Lamination
Strength Meets Style
Lamination is a protective film applied to book covers to enhance durability and visual appeal. It can help guard against scuffs, scratches, and moisture while adding a polished, high-quality feel that lasts.
How Is It Applied?
Laminating a book cover involves applying a thin layer of protective film, usually made of polypropylene or polyester, over the printed surface. The process starts after the cover is printed; the lamination film is fed through a heated roller machine which uses pressure and heat to bond the film to the cover material.
What Are the Key Benefits of Lamination?
Protection
Lamination acts as a barrier against everyday wear and tear, which is especially valuable for books that will be handled frequently.
Improved Durability
The added layer reinforces the cover material, making it more resistant to bending, tearing, or creasing. This is particularly useful for softcover books.
Enhanced Appearance
Lamination enhances the visual quality of the cover. Gloss lamination makes colours look vibrant and sharp, while matte or scuff-resistant finishes offer a more refined, modern look with reduced glare.
Tactile Appeal
The addition of lamination adds texture to the cover. Gloss feels slick and smooth, matte velvet feels like suede and soft to the touch, while matte, matte scuff-resistant, and satin scuff-resistant laminations feel smooth like the paper the cover is printed on.
What Types of Lamination Does Friesens Offer?
Gloss
This lamination provides a shiny finish that enhances the colour and appearance of the printed material. It’s ideal for vibrant, eye-catching projects. It’s the least prone to showing fingerprints and scratches compared to other laminations.
Matte
Matte Lamination offers a non-glossy, flat finish for a subdued, professional look. This lamination is the most prone to marking or scuffing.
Matte Scuff-Resistant
Matte Scuff-Resistant Lamination provides the same polished look and feel as regular Matte Lamination, but this one is more resistant to scuffing.
Velvet Scuff-Resistant
Previously known as “Matte Scuff-Resistant Nylon” or “Soft-Touch” lamination, this offers a smooth, velvety finish that is both elegant and durable. It’s resistant to scuffs and scratches, but can be prone to showing fingerprints, especially on darker colours.
Satin Scuff-Resistant
Also referred to as “polyester lamination”, this balances gloss and matte finishes with a subtle sheen that enhances the printed material without being overly reflective. Because of its tendency to “shift” printed colours more than other laminations, it is used infrequently.
Gritty
This lamination is just as it sounds…Gritty Lamination features a unique sandpaper-like texture that adds a bold, tactile character to book covers. It shows printed colours most similarly to Matte Lamination, with the addition of the unique texture.
Printable
Printable Lamination gives your book a solid, foil-like appearance for added versatility and appeal. If you choose to print on this lamination, we recommend putting a second laminate on top (either gloss or Satin Scuff-Resistant) to protect the ink from rubbing off. The printable lamination options are gold, silver, and Elegance Luminescence.
Lamination + Foil
The combination of lamination and foil is possible, but you need to be aware of when the foil is applied. For Gloss and Matte Scuff-Resistant Velvet lamination, the foil must be UNDER the lamination. For regular Matte, Satin Scuff-Resistant, and Matte Scuff-Resistant, the foil can be applied over the lamination.
It’s important to carefully choose your lamination and foil combination, as the lamination could affect the appearance of the foil if placed under the lamination, or it could be more prone to scuffing if it’s stamped over the lamination due to the lack of protective “covering”.
Lamination + Spot Gloss UV
This combination is also possible, but only in certain instances. We can apply spot gloss UV over regular Matte, as well as Velvet Scuff-Resistant Lamination. Spot gloss UV levels thicker than 10 microns (which is standard) should use the Velvet Scuff-Resistant Lamination.
You will need remember that spot gloss UV is somewhat pliable, so it can bend. We recommend the Velvet Scuff-Resistant Lamination whenever you have a very detailed design, even if the spot gloss UV will be the standard 10 microns thick.
Helpful Hints
- Friesens recommends shrink wrapping books with regular Matte Lamination, either individually or in bundles, to protect them from any potential scuffs and scratches.
- If your book has a printed hardcover wrap, lamination is very important. Without it, the cover paper shows wear in the hinges and tends to tear.
- Be sure to consider how the lamination will interact with your design. Gloss works well with bold, colorful artwork, while Matte and Scuff-Resistant Laminations are ideal for subtle, elegant designs or darker tones.
- We recommend laminating only one side of the cover. Laminating both the inside and outside may curl the cover due to tension on the inside and outside not being 100% balanced.
- When choosing Printable Lamination, the colours will “shift”. This means the colours won’t look the same as if you were printing on white.