Reflective paper or other method

[jaspoe30]

Hi, hopefully posting in the right forum. We have a client that is printing a magazine and they want the back cover of the magazine to have a reflective surface surrounded by a frame, they really don't want to stick a bunch of mirrored paper on as they want it to look as professional and seamless as possible.
Does anyone know of a method or have any ideas on how this might be accomplished?

Thanks,
Jason - The Printery

 

[Stephen Marsh]

A saddle stitched job I presume. What is the run length of the job (How many covers)? They want the back cover to be "mirror finish" without being stuck on. What about the front cover, presuming that this is a saddle stitch bound job?

Stephen Marsh

 

[jaspoe30]

Yes it will be a saddle stitch, and they are getting around 2000 magazines. The front cover will be a collage of area attractions and features so it will most likely be a gloss.

Jason

 

[Stephen Marsh]

So it if is a saddle stitch cover, the same material is used for the cover, right? How reflective should the media be? What weight/thickness are they looking for?

My only direct experience with "mirror" media is with inkjet metallic film - using water based, solvent and UV inks.

How will this cover be printed, what method (offset, inkjet, screen etc)? How well does the ink interact with the media? You may have to lay down a print white under the CMYK. So perhaps a 5 colour job, maybe a double hit of white might be needed? You will then probably have to coat the cover, varnish or laminate so that the ink does not scratch. Will this dull down the reflective properties of the media? Will you then need spot application of the coating? The material may also have to be scored for the fold. There are probably a whole host of other factors that I have not mentioned off the top of my head. Sounds like a nice expensive project if the customer is happy to go down this path.


Stephen Marsh

 

[dabob]

Jason . . .

Stephen's method pretty hits it right on the head - we have been printing this type of job for several years now on a custom stock with a mylar silver laminated to a label stock - gives a very special effect for packaging - but it took a lot of work to learn how to get it right. If you would like to PM me with your # I would be happy to talk about it.

bob