Because of its various benefits and unique qualities, silk printing is a finish that companies should be using as they pursue that luxurious feel, but what is silk paper? Here’s what it is, how it’s used in printing and why it’s good to use for high quality product printing.
To distinguish themselves from the competition, companies with premium products must move away from the norm and print on materials that are different from the rest.
With the rapid advancement of printing technology, it is now possible to print on more unique materials, such as silk.
What is tissue paper and what advantages does it offer?
Silk paper has a soft feel that can be considered more like tissue than traditional paper. It is made by bonding silk fibres together to create a luxurious feel to the touch. This makes it an ideal choice for highlighting premium products and services and giving an enhanced professional image.
Silk paper produces a coating somewhere between a matt and glossy finish. In tissue paper, the colours used will still be vibrant, highlighting the smallest details and reducing the glossiness.
Silk fibres are sometimes combined with other materials, such as cotton. This results in a paper with a sharper finish. To really stand out, tissue paper is often available in both natural shades and dyed in a wide range of colours, whatever suits your needs and helps to maintain the tone of your brand.
It also enhances the text without compromising the final images.
How is tissue paper used in printing?
A UV LED printer is a state-of-the-art machine that can print on tissue paper and realise its full potential.
Silk-coated paper has a low surface gloss and a truly luxurious feel. In addition, because it can be printed on a UV LED press, it offers excellent contrast between the ink and the paper. When printed using this method, the silk coating makes the colours much brighter compared to other types of paper. It is sharper and is a much better choice for readability.
It is a material that can differentiate a normal brochure from a luxury brochure, as it combines a unique high quality paper with the best printing machine available on the market. The overall feel of the silk coated brochure makes the person holding it instantly feel that a lot of effort has been put into it, and that it is unlike any other brochure they have ever seen.
The advantage of combining a silk-like paper with innovative technology such as a UV LED printer is that your company benefits from the UV curing method, which improves the overall quality of the printed product.
UV curing is a curing technique that uses light rather than heat to dry the inks, coatings or adhesives used. As soon as these chemicals are exposed to light, the inks harden instantly. There is no loss of volume, no shrinkage, no environmental contaminants and no loss of coating thickness, as there are no solvents to evaporate.
Physical properties are dramatically improved and allow the silk finish to benefit from a higher gloss. It has improved scratch resistance, chemical resistance and hardness, which simply means that it is difficult for scratches to occur on brochures. It will not be affected if chemicals seep into it and it will not lose its shape. While maintaining the hardness resistance, the UV curing helps to improve the elasticity, which allows the booklet to return to its normal shape once opened.
In which products is tissue paper used?
Silk paper is especially used when what you want to achieve is a luxurious finish, both to the eye and to the touch, a product that is different from the rest, that stands out, that is undoubtedly the main objective of people who want to print their products on this type of paper
What kind of products is tissue paper used for? Here’s a list of some of them:
- Business cards: By giving a customer a card printed on silk paper, you can be sure that you will make a great first impression and the customer will be sure to keep your card.
- Brochures: To promote luxury, high quality products, or simply to stand out from typical brochures, printing on silk paper is a good option.
- Catalogues and magazines: To add a touch of luxury and distinction, many people choose to print the covers or pages of their catalogues and magazines on silk paper. A detail that will certainly not go unnoticed among your customers.
- Wedding invitations: Do you want your invitation cards to be completely different from the rest? Printing them on silk paper is your best option if you want your wedding invitations to stand out from the typical ones.
Do you want to know about other types of paper for your projects? Visit our paper types section and you can find out which type of paper is best for your needs.