UV, Aqueous, and Varnish Coating

When coating a project, always consult with us to choose the coating option most appropriate for your project. Our staff is always available to answer questions and offer samples and suggestions.

UV Coating

Protection for direct mail, book covers, heavily handled prints (water and chemical resistance).
Leaves a very shiny high-end look and feel
Available in a gloss, matte,or dull finish.
Intensifies dark colors and brings out small detail.
Gives more protection and sheen than either varnish or aqueous. However it may also crack more easily than the others when scored or folded.
80 lb text and heavier weights of paper can be UV coated; however, cover weights are preferred. UV can be used on smooth papers only.
Several creative combinations can be done with this process including spot coverage & raised effects
UV resists additional imprinting so postcards, for instance, are commonly either addressed before being coated or coated on one side only so the address may imprint on the uncoated side. Similarly, it's common for business cards to be coated one side only so that consumers may write on the back of them.

Aqueous Coating

Exceeds the quality of varnished materials.
Water-based finish is resistant to smudges and fingerprints
Works well with ink-jet printing for direct mailers
Available in high-gloss, satin or matte/dull finish
Typically covers the entire press sheet (flood), whereas other coatings can be used as spot coatings.
Does not crack or scuff easily.
Aqueous often costs twice as much as varnish.

Varnish

Varnish is the least expensive coating
Protects from scuffing, wear or smearing
A varnish can be applied in two ways:
- A Flood Varnish is applied over the entire printed surface. This application is good for protecting projects that may be exposed to moisture or just used a lot. This method is less expensive because no special preparation is needed.
- A Spot Varnish is applied to selected parts, like photos or graphics, and is mainly used for aesthetic reasons. Spot varnishes can make color photos seem to jump out. You may incur extra costs in prepress, setups and plates.
Available in a gloss or matte finish:
- The Gloss Varnish reflects more light and adds to the sharpness and saturation of images.
- A Matte/Dull Varnish is used on a page that has mostly text to increase readability by diffusing light and reducing glare.
Varnishes will darken ink colors making solid blacks even blacker.

Strike Through Varnish

The contrasting glossy vs matte effects are accomplished using water-based coatings and a strike-through varnish, printed as an ink, inline on our presses. First, the dull/matte strike-through varnish is put down with a traditional printing plate in the areas that are to stay matte. At the end of our presses, an overall flood of our gloss uv coating is applied.
As it cures, the gloss coating is dulled down in the areas where the strike-through matte varnish had been applied. Also, since we’re using a traditional printing plate in a standard print unit on our press, we can achieve as much detail as we want. Otherwise, you have to cut a coating blanket specifically for the areas where you want glossy, and that blanket can only be used for that press run or project.
Keeping the varnish design on a darker, solid-color background will ensure you get the maximum amount of visual appeal out of this process.

Laminate

Click Here for more information about laminating.