Spot Gloss Varnish & how to make the most of it

July 27, 2015, by Lisa Saville

Let’s face it, spot gloss varnish in the wrong hands can be brilliantly cheesy! But when applied cleverly with a “Less is more” approach, you can achieve some stunning results.  In the past, one had to print high volumes in order to make this process economically viable. The great news is that this is no longer the case…

A digital varnish can now be applied for a fraction of the cost and with no extended lead time. In addition to that we can apply it to sample prints so you can see the actual results before going ahead. At Hot Ink we are able to apply both an overall gloss varnish as well spot varnish to certain areas only.

The nature of digital printing is such that the results are fairly glossy anyway so when a spot varnish is applied to dark backgrounds or full coverage, you may not get the desired contrast that you are after. So here’s where you can get creative and make the most out of those lighter areas to really show off the varnish to best effect (view samples).  Because you can test it, one sheet at a time, you can try out different results until you are happy with the results.

Different paper stocks also show off the varnish better than others so feel free to pop in and look at samples and get more advice on setting up your artwork for maximum effect…

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