PRINT FINISHING

By Georgia May Clarke

What is print finishing?

Print Finishing is basically a general term for any finishing touches that are applied to printouts after the initial ink has been applied to the paper. There are the more rare types of Print Finishing that happen before the print comes off the press, these are named “Inline” unlike their more common “Offline” counterpart that, as you can guess, is effects applied after the print has left the press entirely. Many printers have their own finishing department where they apply any finishing touches required for their printout, however there are always the more complex and specialised Print Finishing techniques that need to be outsourced. Things like die-cutting and binding are a couple of examples of what a print company may not be able to complete themselves.

What do print finishing companies do?

Print Finishing companies are the ones who make a printout look exactly the way the client wants. For example, if a printing company provide the initial print work for a matte, leather bound book they might not be able to fulfil the matte effect or the binding to complete their printouts. This is when Print Finishing companies come in and complete the job, then often send it back to the original printer to give to their client. When it comes to the charges of these companies, they vary anywhere from £10 finishes such as simple varnishing or cutting for a small amount of prints, all the way up to the £700 mark for things like binding in large quantities. Print companies often include the price of any finishing techniques into their quote for a client they have, to do this they will have to write to their desired finishing company requesting a quote for the job they require.

When did print finishing start?

Going back to when Print Finishing was fi rst becoming relevant, there weren’t many creative options available, even from the most expensive Print Finishing businesses on the market.Nowadays however, there are almost endless possibilities when it comes to how you would like your printed work to be fi nished.

Going back to when Print Finishing was fi rst becoming relevant, there weren’t many creative options available, even from the most expensive Print Finishing businesses on the market.Nowadays however, there are almost endless possibilities when it comes to how you would like your printed work to be fi nished.

Back when printing fi rst started (the fi rst book to be printed in Britain was in 1473, so a long time ago!) there was no such thing as Print Finishing, they were happy with the fact that they had printed material in the fi rst place.As a matter of fact, Print Finishing is quite a modern feat. Modern printing and print fi nishing only came about 50 years ago at the expense of the Letterpress.

Wooden Press

Columbian Press

Cropper Press

Some popular examples of print finishing:

VARNISHING Varnishing is a process where a thin layer of liquefied varnish is applied to the printout. The varnishes can be applied all over the stock or the company can decide where abouts on the page the varnish is placed, be it in patterns or letters, or even to create a cleaver negative space effect. Another bonus benefit is that the varnish improves the durability of the printout, especially if applied thoroughly over the print. There are three popular varnishes used today by the design and print industry: Gloss - Gives a shiny coating that accentuates certain design elements on the page, also tends to give photographs the appearance of better quality and heightened colour. Matt - Matte varnish tends to give a smooth, matte look that doesn’t reflect the light. This is commonly used on billboards or posters where there is a danger of light reflecting and obscuring the contents of the advertisement. Silk - Much like the name, Silk varnish applies a very smooth, flawless varnished effect to printouts, it is somewhere between both matte and gloss varnish so it has a beautiful smoothed effect, yet at the same time it has a sheen and subtle reflective element to it. One of my personal favourite Varnish effects is when gloss varnish is sparingly used on matte paper, extenuating the shine of the varnished area even more than when using regular textured stock.

Laminating

Laminating, also known as lamination is the process of bonding a clear plastic film onto a printout, usually this is done using high temperature rollers or presses, other alternatives to using heat is using normal rollers and a laminate that has a pre-applied adhesive to the back, though the edges of this type will never be as sealed as when using heat rollers to essentially melt the two sides of plastic together. Laminate typically improves the durability of a printout and protects against moisture, most weather, stains, smudges, even tears if need be. Some laminates can enhance the colour of the print. This is one of the best known print finishing techniques and is commonly used in schools, restaurants, flyers, maps and much more - getting something laminated is much like preserving it in an airtight casing, therefore some people use it as a preserving method. I remember getting one of my drawings laminated in Infant School and it has remained pristine to this day unlike the more tattered original versions I kept.

Machine Sealing

This is a type of covering that basically seals all the printed ink into the paper. Simple enough, this technique is usually used by in-house print companies rather than actual Print Finishing firms, the reason for this is that it’s so simple and a brilliant way for the printers to ensure the quality and durability of their printouts without the need to outsource every job. Due to matt and silk varnished papers being more prone to mark and rub, Machine Sealing is most commonly used with these kinds of stock to prevent any smearing from happening, again ensuring longer life and better quality. There are not really any aesthetic pros of using this as it doesn’t enhance the print in any way other than making sure it stays the way it is without becoming tarnished. As mentioned, it is very simple.

UV VARNISH & SPOT UV

Starting with UV Varnish, they usually cover a whole page in a coating that feels rather smooth, typically somewhere between silk and matte varnish (depending on the client’s request of course). The UV comes from the way in which the varnish is dried, as you may know UV stands for ultra violet light and yes - they use this to dry the coating. What UV Varnish does is it brings out the colours in the page - more so than any other type of varnish, this is why it has a separate name and category to the other regular varnishes. UV Varnish is one of the most expensive forms of varnish as you might guess because of the drying process, it is longer and more complicated due to the use of UV light which isn’t a requirement when applying regular varnish to printouts. This varnish kind is also available in Matt and different tints, almost like adding a filter to your work... Only after it is completed and has exited the digital phase. SPOT UV A separate technique in itself, Spot UV is the process in which a certain element on the design is chosen to be covered in the varnish, the most common use of this is when the designer wants to draw more attention to a certain part of the print. The reason UV varnish is so common for this is because of the colour and contrast enhancing benefits that top most other varnishes - also when this is applied on top of a matte coating for example, it’s appearence can be quite striking.

Modern Techniques

The usual print finishing techniques are unique to the type of effect they are after, there are a few examples below: Die-cutting: Usually a guillotine is used for trimming outer edges, die-cutting however can be done by hand (very rare) using a pen knife or a scalpel, the more modern way to do it is using special laser machines that you input vector points to, the machine then does the work for you, in bulk or singular pieces. This can be done on any scale. Laminates: Laminating is done between two hot rollers that is used to stick two plastic sheets together. Binding: Binding is done by using special machines that ‘knit’ and glue fibres together, thus keeping the pages intact and together.

this is never used in modern printing!

Print Finishing in Sheffield

Below is a list of links for different Print Finishing businesses here in Sheffield: http://3cfinishingltd.com/ http://www.mensaprinters.com/Finishing.html http://gmfinishing.co.uk/ http://a14printfinishing.co.uk/

Thankyou for listening.