What is print finishing?

You might have noticed this website has a section, within our Print service, called ‘finishing’. When we wrote the site, we may have taken it for granted that people would know what that means, and that was probably a bit silly. So allow us to explain!

Print – be it lithographic (old-school high-volume print using plates), digital (e.g. Ricoh or Indigo presses) or wide-format – is all about running paper through a printing press with careful attention paid to the balance of colour, quality and appropriateness of the paper (known as ‘stock’) and look-and-feel of the visuals on the page in relation to the artwork supplied.

Our printers work hard to ensure your brand’s colour scheme is adhered to and that there are no issues in terms of lining up of duplex sheets, legibility of text or the specific challenges thrown up by some of our unique offerings, such as landscape A4 brochures or six-page A4 brochures.

But after that process, all you have is a pile of flat sheets. To get it to the next stage, ready to wow your customers, it’s time for the finishers to step in.

For starters, print finishing refers to trimming down those flat sheets to perfectly neat and well-matched edges. It also refers to all those little features that make the real difference when the final product is delivered or handed to your customers; the features that make Horizon’s print stand out.

Binding techniques, from saddle stitch (folded and stapled) to PUR binding (a form of spine gluing that’s incredibly durable, flexible and smart-looking) or even elegant riveting. The use of, for example, semi-transparent printed sheets called onion skins can add another dimension, as can off-setting pages, adding fold-outs, pockets for additional literature or any other number of clever tricks. Laminating, embossing, spot varnishing, use of white ink or foil blocking – these all help elevate a printed page, enough to make the recipient stop and think, notice the quality with their fingers as well as their eyes.

It’s all part of our boutique approach to print finishing that can take something as simple as paper and ink to a whole other level.

Click here to visit the print finishing section of our website.