What is Print Finishing

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A Guide to Print Finishing

Marketers are always looking for ways to make their direct mail marketing campaigns stand out from the others. Creating a memorable direct mail experience with the same old postcards is not easy. If you use it right, print finishing can turn your plain old direct mail into something that is unique and attractive to the reader.

There are numerous attention-grabbing and unique finishing techniques that you can use for your mailers. However, choosing the right one for your business and its campaign is not easy without first understanding their specific characteristics.

Hence, we have compiled a list of all significant and promising print finishing techniques that you can use for streamlining your direct mail campaigns. Go through the print finishing processes listed in this article to find how you can make your direct mail stand out and grab the reader’s attention.

What is Print Finishing?

If you are familiar with the print industry, then chances are you have already come across the term print finishing. However, most people only have a vague idea of print finishing unless they work in the print industry.

Print finishing is a term that you can use to describe any process you carry out after you have finished printing a job. It means every simple process that you carry out on a freshly printed piece of paper can be considered print finishing. Some of the standard print finishing processes include the following:

• Cutting
• Folding
• Binding
• Laminating
• Stapling
• Glueing

What Are The Print Finishing Processes Available Today?

Above, we have listed some of the most common print finishing processes. These processes have been around for as long as printing itself. Today, a wide range of print finishing processes are available for customers. It doesn’t matter how complex or unique your printing and finishing needs are. Because for your every unique need there is always a suitable solution.

Print finishing has significantly grown in popularity in the last few years, and so has the technology that supports it. Marketers often use the latest printing and finishing technology for their creative marketing campaigns.

The latest print finishing technology enables marketers to increase their marketing campaigns’ scope significantly. What makes it even more enticing for marketers is that finishing processes are competitively priced. Hence, marketers can cost-effectively build creative print campaigns.

What Are The Different Types Of Print Finishes?

As we have mentioned, there are numerous print finishing processes or print finishes available in the market today. Marketers or businesses that use marketing strategies like direct mail campaigns must make it a point to educate themselves on the different print finishes.

Below we discuss some promising print finishing processes that marketers and business owners can use in their direct marketing.

Machine Sealing

Machine sealing is a print finishing process where a thin covering is added during the printing process. The purpose of this covering is to “seal” the ink onto the paper. Usually, the method uses matt and silk papers as they are less absorbent.

You can prevent the ink from rubbing away from your print material and thus prolong its life. It does not add much to the print quality, but the longer life makes it ideal for storing and printing mailers like postcards.

Varnishing

Varnishing is ideal for making the printed material visually pop. However, it can also enhance the printed material’s durability. There are different types of varnish finishing processes available in the market, and each has its unique characteristics. Some of the more popular varnish finishes are discussed below.

Glossy Varnish

You can use glossy varnish to add a shiny coating to the print. The glossy varnish is perfect if the print material contains photographs or other visual elements.

Matte Varnish

You can use a matte varnish to minimise reflections on the paper and maintain a smooth feel. The matte layer is also ideal for reducing glare while reading.

UV Varnish

UV varnishing involves covering the whole print material with a thick, smooth, transparent coating. The speciality of the process is in how it is dried using UV lights. You can get it in gloss or matte formats.

Textured Varnish

Textured varnish is similar to glossy varnish, but it adds a rippled tactile nature to the print material. Most marketers prefer this type of finish over a regular glossy finish for their printed materials.

Spot UV

As the name suggests, Spot UV enables you to enhance a specific part or item on the printed page instead of the whole page. Hence, it is ideal for getting the reader’s attention on one particular aspect of your mailer, such as the CTA.

Other Varnishes

There are several other varnishes that you can consider for your printed materials, such as metallic flake varnish, tinted varnish, scratch-off latex varnish, and so on.

Die-cutting

As you can guess, die-cutting is when you use a steel cutting die to cut out a shape on printed material. It lets you cut all sorts of shapes out of print, from regular holes to decorative shapes.

Using irregular or unique shapes for your direct mail is a great way to capture the reader’s attention. However, there are some limitations to die-cutting. Some papers or cards can not be cut by swinging the steel die as it compromises the integrity of printed materials.

