Have a beautiful design that still needs a little pizazz? Finishing a print piece properly can be quite rewarding and below are just a few ways to achieve that satisfaction:

Spot Varnish - Give a spot gloss varnish extra pop by adding a dull or matte varnish in the negative space. Commonly used on photos and logos.

UV Varnish/Coating – The King of spot varnishes. Ultraviolet coatings are available in both gloss and dull/matte finishes. The gloss UV has a super-glossy, richer-looking shine than a regular varnish. And matte versions can even create a soft feel to the paper.

Half-tone Spot Varnish – This spot varnish is created by using the gradual tone or dot of an image. It eliminates the hard edge of a spot varnish and highlights a photo’s features.

Tinted Varnishes – Used in spot and overall applications. A varnish is usually mixed with a metallic ink to create an extra sheen. Metallic inks are opaque and contain small flecks of metal. These inks are also commonly used without varnish as a spot color.

Fluorescent Inks – These vibrant colors, as you can image, add brightness. They can be used as a spot color with or without 4-color process printing. They’re sometimes even used to replace one of the process colors to create a more striking image.

Embossing – Is a raised area, shape or logo surrounded by the relief area (the flat paper). Embossing can be used with printed images or alone on the paper stock (known as a blind emboss). Multi-level embossing has more than one level of raised area and creates additional depth and textures to the object.

Debossing – Same features, just the opposite. A depressed area surrounded by the relief area.

Foil stamping – Usually an area or graphic heat-sealed with an opaque or clear foil. Gold foil is by far the most commonly used, but an array of colored foils exist and they are not all shiny metallic.

Die Cutting – From rounded corners to extravagant custom fold-out or pop-out pieces, die cutting offers endless possibilities.

Bindings – A brochure or booklet doesn’t always require a saddle-stitched binding. Spiral, wire-o and comb binding can add a little personality. And if you don’t think you have enough pages for that, try a grommet or sewn binding.

Have a cool printing technique? Share it with us.

Image source: Patrick Boury