Print Sealing

[dougie]

Hi there,
Can anyone, please explain sealing for me. To the best of my knowledge it protects the print from rubbing off a page but if anyone can give me for information about it, like when to use it, the benefits/disadvantages and how can i tell if something has been sealed or not ?

Regards
Dougie

[Minuteman Press]

Certain inks are less colourfast and sealing seals the ink to ensure no rub off, set off, smudging, ink transfer etc. Particularly relevant with dark colours covering large areas and metallics.

Hope this helps.

[dougie]

Many thanks for the information. Is there a way to tell if something has been sealed by looking / feeling it ?

[Katedesign]

Very difficult to tell if it has been sealed. . . there is sometimes a slight sheen. . .or try rubbing.

Dark blue is especially prone and is often sealed or laminated. The dryers put in inks are not as good as they used to be (I think they were found to be harmful!) and more and more print is sealed now.

[Minuteman Press]

As katedesign says - look for the sheen.

A gloss seal would be easy to spot - a neutral or matt difficult.

[dogsbody]

They can also slightly change what I would best describe as the white balance.

[Simon Berry-Hill]

Be very careful specifying a seal when using uncoated paper, especially if the job is wanted in a hurry.

the quickest way to handle an uncoated printed sheet is not to seal it. But this does mean in the longer term rubbing and blushing can be an issue especially on heavy inked areas.

The problem with using a seal is it takes much longer for the sheet to be workable at the next stage as the ink on the sheet will not have had a chance to gas off and form a skin.

Sealing an uncoated paper can add as much as 5 days to the production cycle waiting for the sheet to dry sufficiently before it can be taken to the next stage in the manufacturing process.

regards

SBH