with the foil. Metallic colour foil paper is also available in plenty and these give your colours an added sheen that makes them even more visible and lustrous at the same time.

Matte foil paper gives you a duller finish that is sober but quite classy. These are good choices for printing business cards especially those with darker shades contrasting with whites because here the true impact of the matt finish really becomes evident. The gloss pigment foil is, as the name suggest very glossy and shiny while not giving a metallic sheen. If you want a more artistic, painted look, this is the one to choose. Holographic foil paper is also quite popular these days with its unique effect and somewhat exotic look and feel.

It is possible to use two different types of foil paper with each other for a single printing job but care has to be taken to ensure they are both compatible with each other. This is why it is best to go with a reliable and experienced printing service provider like Colour Plastic Cards Ltd. when you need high end printing done on business cards or loyalty cards for your customers. With free artwork, free delivery and world class quality, we can give you results that exceed your expectations.

The main advantages of hot foil stamping or printing

  • Foil stamping does not use any inks so there is no question of a series of prints turning out with hue variances when you are printing in bulk or the print smudging.

  • The output brightness or colour of the metallic colours does not change depending on the plastic colour that you use because the colour is totally opaque and rests on the surface of the plastic. If you need to print on vibrant metallic colours, foil stamping is the perfect choice.

  • A wide variety of finishes make foil printing very viable no matter what kind of use you want the printing done for. For example, you can get a marbled finish or pearl finish or holographic one to create prints that immediately grab the attention of viewers.

  • The shiny, glossy finish that foil stamping affords takes your prints to the next level in terms of audience appeal and visual impact. The fact that hot foil stamping can give such brilliant results is why we use it in our plastic card printing business. It is a very impactful piece of printing that is sure to capture the attention of people and create a lasting impression in their minds. This is why hot foil printing or stamping is a good idea for visiting cards because you want your brand or business name to stick in the minds of the people you hand these cards out to. With the ability to transpose virtually any kind of graphics onto the card with the stunning effect of foil stamping, you have a simple way to create visually stunning cards affordably and quickly. Talk to us today about what you need and we will design a card for you that will take your branding to new heights and help spread the word about your business and service in the marketplace.

About us | Contact us | Terms & Conditions

email us



  Help
  How to order
  About Us
  Contact Us
  Free Artwork
  Free Delivery
  Artwork Guidance
  Photo-realistic Email Proof example
  Plastic Card Postal Proof
  Privacy Policy & GDPR



  Plastic Card Types
  Plastic Business Cards
  Membership Cards
  Loyalty Cards
  Event Passes
  RFID Smart Cards
  Combo Cards
  Key Tag Plastic Cards
  Bioegradable Plastic Cards
  Plastic-Free Board Cards
  Translucent Frosted Plastic Cards
  Satin Black Plastic Cards
  Metallic Plastic Cards
  White Plastic Cards
  Memorial Wallet Cards



  Plastic Card Examples
  Various Plastic Card Examples
  EPOS Gift Card Examples
  Loyalty Card Examples
  Plastic Business Card Examples
  Save The Date Card Examples
  Plumber Business Card Examples
  Electrician Business Card Examples
  Garden Centre Gift Cards



  Loyalty Card Examples
  Pub & Restaurant Loyalty Card Examples
  Farm Shop Loyalty Card Examples



  Membership Card Examples
  General Membership Card Examples
  Angling Club Membership Cards
  Archery Club Membership Cards
  Athletics Club Membership cards
  Badminton Club Membership cards
  Boating Club Membership cards
  Body Building Club Membership cards
  Bowling Club Membership Cards
  Boxing Club Membership cards
  Canoeing Club Membership cards
  Club Membership Cards
  Cricket Club Membership Cards
  Cycling Club Membership Cards
  Football Club Membership Cards
  Golf Club Membership Cards
  Gym Club | Leisure Club Membership Cards
  Hockey Club Membership cards
  Motorsport and Car Club Membership cards
  Rowing Club Membership cards
  Rugby Club Membership Cards
  Running Club Membership cards
  Sailing Club Membership cards
  Shooting Club Membership cards
  Snooker Club | Pool Club Membership Cards
  Social Club Membership Cards
  Sports Club Membership Cards
  Squash Club Membership cards
  Swimming Club Membership cards
  Tennis Club Membership Cards
  Triathlon Club Membership Cards
  Walking Club Membership cards
  Yachting Club Membership cards



  More Information
  Blog
  Hot Foil Printing
  Gold Foil Business Cards
  How to make Membership Cards at home
  Custom printed Membership Cards
  Membership Cards benefits
  CMYK Plastic Card Printing
  Lanyards
Customer Testimonials
Copyright © 2002 - 2024, Colour Plastic Cards Limited. All rights reserved.