All printed packaging comes with standard aqueous finish unless specified otherwise. This is a nice soft, satin finish that does not mute light quite as much as the matte aqueous or matte lamination finishes, but does not reflect light nearly as much as High Gloss Lamination. Aqueous finishes are a water-based varnish and our first choice for earth friendly reasons.
Matte Aqueous finish mutes light a bit more than the standard aqueous finish, It is a water-based varnish (not a plastic lamination process).

UV cured coatings are also available if you are particularly looking forthis effect. This tends to be glossier than glossy varnish, but less glossy than lamination.

High Gloss Lamination is done by applying a heat sealed layer of plastic over the printing. The result is super shiny packaging! It's noticeably thicker than the standard aqueous, and also protects the packaging from scratches.

This is one of the most beautiful finishes you can choose. Matte Lamination has a deeper, richer matte effect than matte aqueous - almost like vellum. Used with Spot UV gloss, matte lamination is especially striking. If you need an ex maple - this title Subswara is beautiful example of spot UV gloss combined with matte lamination. Lamination is done by applying a heat sealed piece of plastic over the printed packaging. This effect will mute the colors however, so you need to take that into account. If you need cot proof the final color, you will need to order a press proof.

Press proofs are where we set up the actual offset printing press, and run one or two pieces of the printing. We use the same inks and paper as will be used in the large run. To view the lamination effect, we would then apply lamination to the printed item. Check out the Proofing Page for more info.

Uncoated stock gives you a beautiful, soft finish. Uncoated white stock nicely complements fiberboard, but is also a great choice on just about any project where you don't want a shine, but instead want a more natural matte look. Check out what this client did with uncoated stock and soy inks : Molly Vintage Scrapbook Jacket.

Be aware that uncoated stock is not for all artwork! Because it is absorbent, the ink does tend to run together a bit so fine printing and detail is not a good fit. Also, colors tend to go a bit darker because the paper is so absorbent.

Fiberboard is one of our most popular stocks for jackets and digipaks. It's made with unbleached, end of chain pulp material. It's fibrous, textured, nubby, brown - what other adjectives can we throw at it? - and poses some fun challenges for printing. See our special paper stocks page for more detail on that. Fiberboard packages are absolutely breathtaking though - even with minimal artwork. Very unique. Take a look at this fun children's title Magic Mama. There is no finish on this stock, so it is definitely matte. We have had clients put a lamination over the fiberboard, and it's an interesting result. You get the color, and the thickness and look, but not the feel.

Spot UV white is often applied to fiberboard to make colors pop, or to make PMS colors "more true" (notice we didn't say exact) to the printed color on white, coated paper. We can also do a white flood, 1x or 2x.