Folding

Folding is perhaps the most common print finish used by marketers worldwide. Unlike most other print finishes, there are not many limitations to folding. You can use it to create unique shapes for your direct mail or have a hidden message inside it.

There are different ways for folding a paper item. You can use a buckle, a knife or a folding machine that combines the both. Some of the basic folding techniques that you can commonly see on direct mail materials include:

• Half-folding
• Tri-folding
• Z-folding
• Gate-folding
• Roll-folding

More complex folding methods can often be challenging for marketers to implement. An easy option is outsourcing your print and mail requirements to a fully automated system like PostGrid.

Perforating

Perforation is a finishing process that lets you make a line of dotted holes on printed materials. The perforations are usually in a straight line as their purpose is to let people easily tear off a part of the print.

Hence, marketers use perforations to include a detachable piece in the direct mail. Perforating is a very common print finishing marketers use in their direct mail. You can use this finish when you want to include a detachable coupon or voucher in your direct mail campaign.

Polywrapping

Polywrapping involves enclosing print materials such as magazines, brochures, etc. It is highly preferred for this purpose because it is fast, economical, and highly efficient. You might have noticed the same kind of packaging every time you receive things like books, CDs, magazines, etc.

Polywrapping is significantly lighter and cheaper than envelopes. It is also the better option for protecting its content from external damage caused by water, dust, etc. Furthermore, as it uses see-through material, the impact on the reader upon receiving the mailer is almost immediate.

Booklet Making

Booklet making is the print finishing process where you bind multiple printed materials (sheets or spreads) to form a booklet.

The booklet or multi-page printed material is ideal for situations where you want to put extensive details of a product/service you offer.

However, you need to note about booklets that the page count should always be divisible by four.

Binding, Stapling, and Stitching

Binding, stapling, and stitching is similar print finish processes that you can use to join printed materials together. You can use saddle stitching for joining the printed materials where they fold at the spine. The stitching process goes by different names, such as pamphlet stitching and stitch wiring.

Comb binding is a process that involves feeding a plastic/metal comb through holes punched along the edge of multiple prints.

Lamination

Another widely used print finish process is lamination. There are mainly three different types of lamination processes which are:

• Matte lamination
• Glossy lamination
• Silk lamination

Matte and silk laminations are very similar. Both laminations combine spot UV varnish and foil blocking. Both matte and silk laminations are softer to touch. In comparison, glossy lamination is shinier and reflects more light.

Embossing/Debossing

Embossing and debossing are processes that press into a printed material such as a card or paper. You can do the pressing around an image, logo, or text. The difference between the two processes is that the pressing happens from underneath to leave a protruded design on the front in embossing. In contrast, debossing is done in the opposite direction to leave a depressed imprint.

Letterpress

As far as printing and finishing processes go, letterpress is one of the oldest methods you can find that we still use today. It uses a wooden block and pieces of metal raised on the front. The process itself is relatively simple.

You place the piece of metal in ink and then put it on a piece of paper/card/fabric. Then you press the two together, and you get the print based on the letter or shape of the metal you use.

Foil Stamping

Foil stamping is a print finish that you can often find on print materials like wedding invitations. The process involved in foil stamping is similar to the one in letterpress as they both apply pressure for printing. Here, a heated die is pressed against the paper with enough force to seal the letter with a layer of foil.

Other Print Finishing Processes

There are several other print finishing processes that you can employ for your business’s marketing strategy. However, it is impossible to list all printing and finishing processes here. Some of the other print finishes you can employ for your direct mail include the following:

• Edge painting
• Heat & Reveal
• Glow in the Dark
• Fragranced ink

Conclusion

Marketers can use numerous print finishing processes to make their direct mail stand out. Combining an excellent direct mail marketing strategy with a unique and intriguing print finish, you can execute a successful direct mail campaign.

To get the best results for your direct mail campaign, you should use an automated direct mail solution like PostGrid. With a system like PostGrid, you can leave the entire direct mail process to a computerised system.

PostGrid can personalise, print, and mail your unique direct mail to the target audience with minimum to no errors. Such a system can significantly enhance your direct mail campaigns. Furthermore, PostGrid even lets you schedule your direct mail or set up an automatic response for your business.

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