Print question: Why would you use gloss paper if having gloss lamination?

[Onlyme123]

Hi there,

I am getting some books printed with a 250gsm cover. There is an option to have a gloss cover laminated and wondered why this would be? Is this purely to add some protection to the cover? Surely the gloss paper would already have a shine to it without having a lamination?

Does anyone know why I would get a lamination on gloss?

Thanks!

 

[Nico Albrecht]

Ever considered asking the company that is going to print for you to ask that question?

 

[Gyumri]

The only purpose of laminating the cover would be to provide extra protection - for example if the reader was to spill some coffee on the cover then obviously with a laminated cover you should be able wipe it off. Not so if the cover is merely a gloss paper. However the appearance of a book with a laminated cover might not visually be to everyone's taste.

 

[MOIC]

If you had a matt lamination, the gloss paper won’t be as glossy. Lamination will give it strength and body, if you want the overall finish to be gloss, then go for gloss lamination.

 

[alan1302]

Gloss laminate is partly for protection from scuffing/scratching as well as being more shiny than the gloss paper.

 

[estwig]

I like shiny things!

I'd buy your book, it's shiny, you'll sell more books!

 

[alan1302]

I like shiny things!

I'd buy your book, it's shiny, you'll sell more books!

Might sell less to others though, Matt laminate tends to be seen as more premium looking

 

[WaveJumper]

Get some samples ......... and then decide

 

[anonuk]

It can depend on how the books are printed. If they are printed digitally, the toner from the printer will sit on top of the paper. As such, printing on gloss or silk doesn't generally make any difference as the toner can look duller than the gloss paper. In this situation, the gloss laminate will a) make the print look much more vibrany, b) make it alot shiner and c) add protection so that the toner doesn't scratch off.

If the books are litho printed, generally they will look glossier on the gloss paper and you can get away without lamination a bit more because there's no toner to scratch, however, gloss lamination would still look glossier than just printing on gloss paper.

Out of 10, gloss paper would be a 5 out of 10 and gloss laminate would be 10 out of 10 in terms of glossiness.

 

[alan1302]

It can depend on how the books are printed. If they are printed digitally, the toner from the printer will sit on top of the paper. As such, printing on gloss or silk doesn't generally make any difference as the toner can look duller than the gloss paper. In this situation, the gloss laminate will a) make the print look much more vibrany, b) make it alot shiner and c) add protection so that the toner doesn't scratch off.

Assuming it's a toner digital printer - if it's book covers I'd hope for something better eg HP Indigo.

 

[anonuk]

Assuming it's a toner digital printer - if it's book covers I'd hope for something better eg HP Indigo.

Agreed, but there's no indication of what sort of printer the printing company are using. A lot of small print shops try and get away with office grade machines (I know of a couple that use the Konica MFP's and while the quality is ok, there's no consistency and the toner is pretty naff...people buy them as you can get them for £600 on ebay).

In our print shop we use a Konica Digital Press and a Xerox Verstant and I would still recommend laminating book covers every time unless it was a throw away program/brochure type book.

 

[Adam Le Grand]

Hi there,

I am getting some books printed with a 250gsm cover. There is an option to have a gloss cover laminated and wondered why this would be? Is this purely to add some protection to the cover? Surely the gloss paper would already have a shine to it without having a lamination?

Does anyone know why I would get a lamination on gloss?

Thanks!

You seem to have had a lot of answers from people that think they're print experts but I am not sure how many of them actually work in print. They have all in fact missed one of the main reasons why lamination is recommended for the covers on publications.

Depending on the nature of the stock anything over a 200gsm weight it is generally recommended that lamination is utilised. This is due to the fact that quite often when the covers are creased and folded they are liable to cracking on the spine, exposing open, raw paper fibres. As you can imagine this isn't a great finish. Laminating the outer cover goes a long way towards eliminating any cracking on the spine.

For day to day use on items such as business cards and flyers then lamination is then used more for enhancing the finish and offering limited protection against scuffing. Inevitably if the print comes into contact with any moisture it'll likely still spoil as laminating doesn't by any means offer any waterproofing.

Gloss, Matt, Soft Touch, Anti Scuff and many other laminates have been developed over the years to enhance the overall finish of the magazine to supplement the paper stock finish.

I would tend to agree with some of the comments that Gloss stocks and Gloss Lamination is very 90s and a bit old hat but that said none of the people who have commented know or understand your publication, including myself. Your magazine could be celebrating everything that is of the 90s, in which case, going for a glossy finish would obviously be spot on.

Please contact me directly if you'd like to discuss further and receive a quotation.

 

[alan1302]

You seem to have had a lot of answers from people that think they're print experts but I am not sure how many of them actually work in print.

Why the condesending reply?

 

[Adam Le Grand]

Why the condesending reply?

Hi Alan,

I sincerely apologise for any offence caused. Looking back the wording was harsher than intended. I was just frustrated at the amount of misleading, misguided feedback.

Thank you for pulling me up on it.

If the creator of the post had made a decision based on the feedback provided and decided not to have gone for the laminate they would have likely been disappointed with the finish as the main issue that laminate is there to eliminate would have occurred and no one had mentioned it.