UV Coating: What it is and what are its benefits?
Your printed marketing materials are your opportunity to attract your customers' attention in today's highly competitive era. Making them really shine can be advantageous. This is when you should know the benefits of UV coating.
Also known as Ultraviolet Coating, UV coating is a glossy, shiny coating that is applied to the surface of printed paper and dried on a special machine using UV light. UV coating makes your printed piece attractive and is ideal for products like hand-out sheets, postcards, business cards and catalogs, presentation folders or any product that can be given glossy, rich and dramatic look.
What are the benefits of UV Coating?
UV coating has plenty of benefits compared to other coatings, some of which are mentioned below:
When UV coating is applied on deep, rich colors such as rich blacks and blues, it results in almost wet appearance. This is extremely effective for image-rich projects such as catalogs. Owing to the stunning shine that Ultraviolet coating creates, it is highly popular for specific designs and products.
If your printed piece- be it a postcard, a business card or a brochure, has to be handed or it has to travel through the mail, you need to ensure durability in addition to exquisiteness. UV coating enables the mailed piece to resist marking and smudging, allowing it to maintain high quality, professional appearance because of an extremely hard finish, which is both abrasion and chemical resistant.
Since UV coatings are free of solvents, they do not emit VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) when dried and are thus environmentally friendly.
UV coating offers high clarity and make the details pop and stand out. This type of coating makes a perfect option for photographic images as well as company logos.
When exposed to UV light, ultraviolet coating dries quickly. This reduces shipping time, allowing earlier shipping and delivery times.
When should you not opt for UV coating?
Although UV coating works well for a large number of printed pieces, there are a few instances where this type of coating is not a good option, including:
>> When using metallic inks
>> When the piece has foil stamping
>> When something needs to be written on the piece
>> The addressed part of a mailing piece
Coatings help you make your printed piece stand out. They work to improve the desired outcome, depending on the end result you wish to achieve. Use them to make those full color pictures and pieces look more attractive, allowing your graphic elements to stand out and showcase your products.
Besides, UV curable coating products are known to offer protection to marketing materials, enabling them to last longer. The longer your materials last, the more they will be able to get response for you. This ultimately increases your return on investment. Moreover, UV coating is cheap, so you can save money while the products are being coated and even after they have been coated, owing to its durability.