Printing special effects: Foiling, Embossing, spot gloss and metallic spot colours

There are a lot of ways to improve a printed job and make it look that bit more special. Along with traditional printing methods, there are some effects you can have done. These effects bring out and highlight your logo or business name above the rest.

Foiling

Foiling is the process where actual metal material is 'stamped' onto the printed job, such as on a logo or text. This gives it actual metallic shine. You can get quite a range of different foils including: different shades of gold, silver, bronze, copper, metallic blue, red, yellow, green - even some multi-coloured specialty foils. Foils don't even have to be metallic, they can just be shiny bright colours.

Embossing

Embossing is the process where a shape is 'stamped' into your printed material in such a way that a design is raised from the surface of the paper. This gives a lovely tactile effect.

Quite often, embossing and foiling are combined to make a lovely shiny or metallic 3D effect.

Embossing and foiling are quite similar in the way which they are done. For either, an actual 'block' is made in the shape of the area which you want done, and then this is used to apply it to the paper using speciality machinery. Set up costs for this include the once-off price of these 'blocks' and the cost of applying the extra process to your job. From the second time onwards, you do not have to pay for the 'blocks' again - they are kept for you to use each time you need something foiled or embossed.

Spot gloss or spot UV

Spot gloss or spot UV are two different techniques of applying a feature glossy area to your printed media. This is another great way to enhance your logo, but it can also be used to bring out design elements or even photographs. It works best when your printed job is matte laminated (smooth surface) the the gloss gives you a shiny contrast to the job.

A key thing to be aware of is that where foiling and embossing is best to be used on very small areas such as your logo, spot gloss can be used on any size area. Mainly because it would be far too expensive to make large 'blocks' for foiling or embossing larger areas.

Metallic spot colours

This is another, much more economical way of adding something special to your printed material. As well as a huge range of spot colours you can get, there is also a large range of metallic colours you can have applied when your job is printed. See my previous article on colour matching for more information on spot colours.

Any of the above processes will cost extra on your printed job, as they are completely independent processes that need to be done. This also means that each process (except metallic spots) will add approximately 3 days to the turnaround time for your job. If you would like to know more about any of these or how they could enhance your material, contact us today.

Please note: These special processes are not suitable for forms or duplicate and triplicate books etc. they are best used for business cards, letterheads, compliment slips etc. Also, some printers are unable to do these.

-- Heather Measday | graphics@medform.com.au

Printing with integrated labels and cards

Medform is the only WA supplier who produces integrated label and card forms in Western Australia.

In our production department floor we have a brand new integrated label and card applicator so that the design, printing and finishing of any forms requiring this specialty product is managed in-house.

Having all stages of production in house allows us to manage the whole process, preventing any possible problems, ensuring the highest possibile quality control and excellent delivery times.

For medical applications we have templates to apply the 3 integrated specimen labels you may see on EDI request forms.

Bottom Right: Close up showing the 3 x integrated labels which we can incorporate into your medical EDI request forms. Top Right: The complete demo EDI request form

The issue of colour - Colour matching explained

Colour matching for different printing applications is one of the key parts of the job that I do as a graphic designer or as a web designer. You may have things printed for many different application and you wonder why the colour can't be matched perfectly each time?

In this article I am going to try and explain how colour works, and why it can be quite a complicated issue to match your company colours correctly for every application.

Colour is effected by many things : whether it is on your screen, or on paper - is it on a sign banner, or car graphics, billboard or up in lights? Each application has its unique issues which are governed by the materials to be printed on, the type of ink used and if it has any protective coating like laminating etc.

Professional printing uses "CMYK" inks, which stands for "Cyan Magenta Yellow and Black" (Black is K). These four primary colours are mixed together to reproduce all colours. (Image on right : the CMY printing colours)

(Image courtesy of Wikipedia article : Subtractive color - click here)

For most printing applications we can also use a standard called the PANTONE spot colour matching system. This is a world wide established colour standard that we go by so that printers / designers can match your company colours - no matter where in the world you are getting the printing done. This is done by using a swatch book (just like paint samples) and colour codes known as PMS spot colours.

eg. A bright orange is PMS 021 and a nice red is a PMS 032.

Each spot colour in the PANTONE swatch book is assigned a number. Each colour has a very specific formula so that the printers can match that exact recipe to reproduce your colour. Every mix of the colour is slightly different as it is impossible to get it exactly the same, so colours will always vary from job to job / printer to printer. Link to the PANTONE website click here.

(Image on left : a PANTONE swatch book)

The other thing that can effect how the colour comes out is the paper stock or material it is printed on. You would be surprised how many shades of white there is out there! So, a printer doesn't just have to match the formula of the ink, they have to adjust it for the material it is printed on too. Matte or gloss laminating, printing on plastic etc. can also greatly effect how a colour looks.

For vehicle graphics and signage, the colour can be effected because you may need to use special UV resistant inks so they last outdoors - and often when you apply graphics to a car, the actual colour of the car can show through the vinyl sticker and effect the colour appearance too.

Colours will also come out differently when printed digitally or printed using an offset printer. Offset printing uses metail 'plates' which overlay each colour over the top to combine to make the colour - where digital printing colours are managed by a computer. Digital printing can either use inks or laser colour printing. Laser printing 'fuses' (melts together using heat) different colour 'toners' together to achieve different colours.

