More than just printing…

When using techniques called embossing and debossing a portion of a sheet of paper is stretched with a combination of heat and pressure between a male and female die are applied to paper to create to a new raised shape in embossing or lowered during debossing. The image selected for this technique can be simple or complex. An emboss can be single level, multi-level or sculptured. It can have straight edges or beveled edges. Dies are often made of copper or magnesium but for complicated images and techniques brass dies are frequently used. The creation of brass dies involves more time and greater costs than standard dies but they allow for a multi-level or sculptured emboss to be executed successfully.

[Photo Credit: withassociates Note: We did not print what's in this photo. This is for example purposes only.]

To use Emboss or Deboss Techniques, here are some tips:

1. Single level embosses are frequently used for type, live art or a simple shape.
2. Multi-level emboss contains several distinct levels of the same image.
3. The most complicated emboss is the sculptured emboss which has many levels and can be hand tooled to produce images in the round . Dies are priced by the complexity of the work needed to create the die and are often priced by the individual work needed for that particular die.
4. Blind emboss is a technique where no inks or foils play a part and a heated die creates a 2 toned-level effect on the paper.
5. Registered emboss simply means that ink or foil applied to the paper in has the emboss registered or exactly lined up with the foil or the ink.

Deboss is the reverse process of emboss. Where the surface of the paper is raised in embossing in debossing it is lowered.

To use Emboss or Deboss techniques, you first need to choose:

1. A heavier weight paper.
2. Uncoated works best but coated papers can be embossed/debossed.
3. Art work should be supplied as line art and color coded overlays or a tightly marked up laser with color coding should indicate the levels required for the die maker.
4. Edges should be clean and crisp.
5. Image and non image areas need to be indicated.
6. Small type or light faced type should be avoided.
7. Edge treatment straight or beveled should be specified.
8. Enough space needs to left between images and images need to be kept away from the edge of the sheet.
9. Consider using paper with cotton content to get the maximum lift for your design.

You evaluate your emboss or deboss with a strike proof of the die. When you are looking at the proof you will want to check to see that the image looks the way you want it to. That there are no scorch marks on the paper, no wrinkles, cracking, pin holes or tears around the die strike. Once you have something you like your project is ready to proceed.

The Difference Between Process color vs Spot color

We all want our print to stand out from the crowd and “POP.” There are many ways to achieve these goals and I can’t stress enough how important it is to work with someone who’s knowledgeable about all of the various print capabilities and their various effects on different paper types. How do you make your visual designs that look great on screen carry through all the way to the final printed marketing piece?

In printing you have 2 ways to achieve color with inks; 4 color process inks CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow and black) and match spot colors. Four color process printing is achieved by printing transparent inks of cyan, magenta, yellow and black one on top of the other most commonly in a screen pattern and at different screen angles. Most of the colors in our visual range can be approximated by this method and a full color range can be achieved. This technique is used for the reproduction of photographs or tint builds where too many single colors would have to be used to be practical. If these tint builds are used in many different pages there is a great possibility of inconsistency in the look of the flat color being approximated by the tint build.

Match colors are often referred to as PMS colors or spot colors. They can be indicated by using many different specifying systems, just to name a few, the Pantone Matching System ( PMS colors) , TruMatch, Toyo all have match color systems. Match colors are often used with a touch plate to achieve a color that cannot accurately be created out of 4 color process. You might use a spot color to get a metallic gold on a section of an image or exactly match a color of lipstick on model.

A touch plate will only print in certain areas as a 5th color but can greatly accentuate the single color selected. Spot colors are also important when a logo or a specific branding element is used and an exact color match is needed. Using large areas of a single solid color or repeating that color on several consecutive pages is another good use for spot color. Spot colors often contain pigments that are not used in the manufacturing of process color inks and can provide colors that cannot come from the process spectrum of color, an example would be metallic colors, pastel colors or fluorescent colors.

Though tint builds can be used to create multiple solid colors on a single page or document, care has to be taken to see if an acceptable simulation of that color can be achieved with the tint build selected. Not all colors translate well from process tint builds. When using any of the design applications available to today’s graphics professional care should be taken to be sure that the desired effect is achieved from tint builds and that actual percentages are specified for the CMYK values desired.

If a design program is allowed to make the selection for you might find that each program has its own assigned values for each spot color. If a single advertising campaign has multiple pieces in it and one is designed in Quark, one in Illustrator and another in InDesign, it is very likely that the tint values for the same spot color that is in each of your documents will have markedly different values assigned to it by the application it was designed in. The visual difference can be significant enough to make the color that is common to all the documents virtually unrecognizable.