What is lamination in printing?

A film, not an ink

The printed sheet comes off the press finished as far as ink is concerned, and lamination is a separate finishing step. A roll of clear film is fed through a laminating machine together with the sheet and fused to it, on one side or both, before the piece is trimmed, creased or folded. The Print Authority, a commercial printer, describes lamination as the ultimate paper protection that makes printed products sturdy and water resistant. Films come in thicknesses measured in mils in the United States and microns elsewhere; thin films protect the surface of a flyer or cover, while thick films turn a sheet into something closer to a rigid card that survives a kitchen or a workshop.

Gloss, matte and soft touch

Gloss film is smooth and reflective. It makes photographs look brighter and colours punchier, which suits food, retail and anything sold on its picture, but it reflects light and can be hard to read under a spotlight or beside a window. Matte film diffuses light, so text reads easily from an angle and the piece looks restrained; colours lose a little saturation compared with gloss. Vistaprint's poster guide notes that a satin or matte lamination adds durability without changing the appearance. Soft touch is a matte film with a textured, velvet like surface that invites people to hold the piece, which is why it turns up on premium brochure covers and business cards. Specialist films such as lay flat nylon for book covers exist too, but most flyer work uses one of these three.

When lamination earns its cost

Lamination makes sense when a piece will be handled repeatedly, wiped, or exposed to moisture: restaurant menus, price lists on a counter, safety cards, signs in a workshop, posters in a school corridor and anything used outdoors for more than a few days. It also stiffens a thin sheet, so a lighter paper can feel more substantial once laminated. It makes less sense for flyers read once and thrown away. A letterbox drop gains little from protection it will not need, and plastic film makes paper harder to recycle in many local collection schemes. Anything people must write on, such as a raffle ticket or a form, should stay uncoated, because pen ink smears or will not take on most films.

Common mistakes

The first is laminating a piece that has to fold. Film on the outside of a fold tends to crack or lift unless the sheet is scored first, and The Print Authority lists folding as a reason to skip lamination altogether. The second is putting text close to the trim: laminated pieces are trimmed after the film goes on, and a sealed edge on thick film needs extra margin. The third is choosing gloss for a poster that will hang opposite a window, where the glare hides the headline. The fourth is expecting a laminated sheet to be fully waterproof; the film protects the surface, but cut edges can still let water in. The last is not asking for a sample, since the same film looks different on different papers.

Lamination and the flyer builder

Lamination is entirely a print shop decision, and nothing in the flyer builder sets or previews it. There is no paper, finish or coating option; the builder produces the artwork, and exports it as PDF, PNG or JPG in RGB, with A4 exporting at 2480 by 3508 pixels. When ordering, tell the shop the finished size, the paper and whether you want gloss, matte or soft touch film on one or both sides. Design with the film in mind: gloss rewards strong photographs and saturated theme colours, while matte suits type led layouts and dark backgrounds. If the piece is a double sided menu, build both sides as pages of one flyer so the PDF export keeps them together in order.

Questions people ask