Print Finishing
Putting Ink on paper is only the start of most print jobs. Below is the wide range of finishing options we can apply to printed products, thus allowing us to produce a wide range of different products in house.
Gloss and Matt Lamination
Lamination is an ‘Offline’ process carried out after printing has been completed on Press. The printed sheets are fed through a machine containing a roll of gloss laminate or matt laminate film. The film is heated to melt heat sensitive glue and then rolled on to the printed sheets.
Matt lamination gives the finished printing a soft 'satin' finish that is smooth to the touch. Gloss Lamination gives a smooth shinny surface. Please note laminated surfaces are not suitable to be written on.
Creasing and Cutting
Creasing is carried out using a Heidelberg Cylinder Letter Press. This older machine is still as it is by far the best machine for this process with no modern day equivalent!!
As sheets are pulled in to the machine they either cut or creased depending on what is being produced. When creasing, a permanent flattening of the sheet along the crease line makes it easier to fold and much less susceptible to cracking.
We do not fold any material over 150gm without first creasing. With 150gm material we strongly recommend creasing before folding especially if there is colour running across the fold line.
Folding
Folding is carried out using our high speed MBO folding machines. The folders pull in flat sheets which are fed in to a series of plates set to accurately measure the paper the fold position. Rotating rollers then fold the sheet before pushing it into the next folding plate and so on. In this way a huge number of different folded products can be produced.
Hole Drilling
Drilling is carried out using a specially designed hollow drill bit which allows the cut centres of the circles to pass up the shaft. We have several drill diameters 3mm. 3.5mm or 6mm. Drilling is often requested where a finished job is to be placed in a Ring Binder or to be used as a garment tag.
