Even in today’s digital-obsessed world, nothing beats the look and feel of a quality printing job in your hands. A beautifully bound and finished book, a glossy event brochure, or a batch of perfectly printed invitations become keepsakes we cherish for the rest of our lives.
Xerographic Digital Printing has been doing digital printing services in Orlando, Florida, and the Central Florida for the past 25 years. This digital printing company now has clients throughout the U.S. thanks to the Internet. Innovators in the Orlando area, we were the area’s first printing house to offer print-from-disk capability and the first to offer color printing. Look to us for all your printing fulfillment, design, creative services, personalized direct marketing, large format, USB/CD/DVD duplication, binding, and print finishing needs.
Don’t see the service you need listed here? Call Xerographic Digital Printing toll-free at 877-558-0616.
Listed here are some of the most common basic print finishes. Use this guide to help you find the best print finish for your project.
Embossing
An embossed finish has a pattern raised above the background. The opposite effect, in which the finished surface is set below rather than raised above the paper, is called debossing. Debossing is a popular finish for business cards.
To make an embossed pattern, our company presses the paper stock in between two dies, one recessed and the other raised. The paper stock comes out stamped with the embossed pattern. This may sound simple, but for the best result, we have to skillfully control the pressure, temperature, and depth of the stamping effect.
Foil Stamping
Combining embossing techniques with a thin sheet of pigmented or metallic foil creates a foil stamped design, which permanently adheres to the paper stock. A foil stamped finish can give a distinctive look to a report, envelope, note card, invitation card, business card, or letterhead. It also adds color and shine to a monochromatic paper project.
Foil stamping, embossing, and debossing are collectively known or letterpress print finishing techniques.
Laminating
A page that’s been laminated has been encased between two thin sheets of plastic. Laminating helps give paper strength and durability. Laminated finishes can also be wiped clean, which makes them a popular choice for printing restaurant menus.
When choosing a laminated finish, you’ll have a wide variety of options to consider. These include:
• The thickness of the laminating material
• Glossy or matte finish
• Sealed edge (extending beyond the edge of the paper) or flush edge (ending where the paper ends)
• Squared off or rounded corners
• Die cutting
Spot UV Varnish
Spot UV varnish is coating technique. In this method, we add a varnish only to certain parts of a piece of paper stock to make those parts stand out. Ultraviolet, or UV, light is used to make the varnish dry quickly.
Spot UV varnish can be added to plain or printed card stock, usually for projects on heavy card stock as opposed to thin paper. It always adds shine and gloss. Our clients can decide whether they want a light shine or a highly glossed finish surface.
Varnishes
Varnishes, also called paper coatings, are applied to the paper stock surface to give it a consistent and lightly protected finish. Glossy magazines and high-quality illustrated books typically have a varnished finish. Varnishes can be glossy, satin, or dull, and can be applied with or without a tint.
There are myriad printing finish choices for all kinds of printing projects. This guide isn’t intended to be an in-depth tutorial, but simply to introduce you to some of the many options for finishing your print masterpiece.
Whether or not you’re in the Orlando, Florida, area, you can bring your print design ideas and questions to Xerographic Digital Printing. Xerographic can even print lottery-style scratch-off cards and promotional buttons customized for your business.
