• Sustainable Packaging: This term encompasses materials, designs, and practices that minimize environmental impact throughout the packaging lifecycle. It includes concepts such as recyclability, compostability, biodegradability, renewable resources, and reduced carbon footprint.
• Flexible Packaging: This involves the use of lightweight and pliable materials like films, foils, and laminates, providing versatility in design, storage, and transportation. Flexible packaging offers benefits such as convenience, product protection, and reduced material usage.
• Rigid Packaging: Rigid packaging refers to firm and inflexible materials like plastic bottles, glass jars, or metal cans. It offers durability, structural integrity, and enhanced product visibility.
• Primary Packaging: This refers to the layer of packaging that directly contacts the product. It serves to protect the product during distribution and storage while providing necessary information and branding elements.
• Secondary Packaging: Secondary packaging includes the additional layers of packaging that surround the primary packaging. It provides additional protection during transportation, facilitates shelf display, and often serves as a marketing tool.
• Blister Packaging: Blister packaging consists of clear plastic cavities or pockets attached to a backing material. It is commonly used for pharmaceuticals, consumer electronics, and small retail items.
• Shelf-Ready Packaging (SRP): SRP is designed to optimize product display and stocking on retail shelves. It allows for easy identification, faster restocking, and reduced handling, enhancing overall efficiency.
• Child-Resistant Packaging (CRP): CRP incorporates features that prevent or delay young children from accessing potentially harmful substances. It is commonly used for pharmaceuticals, cleaning products, and chemicals.
• Tamper-Evident Packaging: Tamper-evident packaging includes features that indicate whether a product has been tampered with or opened before purchase. It provides consumers with a sense of security and protects the integrity of the product.

Partnering with a reliable and experienced packaging company is crucial for achieving high-quality results. Post Press Specialties is proud to offer a comprehensive range of print finishing services, including folding, gluing, binding, and die-cutting. With our recently installed Bobst Mastercut Die-cutter, we can provide even more precise and efficient die-cutting services, ensuring your printed materials stand out and leave a lasting impression.

Our commitment to quality, attention to detail, and investment in advanced equipment set us apart in the industry. We pride ourselves on delivering exceptional results and exceeding customer expectations. Whether you need packaging for 100,000 donut boxes or 300,000 oil filter boxes, we are here to help.

While we may not cover all packaging types, we can assist commercial printers or packaging printers with their unique requirements. If we can’t do it, perhaps we can help you find someone who can.
Experience the difference with Post Press Specialties and take your printed materials to the next level. Contact us today and let us help you finish strong!

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Here are 13 effects and popular finishes that Post Press Specialties can help you with:

Gloss UV

Gloss UV coating provides a clear coating with a high gloss. Not only does gloss UV coating look great, it can help protect your piece..

UV coatings are a liquid-based, protectant coating that is applied and instantly cured with UV drying lamps. Compared to aqueous coatings, UV coatings provide an extreme-glossy finish and can deliver an abrasion- and rub-resistant performance.

Raised uv

A great way to add a tactile or more dramatic effect is by using a raised UV coating effect. Adding more coating volume brings more added dimension that can accentuate the art or graphic, as well as invite the consumer to engage and touch.

Pearlescent coating

If a luxurious shimmer appearance is what you’re looking for, then a pearlescent coating is the way to go. Pearlescent coatings can be either aqueous or UV-based. For UV-based coatings, a specific quantity of pearl additive is mixed with a gloss UV coating. Depending on the variation and size of the micron particle, the pearlescent coating can have a more dramatic or subtle effect. The AQ-based version of this coating is similar but is mixed with a gloss AQ coating and pearl additive.

Varnishes

Varnishes serve many purposes included being used as a protectant to the sheet and, in the case of a dull varnish, can be used to create great contrast (step-off) against a higher gloss.

Like coatings, varnishes can be applied to very specific areas (spot varnish) or can be applied to a large print area or the entire press sheet (flood varnish).