Web design and anything made for the screen is another issue all together because they are generated by light shining from your screen at different wavelengths. Web / screen / video colours are known as "additive" colours - because they combine red, green and blue (RGB) to make all colours. RGB white is actually a combination of the max of all three colours together. The type of screen, and how your colours are balanced can effect this. (Image on right : the RGB screen colours)

(Image courtesy of Wikipedia article : Additive Color - click here)

Printed colour is known as "subtractive" because when light bounces off a surface, the colour you see is actually subtracted from the wavelength of light, and absorbed into the material.

So, you can see that colour management is not an exact science and there are a lot of factors to keep in mind when trying to match everything to your exact company colours. It is impossible to reproduce your colours exactly. A good graphic designer and printer will be able to match with a 3-5% margin of error.

As a part of our service here at Medform, we look after this side of things for you to ensure your material is always reproduced as close as possible to the correct colour. Any questions, please contact me today or leave a comment here.

-- Heather Measday | graphics@medform.com.au

Benefit from bulk printing your material...

One thing we specialise in here at Medform is rationalising your printed products to get the most possible savings for you as our valued customer.

Ordering your printing in bulk can save you big time. When you break down printing costs, most of the price is based on the prepress (the initial setup of the job), preparation of printing plates, paper stock and the finishing (like binding or collating). The actual quantity you order doesn't really effect the price greatly.

For example, the difference in printing 1,000 or 2,000 items may only cost a few hundred, which just covers the additional stock. Once the set up is done it is just as easy to run 10,000 as it is to run only 1,000.

You may have dealt with us or another printer (god forbid!) and have been told that there is a minimum quantity when you order each certain item. This is because different printing processes mean that that 'minimum' quantity is the lowest economical amount to print. Some industrial offset printing presses run at about 15,000 - 30,000 pages per hour - so if you order 500 letterheads, the machine literally 'sneezes' that out in a few minutes.

In general digital printing is the best way to run small quantities, where offset printing is the best way to run larger quantities. Digital printing is a bit more expensive, but it allows very small quantities but stops being economical after a certain level.

What if you have quite a few different printed items, but don't really order a huge amount of each? Well, there are still ways of taking advantage. Because all of your company material is usually always using the same company colours, we can group together jobs (called "ganging up") which have similar specifications. Such as all of your A4 forms, because they are on the same type of paper and all have 2 colours on the front and one on the back. This way, you add all the smaller quantities together to make one big print run and enjoy the savings.

We also recommend planning and scheduling these bulk runs approximately every quarter, we would calculate how many of each product you need according to your past usage to optimise supplies.


You don't have the room to store bulk stock? That's no problem. Medform has warehousing and distribution available to supply you with only what you need on hand at any one stock. We will coordinate the whole operation for you, allowing you to take care of your own important business.

Would you like to know more about bulk printing and how it could save your company money? Contact us today for more information. We deal with many clients both medical and general business clientele. We can tailor a schedule to suit your specific needs.

-- Heather Measday | graphics@medform.com.au

The DrM Online Ordering System

DrM is our own software we have created for the easy personalisation of doctor referral forms for our medical industry customers such as pathologists, radiologists, cardiologists and more. The system allows you to take advantage of the bulk printing discounts by printing the base referral or request forms. Then using DrM you can then "overprint" each of your referring doctors name and contact details on each pad you do - making the processing of these forms easier because the referrers information is always complete and readable.

(click on any of the images to see a larger version)

"Overprinting" is where we take your bulk pre-printed blank basic / standard form, then run it through our printing machines again and print over the top of it with the referring practice and doctor details. Then, we make them into pads of the desired size, and include a reorder page 15 pages (or whatever number you like) from the back which reminds the referrer that they are getting near to the end of the pad and should re-order some before they run out. This page can also be customised to say whatever you like, by default we set up a watermark which says "reorder more pads". Some of our existing clients add a telephone or fax number for re-ordering for added convenience for your referrers.

You simply program all of your referring practices' addresses, each referring doctors name and provider number - you then assign each doctor to that practice. You can have any number of doctors assigned to any one practice. The DrM system conveniently adds a 'checkbox' next to the doctors names when printed on to your base forms, so the correct referrer can easily indicate who is submitting each request. You can have endless number of practices and referrers set up. It is also easy to maintain and make changes as your order, the system records any changes so that it is applied to all future orders as well.

When you become a customer of ours, we will set up a DrM account, come and install the desktop software and provide support free of charge until you get used to the system. As a part of the service, one of our consultants will work with you to set up templates which cover all your needs, and make any changes as you go along. Never costing you any extra.

Included in initial setup of the DrM system, we can assist you to import your referrers data from most existing referrer management software you may already use. The only condition of this is that we can extract the data in the raw format we need, then we can do the rest for you.

Along with printing doctor details and practice addresses - there are many variable fields you can add such as : copy to, nearest collection center address, standard tests requested, clinical notes section, hospital and ward details, urgent and medicare check boxes. By setting up these fields you are able to customise each pad to better suit each referrer, for example if they always request a certain test every time - you can have that pre-printed on their pads for added convenience.

The DrM system is really intended as an extra service you can offer your referring practitioners. This also allows you to make the most of the bulk printing discounts, but also means you only have to order as many personalised pads you need.

Medform is always committed to customer service and tailoring our product / service to suit your individual needs. If you would like any further information about DrM or you would like to know how we could save you money, please contact us today.

-- Heather Measday | graphics@medform.com.au


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