Print & finish
Print & finish3 min readUpdated
Coatings and varnishes
A clear coat on top of the print keeps ink from rubbing off in shipping and on the shelf. It also sets how the pack looks and feels: shiny, flat or velvety. Many printed boxes get one, so it helps to know the four your printer is likely to offer.
The four common coats
| Coat | How it goes on | Protection | Looks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Varnish | Like one more ink, on the same press | Light | Gloss, satin or matte |
| Aqueous | A water-based coat, usually over the whole sheet, as it leaves the press | Good against rubbing and fingerprints | Gloss or matte |
| UV | A liquid that UV light hardens in a moment | The strongest of the liquid coats | The highest gloss, or matte and satin |
| Soft touch | A matte coat, water-based or UV | Scuffs more easily than the others | Velvety, no glare |
Varnish usually costs least. It can cover the whole sheet or only some areas. Aqueous coating is the everyday choice for boxes that get handled a lot. UV gives the most shine and the toughest surface. Soft touch is about feel: it suits cosmetics and gifts, where people pick the box up.
Pick by what the box goes through
- A shipping box or a mailer rubs against other boxes all the way to the door. A coat that protects matters more than how it looks.
- A carton on a shelf needs to catch the eye. Gloss makes colours brighter, but under bright shop lights it can glare. Matte reads more calmly.
- A gift or beauty box is held and opened slowly. That is where soft touch earns its place.
Only one area should shine, like a logo? That is spot UV. For the most protection of all, the print gets a plastic film instead of a liquid coat: lamination.
Mind the folds and the glue
A hard coat, UV above all, can crack where the board folds, and the crack shows as a pale line through dark ink. On your dielineDieline The flat outline of a pack before it is cut and folded: where to cut, where to fold and where artwork is safe. the folds are the green dashed creasesCrease A fold line pressed into board so it bends cleanly, also called a score. Dashed green on our dielines.. Ask your printer whether the coat they plan is fine on folds, or whether to keep it off them.
Glue also holds poorly on a hard, smooth coat, so printers usually leave the glued areas uncoated. Some of our dielines mark those areas in grey, with GLUE written in them. On the others, ask your printer which flapsFlap A panel hinged on a crease that folds over to close an end of a box or to hold it together. get glue. Our dieline has no layer for the coat itself: your printer sets it up from your artwork, or asks you for a separate file.
Food and recycling
A coat is thin, but it becomes part of the pack. If your box holds food, or has to go out with paper recycling, say so when you ask for a quote, so the printer can pick a coat that suits.
See the finish in 3D
The 3D view in the editor has a Finish setting for boxes: Matte is plain board, Gloss a gloss varnish and Soft touch a velvety surface. It helps you judge the look with your artwork on. It is not a proof: ask your printer for a printed sample with the real coat.
Compare finishes in 3D
Add your artwork in the 3D view and switch Finish between Matte, Gloss and Soft touch to see which suits your box.
- Cut
- Crease