Art Paper Design and Printing Highlights (Part 2)

Art Paper Printing Points

The uniqueness of the papermaking process has made the art paper a lot of specialties in the structure and performance of the paper, resulting in many special aspects of the printing process.

1. Ink absorption

All kinds of art papers have a great absorption of ink, such as: coaster paper is easy to absorb ink, Leniy paper is easier to absorb ink, and transparent paper is difficult to absorb ink. The ink absorption of the used art paper is directly related to the quality of the printed product and the required delivery time. For papers with poor ink absorbency, driers can be properly added to the ink or cured by UV light to prevent the back of the ink from drying too slowly and causing the back of the dirty, imprinted powder and other phenomena. Of course, the structure of the paper has a great influence on ink absorption. Some papers have a loose texture and the ink can easily penetrate and dry; while others have a very tight texture and the ink floats on the surface of the paper, so that it is not easily penetrated into the paper and is less likely to dry. Art papers with different ink absorption properties can usually be controlled by adjusting the printing pressure and processing the ink. If necessary, a certain amount of test printing can be performed first (the quantity is determined according to needs).

2. Smoothness

Due to different papermaking processes, some art papers are relatively bulky and have low smoothness; some papers are denser and have higher smoothness. In art paper, there are also papers with embossed effects (such as embossed paper) and stripe-like textures (such as bamboo paper). When encountering this type of paper, it is generally recommended to print less or even not to print, and to use paper's natural embossing to perform some simple local processing such as embossing, UV varnishing, hot stamping, etc., thereby basically retaining the original paper's characteristics. And make full use of these qualities to achieve the desired decorative effect. Of course, if it is necessary to print, it is very necessary to regulate the printing pressure so that specific problems can be analyzed. Such as the printing of thicker art paper, the printing pressure should not be too large, otherwise it will undermine the characteristics of this type of art paper shading obvious, and make the paper deformation. On the other hand, if it is an art paper with a more closely printed texture, the pressure on printing should be appropriately increased.

Art Paper Finishing Points

Usually after the printing is completed, the art paper will be processed in order to increase the gorgeousness of the art paper and highlight the distinctive taste of the product. Common post-press processing and precautions are as follows.

1. Pressure bump

Because most art papers have good bulk and toughness, embossing is often used in post-press processing of art papers. Different art papers with different textures weigh different pressures and should not be the same. Art paper with heavy grammage and loose paper has a relatively large pressure at the time of embossing, which can ensure the conspicuousness of concavity and convexity.

2. Hot stamping

Hot stamping is often used in small areas, such as logos and product names. In the hot stamping process, the temperature and pressure of hot stamping must be strictly controlled, otherwise hot stamping is not easy.

Conclusion

The above are some aspects that should be paid attention to when using art paper. Only by mastering the use of art paper, can the characteristics of art paper be brought into play, thereby improving the grade of the product and increasing the appearance value of the product.

Source of information: "Printing Technology" packaging and decorating special issue 2005.4