Synthetic and PVC stock suits cards that need to survive water, repeated handling or long periods in a wallet. Loyalty cards used over months benefit from it. It costs considerably more and the scratch panel behaves slightly differently on a non absorbent surface, so it needs testing rather than assuming.
Sequential numbering is the simplest form, and it suits anything needing an audit trail. Randomised alphanumeric codes are better where a code will be redeemed, because sequential codes can be guessed by anybody who has one card and wants to try next number.
Instruction clarity. Say what to scratch and what happens next. It sounds obvious and a surprising number of card fail to make the next step clear, which loses redemptions.
Panel placement. Away from the card edges, which is where cards get bent and where a panel can lift. Away from folds on anything creased.
Colour of the panel. Silver is standard and reads as a scratch card instantly. Gold, black and custom colours are available and can look considerably better against a brand palette, at slightly higher cost.
Residue. Scratching produces flakes. On a card handed out in a restaurant that is trivial. On one distributed inside a product carton it may not be. Worth a thought in context.
Standard business card size at 85 by 55 millimetres is the most common format for scratch cards, because it fits a wallet and it is instantly familiar. Slightly larger formats give more room for branding, terms and multiple panels.
Postcard sizes suit direct mail campaigns where the card is the mailing piece. A5 and A6 formats suit in store handouts and inserts where there is more to communicate.
Perforated and tear off formats allow one part to be retained by the customer and one part collected by the retailer, which is useful for redemption tracking without a digital system.
Folded formats hide panel inside, which adds a second layer of concealment and gives considerably more space for terms and conditions. They cost more and they suit higher value promotions.
Footfall driving, basket size promotions and loyalty. Frequently tied to a minimum spend, which makes the card a reward for a behaviour rather than a giveaway.
Repeat visit mechanics, off peak filling and delivery insert cards. A card in a delivery bag offering a discount on the next order is one of the highest performing uses of the format we produce.
Service reminders, accessory discounts and showroom event traffic. High average transaction value makes even a modest response rate worthwhile.
Top up and PIN concealment, which is a security led application rather than a marketing one, plus acquisition promotions. These carry highest specification requirements.
Membership incentives, referral rewards and treatment upgrades. Usually smaller runs with a personal handover, which suits guaranteed value cards.
Stand traffic mechanics. A scratch card handed at a stand gives a reason to stop and a reason to give contact details, which is exactly what an exhibitor is paying for.
Reward charts, fundraising, gender reveals and save dates. Small runs, no compliance requirements, and often most creative briefs we receive.
Minimum order is around five hundred pieces. The scratch panel is applied by screen printing, which has a setup cost, so unit price falls steeply from five hundred to five thousand and then flattens.
Cost drivers are the quantity, the card size, the stock, the number of print colours, how many scratch panels per card, whether variable data is required, and any security features such as void patterns or additional opaque layers. Variable data adds a fixed cost plus a per piece element, since every card is individually addressed by the press.
Standard lead time is seven to ten working days from artwork approval, longer for variable data or higher security work. The scratch layer needs curing time that cannot be compressed, which is worth knowing when a campaign date is fixed.
For any prize promotion, add regulatory approval timeline on top. That is outside our control and it is frequently longest element of the schedule.
We produce a physical sample on any substantial run and it is worth checking properly rather than glancing at.
Scratch it with a coin, which is what recipients actually use, rather than a fingernail. The panel should come away cleanly in flakes without smearing and without lifting print underneath.
Hold an unscratched sample up to a bright light and try to read concealed message. If you can, the opacity is inadequate and needs another layer.
Try to lift a corner of the panel with a fingernail or a blade. It should not come away in one piece, and if void patterns are specified they should be visibly triggered.
Check residue. Some formulations flake more than others, and if the card is being distributed somewhere that matters, this is the moment to find out.
Finally, read card as a recipient would. Is it clear what to do, what has been won and what happens next? A technically perfect scratch card that leaves recipient unsure of the next step has failed at the only thing it was made to do.
Insufficient panel opacity on a prize promotion. The single most damaging failure, because it invalidates whole mechanic and it becomes public quickly.
Hidden text too small. Scratch residue makes small type hard to read. Go bolder and larger than feels necessary.
Sequential codes on a redeemable offer. Anyone with one card can guess next. Randomise.
No release coat specified. The panel either will not scratch or takes the print with it.
Leaving regulatory approval until after printing. Cards sitting in boxes while an application is processed is a wasted campaign window and an avoidable one.
Panel placed at the card edge. It lifts in handling and looks damaged before anyone has scratched it.
No plan for validating winners. A campaign with prizes and no reconciliation file cannot verify a claim or detect a counterfeit.
Recycled and FSC certified board is available for scratch cards and costs marginally more. The scratch layer itself is a latex coating, which does complicate recycling of the finished card, and we would rather say that plainly than claim a fully recyclable product.
Where a brand's environmental position matters, the meaningful decisions are to print quantity actually needed rather than a comfortable overage, to use recycled board, and to keep the card small. A business card sized piece uses a fraction of the material of an A5 handout and performs same mechanic.
