Stand Apart with Special Effects

The difficulty in promoting AccuFoil and 3dUV is that these products must be seen and touched to enable their value to be understood, he adds. But those providers with strong design capabilities, exceptional sales operations, and strong client relationships in which they are considered key players in helping clients solve strategic communications challenges can benefit.

Gray reports the processes are expensive to bring to market. “The equipment, expertise and software carry great expense and [involve] time [in] understanding best practices,” he adds. “Another thing we’ve found is that we must typically design or manipulate every print file in some way to achieve the desired effect. It is virtually impossible for someone without access to our equipment to design pieces appropriately, right out of the gate.

Gray adds these processes are not currently geared to mass production, but are ideal for short-run, high-impact projects.

Bringing Print to Life

Cincinnati-based RH-Solutions is an importer specializing in UV special effect inks and high-quality screen printing machinery.

Company president Ron Hayden reports his company offers 18 special effects products that essentially “bring print to life.”

“For example, our refractive ink can be printed on a foil stock on a digital or offset print, and more than one vector file and be used to create a holographic effect,” Hayden says. “Let’s say you’re printing on a foil stock and want to create a holographic effect, but also want to create some texture on a brick or a flooring product pictured. This is ideal for businesses that supply bricks, shingles, or anything that has a textured surface…Each of five different abrasives could be applied through separate applications. You could create multiple effects through each of the abrasive or UV special effect products we offer.”

The list of coatings currently available in more than 18 finishes include refractive, icy snow, coral, bubble, light to strong abrasives, gold and silver, high gloss that is crease-able, crystal, and many others, Hayden says.

The virtually endless results can include merchandise posters, POP, kids’ books, games and toys, reference books and encyclopedias, greeting cards, magazine covers, catalogs, door-opening sales marketing materials, business cards, fine arts, high-end luxury labeling and packaging for cosmetics, spirits and confectionary, annual reports, and gift wraps and bags, Hayden says.