Ultimate Guide to Different Types of Laminations for Packaging

Posted On: Nov-27-2024  By: Jenny

Ultimate Guide to Different Types of Laminations for Packaging

What is Lamination?

Lamination is the procedure of incorporating a clear plastic film to your print. It is applied to make prints more durable and stronger providing gloss, smooth touch to the surface.

Main Objectives of Lamination

What is the purpose of lamination? Is it of any worth?  The objectives of lamination include:

  • Lamination protects materials against wears and tears or stains, dust, moisture or dirt.
  • Another purpose of lamination is to make packaging more resilient and increase its shelf life.  It prevents prints from fading or deteriorating.
  • Moreover, the application of lamination enhances the visual appeal of packaging and makes it more professional or sophisticated.
  • It adds more strength and durability to packaging curtails it to bend or damage due to handling pressures.
  • You can use lamination to stand out branding elements like logo design, brand name, etc.

Exploring Different Types of Laminations for Packaging

Here are some of the most common laminations applied to pop out designs on custom printed boxes.

Matte Lamination:

Matte lamination is one of the most effective finishing. It is a non-reflective and versatile finishing. It adds a smooth, soft and natural look to printed materials. Its velvety texture offer clients a pleasant handling experience. Unlike gloss finish, matte does not reflect light. It absorbs light and makes prints easier to read.  This type of lamination looks natural and gives a sophisticated or elegant texture to the box's surface.  Moreover, it has potential to endure is tear, scratch or fingerprints and gives flawless look to packaging.

Gloss Lamination:

Gloss lamination provides vibrant, gleaming and shimmery texture to the packaging surface. Its reflective nature makes prints shine out and stand out from the rest.  Mainly, it is applied to both sides to protect packaging against physical damage. However, the primary disadvantage of gloss lamination is its reflective nature. As it makes tears, fingerprints, marks etc. noticeable.  This type of lamination is used for marketing and promotional materials.

Soft Touch Lamination:

Soft touch is a luxury finish that is pleasant to see and touch.  Its visual features resemble matt lamination with an additional smooth and velvety touch. That's why it makes a perfect option to give the packaging a high-end and premium feel.  Like matt finish, soft touch lamination is best to provide a subtle look to prints. Besides, it is durable due to its additional layer of coatings. However, it is more expensive than other coatings.

Dry Lamination:

Dry lamination is also called dry bond lamination. Heat and pressure areare used to bond layers together with pre-applied adhesive.  In this method, adhesive in the form of film or powder is used on one of the layers. After that, layers pass through heater rolls which result in activating adhesive and bonding layers. Usually, dry lamination is applied for plastic film to film or film to paper.

Wet Adhesive Lamination:

As the name suggests, wet adhesive lamination includes liquid adhesives to bond two or more layers together.  In this process, the adhesive is applied to one layer. After that, layers are pressed together under pressure to produce a bond. Typically, wet lamination is used for paper-to-paper or paper-to-film. Examples involve: book covers, brochures etc.

Anti-Graffiti Lamination:

It is a small layer of adhesive film. It is effective to resist spray paint, marks, and pen lines. Anti-graffiti lamination is perfect to safeguard outdoor printed signs because of its durability.

Silk Lamination:

It is a thin plastic layer. It is used to give your products a silky and soft feel.  Silk lamination falls between matt and soft touch lamination because of its results.  However, it is more affordable than the former options. If you are tight on budget and wish to give packaging a soft and silky touch, opt for silk lamination.

Decorative Lamination:

Decorative lamination increases durability of printed designs and makes them visually appealing to the audiences. The primary purpose of using this finish is to make packaging eye-grabbing and catchy to lure onlookers.

Nylon Digital Lay Flat Lamination:

It is not as popular as previous ones. Nylon lay flat film is ideal for book-bound posters, book covers, dusk jackets, and maps.  It is a perfect option because of its high strength and non-curling properties. It does not create curls as other laminations tend to.  This type of lamination is applied to one side of prints and help materials to last longer.

How to Choose the Best Lamination?

Have you been confused by many existing lamination options and unable to make the right decision? Don't get worried. Each type has some individual characteristics.  Before considering any of the laminations, you must remember the following things:

First of all, you have to ponder over your product's use. If your product gets exposed to a sea of crowds, then you must choose thick lamination.
After that, you must be familiar with the colors. If you wish to make prints more striking and bright, then gloss finish is an apt choice.  You can handpick matt finish to give a subtle and mute look to the packaging.

Besides that, you must be clear about your intention. A soft lamination is a perfect option if you aim to provide a luxurious touch.

Use of Laminations in the Packaging and Printing Industry

Almost, lamination is the need of every industry's products its packaging, printing or furniture. Their application adds a sense of elegance and class to product. If we talk about packaging and printing industry, here are some of most common products’ examples:

  • Book titles
  • Flyers
  • Menus
  • Pamphlets
  • Maps
  • Custom stickers
  • Posters
  • Brochures

Final Words

Without any doubt, lamination is a wonderful finishing technique that plays a paramount part to elevate aesthetics and durability of your packaging.  We have discussed a variety of laminations. Each lamination procedure has unique features and produces outstanding results.  You can select any option that suits your budget and product specifications. You can reach out to us to get full advantage of all of these mentioned laminations.  What are you waiting for? Share your accurate specifications in custom quote to avoid any misunderstanding. Place your order today! Choose us as your packaging partner to benefit yourself with our phenomenal services and quickest turnaround.  Enjoy free design support.

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