Digital linked cards, where the physical piece is small and the content sits online, are the lowest material option that keeps reveal mechanic intact. For campaigns where that suits audience it is worth considering.
Scratch cards are unusually measurable for a printed item, provided measurement is designed in before printing rather than attempted afterwards.
The simplest metric is redemption rate: cards redeemed divided by cards distributed. That requires knowing how many were actually handed out, which means tracking distribution by batch rather than by total print quantity. Numbering cards in ranges per location makes this straightforward.
Unique codes allow far more. Redemption timing shows how long recipients hold a card. Redemption by location shows which branches distribute effectively and which leave stacks by the door. Redemption by code range shows which distribution method performed best if several ran in parallel.
Average transaction value on redemption is the number that matters commercially. A discount that bring in customers who spend less than the discount is a loss, however good response rate looks. Capturing spend at redemption is a till process rather than a printing one, but it should be agreed before the campaign rather than reconstructed after.
We supply reconciliation file mapping serials to concealed values, which is what makes any of this possible. Campaigns run without one can report how many cards were printed and very little else.
Many clients run same mechanic seasonally, and the second campaign is considerably cheaper and faster than the first if the records are kept.
We hold artwork, the panel specification, the stock reference and the screen setup indefinitely at no charge. A repeat run with a new expiry date and a fresh code range is a small artwork change rather than a new job, and it moves through production faster because none of the setup repeats.
Code ranges should never be reused between campaigns. Reissuing a range that was live last year means old cards can be redeemed against new promotion, and somebody will discover that. We track ranges issued per client so this does not happen by accident.
Where a campaign runs continuously rather than in bursts, producing a year's volume in one run and releasing it in batches gives volume price without warehousing lot yourself, and it guarantees every batch comes from the same production run so the panels behave identically.
Most of our work in this category is repeat business, and the reasons are practical rather than sentimental.
We specify a proper release coat as standard, so the panel comes away cleanly rather than smearing or lifting print. We build opacity to defeat a light box on any prize promotion rather than treating it as an upgrade. We sample across the whole run instead of checking top of the stack. We flag regulatory approval requirement at quote stage rather than after boxes of scratch cards have been delivered and cannot be distributed.
We also keep the records that make a second campaign cheap: the artwork, the panel specification, the stock reference, the screen setup and the code ranges already issued. A repeat run is a date change and a fresh range rather than a new job.
And we will tell a client when the mechanic they have described is more complicated than their objective needs. A guaranteed discount card achieve most of what a prize draw achieve, with none of the approval burden and none of the security specification. Saying so costs us a more expensive order and earns next three.
Scratch cards are a small printed item carrying a disproportionate amount of expectation, because a promotion built around them fails entirely if the panel does not perform. That is worth getting right rather than getting cheap.
We deliver to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ajman, Ras Al Khaimah, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain. Scratch cards are packed in banded blocks of a stated count so a branch can take a block without counting, and cartons are labelled with the serial range they contain, which is what makes distribution tracking possible later.
For multi site campaigns we split run here and label each carton by destination with its allocated range, rather than sending a bulk delivery to head office for somebody to divide during a working day. That single step is what allows redemption to be reported by branch afterwards.
For prize promotions winning cards, where they are produced under separate control, are inserted and the process documented before packing, so the audit trail is complete before anything leaves building.
Where a campaign runs across a season we hold stock and release against a schedule, so cards arrive fresh with the correct expiry rather than sitting in a store room approaching their own deadline.
One last practical point for anyone planning a first campaign. Order a small quantity of blank sample cards with the panel applied before committing to the full run, and hand a few to people outside marketing team. Watch them scratch it. You will learn more in two minutes about whether instruction is clear and the panel size is comfortable than from any amount of internal review, and changing either at that stage costs nothing.
Visiting card printing dubai buyers ask for is usually needed before a meeting rather than for a stock run, and that changes the whole specification. Standard sizes on stocked board go on press without waiting for material.
Same day business card printing is realistic on digital, in standard sizes, on stock we hold. Anything foiled, die cut or on a specialty sheet cannot be done that way, and saying so at the enquiry saves a wasted afternoon.
A birthday scratch card turns a message into a small event, which is why the format has moved out of promotions and into personal gifting. The panel hides a message, a gift amount or an invitation, and the act of revealing it is the whole point rather than the information underneath.
A birthday scratch card is produced on the same line as a promotional one. Production is straightforward provided one detail is right. The scratch off layer needs a barrier coat between the printed message and the silver panel, or the ink underneath lifts with the coating and the message comes away in pieces. That barrier is invisible in the finished card and is the difference between a card that works and one that fails on the first attempt.
A scratch and win UAE promotion uses a concealed panel over a prize or code, and the security of that panel is what makes the mechanic credible.
Promotional card runs are often placed with post cards and print pvc cards.
Panels should be opaque enough that the print beneath cannot be read against a light, which is a specification question rather than a design one.
