I mentioned a few weeks ago on Twitter,
wow, learned so much in just 5 minutes talking w/ my printer about what works and what doesn’t w/ varnishes, uv, aqueous coating, etc. Cool!
4:55 PM Dec 5th
You always hear designers saying, “Talk to your printer!” How many actually do though? Aren’t we afraid of sounding silly or ignorant? Well, I am.
The truth is, your printer sees hundreds more jobs than you do. Experience turns one into an expert. Maybe in 20 years you’ll know as much as your printer knows now. But why wait? S/he can give you advice and tips on what stock (paper) and finishes would look best.
White iridescent foil on white matte paper
A Little Vocabulary
I just need to define a few things so we’re all on the same page.
A spot is a bit of ink or finish that it applied to only specific areas instead of over the whole printed piece (that would be called a flood coating).
A finish is an effect applied after printing. It can be a varnish, aqueous coating (AQ), ultra-violet (UV), foil or a number of others that we won’t talk about here like diecutting or embossing.
Varnish is basically a clear ink. As a spot, it can slightly distinguish an area of the printed design. Comes in dull, satin and gloss finishes.
Aqueous Coating (AQ) is water-based finish in-between the thickness of a varnish or UV. It is often applied overall to protect the print, but can also be used to add texture. Dull, satin and gloss finishes available.
Ultra-violet (UV) is the thickest finish option and provides a lot of protection for the print. Since it’s thicker, though, it may crack over folds! This is what is generally used for glossy spots. Dull and gloss options only.
Using a laminate is by far the most expensive option and usually not used in low unit runs. This one can’t be used as a spot. Gloss or matte finish only. Tell your printer early on if you plan to have a piece laminated.
What I Learned: The Basics
I had my printer (technically, he’s a print broker) stop by the office the other day so I could show him exactly the effect I was looking for on a brochure I was doing. What I wanted was a matte finish but glossy where the ink was. The paper was bright white. I learned many things!
It’s best not to use a varnish, AQ or UV finish on uncoated paper. It sinks in and can turn the ink dull and add a yellowish tone.
Many matte-textured printed items are actually finished with a matte coating (in other words, that’s not the original paper texture).
If you don’t want an ultra-glossy look but still need a coated paper, try a satin finish paper.
UV coating can be glossy or dull (not quite matte like uncoated paper because there is still some reflection from it). A dull UV on thick paper (like 120+ lb. double-thick cover) feels really nice, almost like a supple plastic.
Satin AQ with glossy spot UV (spot also has black printed underneath)
No matter what kind of glossy spot method you use, it will “pop” best if the background color or paper is dark.
Spot Glossy Look on “Matte” Stock
There are many ways to get a spot glossy look, and some are more expensive than others. I think usually the preferred method is a spot UV, which has a thicker feel and look than a varnish or AQ.
Dull UV (left) with glossy spot UV (right)
You can also try a glossy AQ spot, and often the printer will already have the AQ in the machine so it won’t be too much extra (provided you’re printing offset and not digital). AQ is usually used to protect the finished piece from dirt, water and smudges. It’s particularly good to coat postcards or other direct mail pieces with AQ so they arrive in better condition. AQ dries very quickly, so if you need a fast turn-around from printer to handling, collating or binding, ask the printer about an AQ coat.
Finally, the most expensive way to get a satin finish is to actually put a laminate on the stock. This is pricey and usually only used in large runs (think paperback novels or greeting cards), where the cost per unit is spread out over hundreds of thousands.
One Last Note: Clear Foil
There is one thing to note: if you really have your heart set on a matte stock, you can use a clear foil instead of the varnish, AQ or UV (remember those will sink into the uncoated paper).
Clear foil on dark background
If you have a passion for learning about printing techniques, I highly recommend heading over to PrintIndustry.com and reading through the newsletter archive, which dates back to 2001. Be a little careful with the older information, though, and always talk with your printer about the latest technology. One thing I noticed, for example, is that issue 18 says AQ cannot be applied as a spot. That article is from January 2003, and this isn’t true anymore; AQ can be applied as a spot now, but you’ll have to check if your printer is capable of this.
So what have you learned about applying various finishes to your print work? Any tips to share? What have you found to be an outstanding combination of paper and finish?
Excellent post Lauren. Dugg!
Jennifer Farley´s last blog post: Photoshop Tip: An alternative Way to Create Transparency
Jennifer,
Oh wow! Thanks!!
One of your best posts, Lauren. I learnt a fair bit from this, and I’m sure I’ll return for a recap. Bookmarked.
David,
Well that’s quite a compliment! Thank you!
Aaaa, how I wish we printed something exciting requiring foil stamping or fancy diecutting…
Ok, we do plenty of diecutting, but since it’s just boxes, it’s not that fun. We do use the UV coating quite often on packaging and even front of our catalog. It is really an extra layer of protection from fading and wear/tear.
RaShell´s last blog post: Amber Colored Treasury
This is a great article Lauren. Thanks so much for all of the info. I learned a bit more about each of the techniques.
Kelly | Purple Lemon´s last blog post: Cool Color Palette: Last Minute Plans
RaShell & Kelly,
Thank you both! I know that you ladies have a lot of experience in the print industry (hey! Just realized we’re all in-house!!) so if you have any tips, I would love to hear them. I’m really just repeating what my printer said here and tried to take photos of the samples he gave me for examples.
