Folding Against Grain

[kate.in.cmyk]

Hi All!

I've been working on a project in which our client's design requires 4 folds diagonal to the paper edge.
It's an 80# Gloss cover stock, digitally printed.
We had previously used a die to score and cut, but finding that we cannot get the flaps to lay flat enough due to the folds all being diagonal to the grain.

Does this make sense? Has anyone successfully achieved something like this?
Thanks!

 

[keith1]

I believe what you are describing is called 'flowering'. Think petals of a flower. You won't get the folds to lay precise because of the weight of the paper and the grain. 4 folds of 80lb cover will make for a rather bulky piece even if it did work. The solution is to go to a lighter weight. Personally, I would suggest 80lb text weight or even lighter because even 100lb text could be a problem.

 

[Magnus59]

If your flaps won't sit flat then your score is not suitable for the stock. If using a single score, make sure the fold is away from the score, this is pretty fundamental, but it's surprising how many people have don't understand or have forgotten the basics. If the fold is the correct direction relative to the score and is still not sitting flat, you may need to use a double score, that is 2 score rules with a 2 point lead between them. A fold on a single score has to make an angle of 180°, using a double score means that each fold is only 90° and will sit flatter as there is less tension being applied to the stock. This is an old technique that has been used for many years to achieve a neater and flatter fold on heavy stock.

 

[JustinB]

Are you using creasing matrix beneath your "score"?

Scoring is very different than creasing.