When it comes to printed products, lamination is a valuable finishing technique that offers numerous benefits. Whether it’s large format products such as signs or outdoor displays or even business cards, brochures, or posters, laminating your prints can enhance their appearance, protect them from wear and tear, and leave a lasting impression on your audience. In this blog post, we will explore the advantages of lamination for printed products and why it’s a worthwhile investment for your marketing materials.

Lamination Benefits

Enhanced Appearance
Lamination adds a touch of professionalism and visual appeal to your prints. The glossy or matte finish provided by lamination enhances the colours, making them more vibrant and eye-catching. It adds depth and richness to the images, making your designs appear more vivid and impressive. Laminated prints have a premium look and feel that instantly elevates their perceived value, giving your brand a competitive edge.

Increased Durability
Printed materials often face daily wear and tear, such as handling, moisture, or exposure to the elements. Lamination acts as a protective barrier, shielding your prints from damage. It prevents smudging, fading, and discoloration caused by UV rays, water spills, or fingerprints. The lamination film adds strength and resilience, making your prints more resistant to tearing, creasing, and bending. This durability ensures that your printed products maintain their quality and longevity, even with frequent use. Large format outdoor displays are subject to good old British weather and as such are constantly bombarded by rain and even hail, laminating these surfaces protects your valuable prints from what the UK weather throws at it!

Easy Maintenance and Cleaning
Laminated prints are effortless to maintain and clean. The lamination film creates a smooth and wipeable surface, allowing you to remove any smudges or dirt with a gentle wipe using a soft cloth. This makes laminated materials ideal for items that require regular handling or are exposed to heavy traffic, such as menus, price lists, or ID cards. With lamination, your prints will continue to look pristine and professional over time. Outdoor or even indoor displays that are laminated can be hygenically cleaned (with non-corrosive cleaning products) to ensure a germ free surface.

Protection against UV Rays
Exposure to sunlight can cause prints to fade and lose their vibrancy over time. Lamination provides an additional layer of protection against harmful UV rays, preserving the colours and integrity of your prints. Whether displayed indoors or outdoors, laminated prints retain their original brilliance, ensuring a long-lasting impact on your audience.

Versatility
Lamination is compatible with a wide range of printed products and materials. Whether you’re laminating large format indoor & outdoor displays, business cards, brochures, posters, or presentation materials, the process works well with various paper weights, materials such as HIPS, foamex & dibond and different finishes. Additionally, lamination is available in different finishes such as gloss or matte, allowing you to choose the one that best compliments your design aesthetic. The versatility of lamination ensures that you can enhance and protect a wide range of printed materials to suit your specific marketing needs.

Types of Lamination

Gloss Lamination
Gloss lamination is a popular choice for those seeking a high-shine, reflective finish. It adds a polished and vibrant look to printed materials, making colours appear more vivid and eye-catching. Gloss lamination creates a smooth surface that enhances the overall appeal of brochures, flyers, and promotional materials. This type of lamination is excellent for designs that require a glossy and professional appearance.

Matte Lamination
Matte lamination offers a non-reflective, satin-like finish that exudes elegance and sophistication. It provides a subtle, muted effect that reduces glare and enhances readability, making it ideal for items like business cards, postcards, and presentation materials. Matte lamination adds a touch of understated luxury and is often favoured for its sophisticated aesthetic.

Soft Touch Lamination
Soft touch lamination, also known as velvet lamination, offers a tactile and velvety feel to printed materials. It provides a pleasant, smooth texture that creates a memorable sensory experience when touched. This type of lamination enhances the tactile appeal of packaging, book covers, or any print product that aims to leave a lasting impression on the recipient.

Anti-Scuff Lamination
Anti-scuff lamination is designed to provide exceptional durability and resistance against scratches, scuffs, and abrasions. This type of lamination is particularly useful for printed materials that will undergo heavy handling or be exposed to harsh conditions. It ensures that your prints remain intact, preserving their quality and extending their lifespan.

Spot UV Lamination / Varnish
This is a technique that combines both matte and gloss finishes to create striking visual effects. It involves applying a glossy coating to specific areas of the print, creating a contrast between the matte and shiny surfaces. Spot UV lamination adds a touch of sophistication and draws attention to specific design elements or text, making it a popular choice for business cards, brochures, and packaging.