1.19 The Use of Finishes Flashcards
Paper and Board Finishing
Lamination via encapsulation
A desktop laminator and the sheet of paper is encapsulated by a polymer pouch or film roll
Paper and Board Finishing
Lamination via a surface coating
Liquid lamination (for signage) or film lamination (meu cards)
Paper and Board Finishing
Embossing
Creates a raised design on the surface of the paper or card to give a visual and tactile effect (greetings cards, chocolate box lettering)
Paper and Board Finishing
Debossing
Produces an imprinted depression that sits below the surface of the paper or card
Paper and Board Finishing
UV varnishing
Provides a very smooth finish, usually high gloss or matt and chemcial resistant. Applied to a sheet via a set of rollers, then passed under UV light to cure
Paper and Board Finishing
Spot varnishing
Applied in specific areas or spots rather than to the whole surface area
Paper and Board Finishing
Foil blocking
Heat and pressure applied to a metallic paper (foil) to create areas of depth and texture to add aesthetic impact
Paper and Board Printing
Screen Printing
- Can be carried out in a workshop with minimal set-up costs due to the use of basic screens and printing inks
- A different is required for each colour
- Quite a slow process with a reasonably high cost per product
- Used for small print runs of items such as posters, display boards and textile T-shirts
Paper and Board Printing
Flexographic printing
- Four colours (cyan, magenta, yellow, key (black)) are printed on top of one another in various quanties on to the substrate surface to create the print colour required.
- It is used for newspapers, comics, catalogues, folding packaging cartons, labels, carrier bags and continous pattern products such as wallpaper and gift wrap.
Paper and Board Printing
Advantages of flexographic printing
- High print speed
- Ideally suited for the long run
- Prints on a wide variety of substrate materials
- Low cost of equipment and consumables
- Low maintenance
Paper and Board Printing
Disadvantages of flexographic printing
- The cost of the printing plates is relatively high, but they last for millions of print runs
- Takes a large amount of substrate to set up the job; excess material may be wasted
- Time consuming to change for any alterations to the print content
Paper and Board Printing
Offset lithographic printing
- Extremely versatile printing process of producing one colour, five colours and a ten colours
- Used for printing medium and long print runs of products such as books, business forms and documentation, magazines, posters and packaging.
Paper and Board Printing
Advantages of offset lithographic printing
- Consistently high image quality
- Suited to higher-volume print runs of 1000 or more
- Quick and easy production of printing plates
- Long life of printing plates because they only come into contact with the printing blanket, which is softer and less abrasive than substrate
Paper and Board Printing
Disadvantage of offset lithographic
- Expensive set-up and running costs for small quantities
Paper and Board Printing
Digital printing
- Produces full-colour, highly detailed print runs with the option of different designs on each page, both front and reverse sides
- Widely utilised resources for printing products, due to their speed and efficiency
- Can be used for low and high volume print runs
- Used for mass customisation, such as the printing of specific names on drinks cans.
Polymer Finishing
Overmoulding
Overmoudling is moulding a second polymer over specific parts of a products
- TPE (thermoplastic elastomer) is often used
- Overmouldings provide areas of grip or texture
- Overmoulding can highlight different colours for different component Polymer Finishing parts on the product
Polymer Finishing
Two injection moulding moulds
- One mould for the product and one mould for the grip areas
- Product is injection moulded, then placed into a second mould where the overmoulding polymer is injection-moulded on to the body
Polymer Finishing
Twin-shot injection moulding
- The injection moulding machine has a mould designed to produce the product in one cycle
- The mould has two separate component cavities and can be rotated through 180° so that they line up with the twin injection points
- First, the main product part is created in the first mould cavity
- The mould opens slightly and rotates 180° to the secondary position
- The mould closes and the second injection applies the overmould
Polymer Finishing
Acrylic spray paints
- Fast-drying
- Water-soluble paint
- Water resistant when dry
- Improves aesthetics and provides additional protection against the effects of UV light and weathering
- Often used for mass customisation, particularly in the automotive industry, such as colour coding bumpers and wing mirrors on cars.