Custom Tickets and Passes
Everything else we print wants to be copied — shared, photographed, put on social media. A ticket is the opposite. It has to be checkable in about a second, at a door, in poor light, by someone who has already checked four hundred.
Get a price for Tickets and Passes
Send the size and quantity — we reply the same working day with a price, a dieline and a date. Artwork optional at this stage.
- 1styles in this range, each with its own page and price
- 100unit minimum on every style, printed or plain
- 4markets quoted in the delivery currency
- ±1mmcutting tolerance on folding board, checked on a sample
1 style in this range
Styles we make in this range
Every one below is written up, priced and dielined. Tap a style to see how it is built.
Checkable in a second, in bad light
Door staff are not examining tickets. They are glancing at one feature and moving on, so the security has to be something visible at arm's length in a doorway: a foil block, a color-shifting ink, a distinctive stock, a UV mark under a small torch.
Fine microtext and intricate guilloche patterns look serious and are useless at a door, because nobody is looking that closely. They matter for something examined slowly, which a ticket never is.
Whatever the feature is, tell the door staff what it is and where. A security mark nobody has been briefed on is decoration.
Security features, from cheapest up
Numbering plus a foil block covers most events convincingly. Scanning is a step change in control and a step change in operational complexity — it needs a device, a network and a fallback for when the network fails.
| Sequential numbering | Free, and the single most useful control you can have |
|---|---|
| Distinctive stock | Colored or textured card; instantly wrong when copied on a printer |
| Foil block | Cannot be reproduced on any office printer; visible from a meter |
| UV ink | Invisible until lit; needs a torch at the door |
| Serialised barcode or QR | Enables scanning and one-use validation; needs a system |
Perforations, stubs and what gets kept
- A perforated stub lets the door tear and retain half; the oldest reconciliation method there is.
- The tear has to work one-handed, quickly, without destroying both halves.
- Perforation strength is specified — too weak and it tears in a pocket, too strong and it does not.
- The kept half is a souvenir, which is worth designing properly rather than leaving blank.
Passes live around a neck for a weekend
A festival or VIP pass is worn for days, gets rained on, sat on and slept in. That rules out uncoated card and, for a multi-day event, plain laminated card too — the hole tears and the edges soften.
A reinforced eyelet and a synthetic or laminated stock is the honest specification. The hole and reinforcement detail is the same as on any hanging card, set out in our label and hang tag notes.
Numbering and the books it comes in
Raffle and cloakroom tickets are numbered in matched pairs and bound into books, which is a finishing operation rather than a printing one. The number sequence, the books-per-set and where the split falls all have to be specified before printing.
It is worth deciding the range early. Renumbering a printed run is not a correction; it is a reprint.
Across the range
What every tickets and passes job runs on
Boards
- Natural kraft
- White SBS
- E and B flute
- Wrapped grayboard
- Food-grade board
- Recycled content
Chosen from what goes in the box and how far it travels. Our notes on recyclable and compostable stocks say which claims each board can carry.
Finishes
- Matte
- Gloss
- Soft-touch
- Foil
- Emboss
- Spot UV
- Kraft
- Textured
Each one is a decision about light on a shelf — the specialty finishes range shows them on real boxes.
Artwork
- Vector PDF or AI, fonts outlined
- 3 mm bleed, 4 mm safe area
- CMYK; a spot color where a match must hold
- Proof on the dieline before press
Files not set up that way are fine — see the guide to preparing print files.
Interactive · five steps · no sign-up
Spec your Tickets and Passes
Pick a shape, type a size, choose a stock and a finish. The preview on the left redraws as you go, and the spec lands with us exactly as you set it.
Frequently asked questions
Got a question about tickets and passes? The answers below cover what we get asked most. If yours is not here, send it with a brief, message us on WhatsApp, or call +1 503-461-4788 — we reply the same working day.
What security feature actually works?
One that is visible at arm's length in a doorway — a foil block or a distinctive stock. Microtext is useless at a door.
Is numbering enough on its own?
For a small event, often. It is free and the most useful control you have. Add a foil block if forgery is a real risk.
Can you print scannable codes?
Yes, serialised. The scanning system, the devices and a fallback for network failure are yours to arrange.
Will a laminated pass survive a festival?
The card might; the hole usually does not. Use a reinforced eyelet and a synthetic stock for multi-day wear.
What is the minimum order?
100 tickets, any format.
Can the stub be designed as a keepsake?
Yes, and it should be — the kept half is a souvenir that advertises the next event.
What security feature actually works?
One that is visible at arm's length in a doorway — a foil block or a distinctive stock. Microtext is useless at a door.
Is numbering enough on its own?
For a small event, often. It is free and it is the most useful control you have. Add a foil block if forgery is a real risk.
Can you print scannable codes?
Yes, serialised. The scanning system, the devices and a fallback for network failure are yours to arrange.
Will a laminated pass survive a festival?
The card might; the hole usually does not. Use a reinforced eyelet and a synthetic stock for multi-day wear.
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