Special finishes (or premium finishes) are raised treatments applied to the packaging after printing, in a separate, subsequent step.

They give the box a tactile, premium effect, but because this is an additional process rather than a simple print colour, achieving the best result means following a few guidelines in your artwork file.

The finishes available from Packly

  • Gold foil: raised gold-coloured foil.
  • Silver foil: raised silver-coloured foil.
  • Raised spot UV varnish: a raised coating that creates a glossy, tactile effect wherever it is applied. The final result is also influenced by the underlying CMYK print colour: on a blue background, for example, it produces a tone-on-tone effect, while on lighter backgrounds it can add a very subtle warm tint. On a white background, especially over large finished areas, the visual effect of the UV varnish may appear slightly amber. This is a detail worth checking with a test order before final printing.

Why dedicated artwork settings are needed

The finish is printed as an additional colour layer, separate from the artwork. For this reason, in the file:

  • each finish must be created as a dedicated spot colour (e.g. "Gold", "Silver", "Varnish"), at 100% coverage and with the overprint attribute enabled;
  • avoid positioning the finish on the cut or fold lines;
  • minimum line thicknesses, minimum distances between elements and from the cut/crease lines, must be respected in order to prevent the finish from being cut away or damaged during production;
  • text affected by the finish must have a thickness and/or minimum spacing above a specific threshold, otherwise it risks being illegible once the finish has been applied;
  • graphic effects incompatible with this type of printing must be avoided: shadows, gradients, transparencies, glows and similar effects;
  • applying the finish to very large surfaces or to hidden/background areas of the pack (e.g. the bottom flap) must be assessed case by case: in some cases it is simply not feasible, in others it is actually recommended, for example on the closure flaps, where the finish remains visible and enhances the opening point of the pack.

Another aspect to bear in mind at the artwork design stage: as this is a process carried out after printing, a slight misalignment between the two steps (printing and finishing) can occur. It is therefore advisable not to position very small or detailed elements too close to the edges of the embellished area.

Where to find the exact measurements

The precise values (minimum line thickness, minimum distance from the cut/crease lines, maximum size of the area to be embellished) vary depending on the material (for example cardboard versus corrugated cardboard) and are set out in detail in the printing guidelines you can download for each packaging model, in the "How to add special finishes" section.

We recommend always referring to the specific PDF with the guidelines for the product you are creating, to get the correct, up-to-date measurements for the selected material. Check out the article: Printing files: guidelines and suggestions.