Finishing is what the shopper feels in their hands, and it is also a frequent source of waste: the effect gets specified by eye, without a dedicated layer, registration tolerance or any read on how it behaves on the chosen substrate.
Ground rules
- Each finish lives on its own clearly named layer, filled with a flat mask colour.
- Masks are vector: semi-transparent raster masks cannot be reproduced by the process.
- Registration tolerance is designed in — the finish either deliberately overlaps its base or keeps a gap.
- Hairlines and small type are checked against the minimums the chosen process can hold.
Foil
Hot stamping needs a die, so the geometry has to be manufacturable: no hairlines, no isolated dots. Combining foil and relief in one area is possible, but it is a combined die brief rather than the sum of two independent layers.
Spot varnish
Spot varnish lives on contrast: gloss over matt, or the reverse. The effect disappears when too much area is varnished — on shelf it simply reads as gloss. Varnish over foil or soft-touch lamination needs its own adhesion test.
Embossing and debossing
Relief depends on the substrate: heavy board holds a pronounced profile, thin stock tears at the edges. Fine detail and serifs blur under the die, so shapes chosen for relief need enough weight in every element.
Sample before the run
Every finish deserves a sample on the target substrate: a digital proof shows neither gloss nor relief. Artwork should be built so the plant can produce that sample without reworking the file, and the approved sample becomes the reference for the production run.