Work-back your schedule so your project arrives on time You’ve signed off on a quote and are now ready to get your project rolling. MCRL Overseas Group has a team of experienced project managers to walk you through the process and provide you with a schedule and list of items needed to begin production. Getting […]
Follow these 6 tips Choosing an overseas vendor to handle your printing and packaging projects can be an overwhelming exercise. In this blog we’ll provide 6 tips to help you evaluate overseas vendors. 1. Identify what’s most important to you First off, all vendors are going to have the same standard promises. Anyone can make […]
With our creative people and products Every day the MCRL team collaborates with clients to produce awesome print, packaging and promotional products. BUT because 99% of our business is word of mouth or google search, we’d never actually designed promotional items for our own business… until this spring when a distribution client suggested we attend […]
UV coating, or ultraviolet coating, is a very glossy, shiny liquid coating applied to a printed paper surface and cured on a printing press or special machine using ultraviolet light. The spot gloss UV is normally applied on a matte laminated cover to create a spectacular contrast on the cover.
Quarter bound
A style of bookbinding in which the spine is bound with leatherette or linen, and the rest of the cover is full color printed paper.
Metallic Ink
Metallic ink is a pre-mixed ink containing metallic particles. It is a PMS color instead of a process colors (CMYK). Common metallic inks include gold, silver, bronze and gun metal. It is commonly used as a highlight feature on many printing and packaging materials.
Foil-Stamping
Foil stamping is the application of metallic foil using a heated die. A custom-made die is heated and, under pressure, is used to fuse foil onto paper, linen or leatherette bonding the design to the surface of your book cover. Foil stamping can add shimmer and texture to highlight specific text or images on your cover.
Gilding
Give your book a gold or silver finish!
Gilt edges on a book. Foil edge gilding on a book speaks of prestige, trust and quality. It’s no longer a finish reserved for leather hardcover books. Now designers are combining the unique finishing process with printed covers to add life to their publications.
French Flap
The French flaps style is also called a gatefold. They are the extension of the front cover and/or the back cover of a soft cover book. There can be one or two French flaps. Flaps are functional as well as decorative. Additional information can be printed on them, such as the plot synopsis, blurbs and the author’s picture and/or biography.
Deboss
Debossed pattern is sunken into the surface of the material. It produces an image that’s pressed into the material and indented.
Emboss
Embossing refers to a method of pressing an image into paper or cardstock to create a three-dimensional design. Text, logos and other images can all be formed by the embossing method. Embossing results in a raised surface, with the design higher than the surrounding paper area.
Lamination
Lamination is the process of applying a thin layer of plastic to paper or card sheets to enhance and protect the printed matter. Common types of laminate are gloss, matte and silk. We offer lamination for packaging, book covers, brochures, business cards and other printed items.
Heat burnished
Fold-out
An oversized page in a book or magazine folded to the same size as the other pages but intended to be opened out for reading. Its particular use is to bend over or double up so that one part lies on another part.
Aqueous Coating
AQ is short for Aqueous Coating. This is a semi-gloss or matte finished, environmentally friendly, water-based coating applied to the printed piece. It provides additional gloss/matte finish and protection; it is not recommended for products you need to write on after being printed.
Die-Cutting
Die-Cutting can provide die cutting for your books and paper products, creating beautiful or functional cuts in the pages or covers. Die-cutting windows or decorative designs are a simple way for your book binding to make a distinctive book product beyond other more standard finishing methods. Die cutting can make your book or paper product unique and different from anyone else’s.
Soft-touch Coating
Soft-touch coating adds a velvety-soft feel to print materials. It also allows a printed piece to gain distinction by stimulating the sense of touch. It is sometimes called a “soft-feel” or “velvet” finish. We offer this feature particularly for book covers, presentation folders, and many other types of promotional printing where distinctive qualities are important.
Lamination
Lamination is the process of applying a thin layer of plastic to paper or card sheets to enhance and protect the printed matter. Common types of laminate are gloss, matt and silk. We offer lamination for packaging, book covers, brochures, business cards and other printed items.
