Help Line: Cards, waterproof grades & canvases

<b>Jo Francis tracks down the solutions to your technical troubles</b>


Any ideas who we might call to get 10,000 sequentially numbered plastic credit card style membership cards printed?

‘MB’, via email

Here’s a selection: Primecard (0114 276 8828, www.primecard.co.uk); Plastic Data Card (01634 811455, www.plasticdatacard.co.uk); Plastic Card Services (01625 504000, www.plastic-card-services.co.uk); Spectrum Plastics (0161 480 7202, www.spectrumplastics.co.uk); KL Services (0845 838 0631, www.klservices.biz). An even longer list can be found in the PrintWeek Directory, available online at directory.printweek.com.

A contact of mine is producing a book and he’d like to use a waterproof paper. Do you have any contacts?
‘H’, via email

A German company called Pfleiderer (www.pfleiderer-spezialpapiere.com) makes specialty papers, including waterproof grades. Here in the UK, AquaScribe (0845 8770776, www.aquascribe.co.uk) supplies a range of products "for use by all who work or play in the wet". This includes notebooks and waterproof paper that can be used in laser printers and photocopiers. Stevenage-based Plaspro (01438 726269, www.plaspro.co.uk) recently picked up the UK distribution deal for Hanita Coatings, which produces a range of plastic substrates. Contact EnPlus Products in Hartlepool (01429 239639, www.enplussolutions.co.uk) for info on Taiwan Lung Meng Technology’s limestone-based waterproof paper. Lastly, I’ll throw DuPont’s Tyvek (www.tyvek.co.uk) substrate into the mix, too. Any other suggestions welcome.

I’m a freelance photographer in London and produce work on canvas. It can be quite expensive. Where can I find cost-effective canvas printing in the capital?
‘S’, via email

The simple answer is you’re going to have to do some legwork and research the options, and there are plenty. From Snappy Snaps (www.snappysnaps.co.uk) to Superchrome (www.superchrome.co.uk) or the aptly-named London Canvas Prints (www.londoncanvasprints.com), even the simplest of Google searches throws up heaps of potential suppliers.

Problems with your print? Email printweek.helpline@haymarket.com or post your query online at http://community.printweek.com/forums