From the course: Print Production: Spot Colors and Varnish

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How varnishes, inks, and substrate interact

How varnishes, inks, and substrate interact

From the course: Print Production: Spot Colors and Varnish

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How varnishes, inks, and substrate interact

In addition to adding visual appeal to a printed piece, varnishes have other jobs to do. For example, if you're using an ink that's prone to scuffing, and it's a piece that's going to get handled a lot, or it's going to be mailed, it's a good idea to apply a varnish to protect that ink. And then if you're printing a color on an uncoated stock you're going to lose some vibrancy, because it gets absorbed into the stock. So sometimes, especially on important projects, you can come back in with a tinted varnish that restores some of the color that you lose by the absorbency of the stock. And then there are textured varnishes, and they're really interesting. They're a really hard thing to show, it's the sort of thing that you really have to pick up and feel. And, of course, that's part of the appeal. There are varnishes now that can add sort of a sand like texture, and it's sort of an interesting story. Those really arose out of problems with varnishes interacting with each other. And then…

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