Nice Lauren! It’s good to have all that info in one spot. I run into those questions a lot being an in-house designer in a publishing co. One thing about Aqueous Coatings… if you’re having a project mailed, be sure to ask if your mailer can print addresses on the AQ. Not every mailing house has the printer or ink to do so. I’ve run into this when getting catalogs from the printer to the mail house and into the mail.
Thanks again!
Great post
When I saw the heading and started reading I wondered how you would be able to pull of explaining some of these, as print stuff like this is often hard to explain without holding an example.. but, as always, you pulled it off beautifully. Great article, I really enjoyed it
Alex Charchar´s last blog post: The Typographic Scale
Hi Lauren,
Thanks for a very informative post. I had never heard of clear foil before ― I’m going to look into this for one of my projects.
Lately, I produced some work on 190gsm Photo Satin IDP paper stock, and had a laminate applied to it named “Crystal”, which made the prints anti-scratch and anti-glare.
I saw the prints in question first hand, and would definitely recommend it to anyone who needs a very durable print for mounted posters, etc.
Andrew Kelsall´s last blog post: Large-Format Foamex Design for Next Distribution
Jason,
Great point about the addresses being printed on AQ. Thank you so much for sharing that! I love it when readers add valuable tips like this in the comments.
Alex,
I was holding off on publishing this until I could find a really good way to explain/show these finishes. It was hard! I mailed it to my husband to read first to see if he could understand and he gave me a few things to change. I think the pics helped, too, but you really gotta ask the printer to see samples in person, especially the dull UV on double-thick cover… it’s, well, sexy (and I know a fellow paper-lover will understand that 
)
Hi!!! Haven’t seen you in forever! Busyness on both our parts
Andrew,
Yeah, clear foil is kinda one of those secrets. My marketing manager keeps thinking it’s a varnish, but that wouldn’t have worked on this matte linen paper. It turns out really nicely. Thank you, too, for sharing the tip on the satin paper and laminate! It’s good to find combos like that for special projects.
I love my readers!! You guys rock! (can you tell I get excited about learning new print stuff?
)
I agree with everyone: what a helpful article. Thanks, Lauren. I hope you can turn this into series: Talking to my Printer.
inspirationbit´s last blog post: Sources Of Inspiration to The Rescue
Vivien,
Hehe, that’s a good idea! Now I’ll just have to find some more things to ask him. We really can’t afford to do many of these fancy print techniques in this economy unfortunately. I’ve always wanted to spend a good hour talking with the prepress folks to see what kinds of problems they encounter, what they would love to see in files we send them, etc, so maybe that can be the next in this series. Thanks for the idea!
Last year when we produced our Community Report I didn’t converse enough with our printers, and learned a couple of interesting things.
For starters, a varnish works fine, but it does qualify as another “color”. Thus it’s a good idea to ask your print broker if they can handle 6- or 8-color jobs before you get all elaborate. (Ours couldn’t; they had to pass the document through their 4-color press twice.)
I also used a metallic silver ink for some running titles and cutlines, and learned that going with a typeface that’s too thin can actually make thick metallic inks extremely difficult to work with. I had to add a stroke to the text so it could stand out.
However, that wouldn’t have been necessary at all if I hadn’t decided on a solid, dark-blue background color for everything, which also had to be added as a spot (else it would have been present on the M, Y and K plates, and all manner of registration issues would have appeared).
Also, metallic inks don’t blend well with others, so using transparency effects that involve them is not a very good idea.
So yes, definitely talk with your printers. It will save money, time, effort — and face!
Warren´s last blog post: Do not read while eating
Great article. Don’t see too many about printing effects these days.
Corey Thomson´s last blog post: Serial Cut
Warren,
Wow, that is some valuable info you learned. I’m sorry it had to be the hard way! But thank you for sharing so we didn’t have to learn that way, too. This is becoming a more and more valuable article the more readers comment! I did forget to mention that varnish is considered an extra ink; thanks for adding that point, too!
Corey,
Yup, print is still alive and kicking!
Excellent post, Lauren, keep ‘em coming. Stumbled!
I can see myself referring back to the information here time and time again, and over at printingindustry.com as well – thanks for providing the link.
Tracey Grady´s last blog post: More Fantastic Illustration Resources
Tracey,
You’re welcome! Glad the info was useful to you (and be sure to read the other comments! Great stuff there).
Really digged this post Lauren, sent out on Twitter too… saved on Delicious for later referencing. It’s amazing how much can be learnt second hand from other’s experiences.
Jacob Cass´s last blog post: Logo Designer Blog Launchs + (Win Prizes!)
What a great post!
I agree – sometimes, as a designer, I feel like I should know the names for these things and exactly how they should be used and set up and so I often don’t want to ask the printer. But when I finally did, I found my printer to be really helpful, and they certainly didn’t treat me like an amateur.
I’ve bookmarked this post.
Marnie B´s last blog post: All I want for Christmas…
Some great info here. Thanks!
Ashley McFarland´s last blog post: TED Talks // Elizabeth Gilbert
Jacob,
Well thanks for checking back articles for the time you were on vacation! And thanks for mentioning this article on Twitter!
Marnie,
Phew, I’m not the only one! It’s great when you can find a printer who is not only knowledgable but won’t make you feel bad for asking tons of questions!
Ashley,
Glad you found it useful!
great article! Thanks for all the tips! These different kinds of glossy techniques have always been a mystery to me.
AthenaEmily´s last blog post: 45 Beautiful Japanese Album Cover Arts
AthenaEmily,
You’re welcome! Glad to clear it up a bit for you (and you are definitely not the only, as evidenced by all the comments).
wow thank you for this information
Peter,
You’re welcome!
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