There are dozens of great ways to make your printed media ‘pop’ and to make it eye-catching, which is of course great for marketing materials like brochures or product catalogues, for example. One of the most common techniques is to choose a nice, glossy finish or lamination. With a gloss paper finish, it can be broken down even further between full gloss finish and UV spot printing. What’s the difference between all of these finishes and which one is the best for your needs?
It’s first important to differentiate between lamination and gloss paper printing, because they might seem quite similar but serve different purposes. Lamination is often called a glossy finish, but well, it’s a lamination process whereby an already printed document is glazed using either heat seal lamination or cello glazing techniques. There’s also UV glazing for a stronger bond with the original document.
Lamination requires something that’s already been printed, and it serves to protect it from things like scratches, scuffs, and water damage. It’s great for personal ID you might have, like a birth certificate, and it can be quite useful for papers you use very frequently and don’t want to ruin or have to reprint too often.
Gloss paper printing is different in that it’s a type of paper finish applied to the printed material, and you’re probably already familiar with the feel and appearance of a glossy document like a brochure or a high-quality graphic novel, for example.
This method is great for marketing materials, and the level of ‘glossiness’ can vary from plain matte, satin for a nice in-between, and high-gloss to really make details look crisp and give the paper some heft.
It’s important to remember that gloss paper printing finishing options coat the entire page with the desired level of gloss. If you want gloss only on specific parts of a page, for example, keep reading.
Unlike gloss paper printing which covers the entire page, UV spot printing is an ideal solution for select, targeted gloss coatings on printed materials. This could include things like a company logo, photos or graphics, page margins, or basically any other element you need in gloss.
With UV spot printing services, you’ll get materials that have a wonderful contrast between plain paper for some content, with a nice glossy finish in places where you want the page to really pop out. It’s got the tactile effect too, and it looks and feels premium.
Well, we’ve covered most of the differences already, but to recap and add a few more:
Make your documents stand out with finishing services from Print on Demand.
