A varnish increases colour absorption and speeds up the drying process. By 'locking in' in the ink under a protective coat, the varnish helps to prevent the ink rubbing off when the paper is subjected to handling. Varnishes are used most frequently, and successfully on coated papers.
Ultra Violet (UV) Varnishing is a process for achieving an even more striking type of coating on your printed material. Requiring the use of special Ultraviolet drying machinery, a UV coating is like a deluxe version of the non-UV varnishes, with the varnish appearing noticeably richer and more luxurious. A UV varnish can be applied as either an all-over coating, or as a spot varnish:
A Spot Varnish is applied to chosen spots (areas), of a printed piece. This has the affect of highlighting and drawing attention to that part of the design, but it also provides the additional visual stimulus of having varied textures on a single printed surface. This adds a lot of interest, and can identify the printing as a premium piece of literature in the perception of the reader.
One very effective technique is to apply a UV gloss spot varnish on top of matt laminated printing. This achieves maximum contrast between the highly reflective shiny UV coating and the light-absorbing matt laminate, and can, for instance, create a striking first impression on presentation folders or a brochure cover.
A textured spot UV varnish allows the creative designer not only to surprise the recipient of the printing with a mix of textures on the same printed surface, but also to reinforce the tactile properties of the product he or she is depicting. For example, a manufacturer of ornamental glassware could use a raised effect gloss UV varnish to give a highly reflective, 3-dimensional portrayal of a featured piece of glass work, or an interior design company could use a combination of leather, sandpaper or crocodile skin varnishes to highlight some of the different textures the company works with.
