Finishes

Answer:  Foil Embossing is an effect-enhancing post-production technique whereby a metallic foil is laid onto the printed product which is then heated and placed under pressure using a relief plate to adhere foil to the image area. Embossing at the same time raises or lowers the surface of the paper. It is recommended that spray powder is kept to a minimum in the printing process.

Answer:  The folding of a sheet of paper. Folding is normally performed in a folding machine. The folds usually run parallel with an edge of the paper sheet or the web. Accurate folding ensures pages align to one another and are in the correct order. Imposition is therefore important to the final folding process. Correct evaluation of fibre orientation in the paper is important to avoid cracking on spines and folds.

Answer:  Guillotining is a method of cutting one or more sheets with a knife called a guillotine.

Answer:  Laminating involves giving a paper a plastic coating using special lamination equipment, in order to improve protection against dirt, wear and tear, and increased folding strength. Laminates can either be gloss, matt or silk. It is important to use a minimum of spray powder to avoid problems with lamination adhesion. Lamination can also be described as gluing two or more sheets of paper together to produce thicker stock, i.e. 2 x 200 gsm gives 400gsm.

Answer:  Post-Production and Finishing encompasses all work performed on a printed sheet once it has left the press, such as cutting, folding and binding, lamination, foil-blocking, varnishing, dye form cutting, gluing, trimming, perforating, hole-punching, embossing, de-bossing and laser cutting, until a finished product has been created. Post-press is also an increasingly common word in this context.

Answer:  Scoring or Grooving involves pressing a straight channel into a paper to make it easier to tear or fold. The process is conducted with a pressing tool. Scoring should be done on folds to avoid cracking, especially on thicker stocks. All weights of paper with Digital printing should be scored before folding due to the drying or moisture release during printing.

Answer:  Thread-sealing is a fold-binding method they uses aplastic thread. The thread melts together with the adhesive when the spine is being attached.

Answer:  Perfect Binding and Glue setting are thread-less forms of binding whereby the printed product is bound using dispersion adhesive or thermoplastic. Involves gluing of the spine after trimming off 3mm and gluing on the cover. Absorption of glue into paper is better with uncoated stocks i.e. book printing. Perfect Binding is used when a number of pages prohibit wire stitching.

Answer:  UV Coating is a method of varnishing with UV varnish. The varnish hardens on exposure to UV light. A Screen Printing Press to normally used to accurately apply varnish to pre-printed sheets. It is normally high gloss, applied to specific areas to enhance the visual contrast.