Stock Coatings

Get expert advice

(248) 738-7600
Monday - Friday
9am-6pm EST

Considerations Before Selecting a Coating

With the exception of lamination, coating finishes may only be applied to coated stock. Products printed on coated stock must have a coating finish. Coated stocks are labeled with C1S (if they are coated on 1 side) or C2S (if they’re coated on both sides) on our stocks page.
Lamination can be applied to either coated or uncoated stocks, but is not recommended for textured stocks (such as linen, felt or fiber).

Coating Options

Coating finishes often have distinctive textural and reflective properties to which a digital image can't quite do justice. To get the most accurate preview possible of a coating, we strongly recommend you request a free sample and include the name of the coating you would like to see in the box marked "Comments."

No Coating

This is the best option when using tactile effects (such as textured stock, foil stamping, embossing, or debossing) because there won’t be any coating on top of them to diminish their textural impact.

Flood Coating

This is when a coating is applied to the entire area of one or both sides of a sheet of paper.

Gloss Aqueous

Aqueous coating is water-based, eco-friendly and long-lasting. It provides basic protection against smearing, scuffs and fingerprints. This particular coating is glossy, providing a shiny, reflective appearance to your product.

Matte Aqueous

This coating provides the same basic protections as any other aqueous finish, but without the reflectivity that comes with gloss coating.

Satin Aqueous

This coating provides the protections of aqueous coating as well as an intermediate level of shine.

Soft-Touch Aqueous

This coating adds a velvet-like texture and matte appearance to your product, along with the basic protections that come with aqueous coating.

Gloss Lamination

Lamination protects your product inside durable layers of water-resistant plastic film, guarding against spills, tears and creases. Gloss lamination adds a shiny, reflective appearance to your product.

Matte Lamination

This finish offers the same advanced protection that gloss lamination provides, minus the shiny appearance.

Soft-Touch Lamination

This coating comes with a matte appearance, a soft, velvety texture, and the same powerful protection as other types of lamination.

Gloss UV

Ultraviolet coating offers minimal protection but is highly reflective and shiny, allowing printed colors to really pop.

Spot Coating

With spot coating, only specific areas of one or more sides of the stock are coated. For example, a folder might primarily use matte coating with a spot of gloss coating in the shape of a company’s name or logo. Spot coating is usually only applied to one side of a sheet of paper (the side that ends up as your product’s exterior), but it can be applied to both.

Spot Gloss Aqueous

A special matte aqueous varnish is applied to your product and visibly “strikes through” the gloss aqueous coating placed over it, creating a reflective effect with one or more smaller matte areas. Works best with a dark colored design and spot coating in the shape of a pattern.

Spot UV

With spot UV, you get an even stronger contrast. Your product is flooded with a matte coating and then spot coated with gloss UV in the areas of your choice.

Spot UV on Matte Lamination

This coating option helps your image to really pop. A thick, highly glossy UV spot coating is screen printed on to your product, with the rest of the piece coated in matte lamination.

Spot UV on Soft-Touch Lamination

This type of spot coating provides not only a visual contrast, but a tactile effect as well. Your product is flood coated with velvety matte soft touch coating, then accented with a smooth glossy UV spot coating.

Spot UV on Soft-Touch Aqueous

A smooth, highly glossy spot coating is applied to a velvety soft-touch aqueous background, providing your product with both a visual and tactile contrast.

Spot Lamination

Combine the visual interest of spot coating with the enhanced durability and longevity of lamination. With this process, you get a glossy laminated product with a spot of matte etch coating.

Spot 3D UV on Matte Aqueous

A glossy raised spot against a matte aqueous background provides both visual and tactile contrast. This is the most cost-effective option when you want a design with spot 3D.

Spot 3D UV on Soft-Touch Aqueous

The most popular spot 3D option. A smooth and shiny raised UV spot is set against a flood of soft-touch aqueous coating with a velvety texture, providing a very noticeable tactile and visual contrast.

Spot 3D UV on Matte Lamination

Lamination offers powerful protection, increasing the durability and longevity of your collateral. A shiny raised UV spot stands out against the matte background.

Spot 3D UV on Soft-Touch Lamination

A smooth, raised UV spot set against velvety lamination, creating a highly noticeable tactile and visual contrast. Lamination makes collateral highly durable and long-lasting.

Coating Locations

The areas where a coating can be located will depend on the type of folder you are using. Most of the folders we carry have a standard layout shown under the tab below labeled “Folder.” Our other folder layouts are shown under the other corresponding tabs.

Important Note: Most coatings are only applied to side 1. It’s rare for any coating (especially spot coatings) to be applied to side 2.