Grit

This coating is known for their coarse and rugged tactile effect. Although it is softer than a sheet of sandpaper, the reputation of this coating is the grittiest when it comes to tactile coating effects. The grip of the coating is useful as a non-slip surface and works well in applications for multi-use packaging.

Sandpaper

Sandpaper coatings are more subtle than grit coatings and provide only a slightly rough texture. The coating is similar to some unglazed clay work and gives plastics and paper products a slightly edgy feel.

In both coating applications, you can control the amount of texture that is applied on the sheet by the size of the billion cubic micron (BCM) rollers. The smaller the BCM rating of the coating roller, the lesser the amount of coating it can carry and be applied to the sheet and vice-versa for higher BCM’s.

Both grit and sandpaper can be used on a variety of substrates that allow for a stimulating tactile experience.

Embossing/debossing

Historically used to make a statement, embossing continues to be an assertion of elegance and luxury. Raising and depressing aspects of your packaging gives your customers a tactile experience. Use a contrasting material in your design to differentiate the surface of your material or bring a character to life

Hot foil

This effect is accomplished with a foil stamping machine that uses a metal plate that has been engraved with an image of the desired design required for the particular application. As the plate strikes a roll of foil film, it causes the foil to adhere to the plate. The metal plate then strikes the substrate that is to be imprinted and transfers the foil onto the area of the document requiring the metallic effect. The result is a document that has a highly reflective image with a bright and dense metallic appearance.

Metallic foil

Adding a metallic foil to your design provides variation in texture while starkly highlighting certain brand or graphical elements. Try combining foil with embossing or debossing to add depth to the product. The image on the right is an excellent example of a successful execution of an aggressive and impressive deboss with the use of metallic hot foil stamp. Observing closely, the real craftsmanship came with the ability to hold the adhesion of the hot foil stamp in the very fine areas of the snow flake, especially as a deboss was done as well.

Holographic foils

Using a holographic foil or rainbow foils gives the package or piece the ability to change color combinations when viewed at different angles. This is a great way to add a pop of color to solid packages. Holographic foils provide a fun and sophisticated flair to product packaging.

Clear foils

Having clear foils provide high reflectivity, yet allow the printed image to be seen underneath. This is particularly useful for foods, beverages, consumable products and health and beauty offerings. It can also be used to give customers a preview of a new product.

Micro-etching on foils

Foils used for security purposes may include geometrical shapes, patterns and even brand logos that shift as the viewer changes focus. Take advantage of the mesmerizing effect by using it in a solid block rather than a border or small stamp.

For security measures, a foil with micro-etching can help prevent counterfeiting of items such as high-value coupons (shown above) that could easily be duplicated, causing retailers major losses as manufacturers will not recompense fraudulent coupons.

Perfect for small or large accents, foil is a beautiful finish to catch customers’ eyes.

Die-cutting

Die-cutting, a post-press finish, allows packaging and print pieces to have unique cutouts that can vary from simple to extremely complex. From shapes to letters, die cutting draws attention to the dimensional nature of the piece and the character of the substrate itself.

We’ve been helping the commercial printing industry “finish strong” for over 25 years. Give Post Press Specialties a call at 816-257-1919 and we’ll be happy to talk to you about your next project.

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Of all the softcover book binding methods we offer, saddle stitching is one of the most popular. Saddle stitching is perfect for a variety of book types, such as: catalogs, manuals, booklets, programs, multi-page brochures, newsletters, periodicals, wall calendars and mailers.

Saddle Stitching is a relatively simple method that joins the folded pages and cover with at least two wire staples placed through the crease of the book’s spine. For over twenty-five years, we’ve been assisting commercial printers throughout the Midwest, helping them to produce professional looking documents.

Some of the benefits of saddle stitching are:

1. Cost – Oftentimes, saddle stitching is the least expensive option.
2. Turnaround Time – Usually saddle stitching takes less time than other binding methods.
3. Small Quantities – It can be used for very short production runs.
4. Size– saddle stitching can be used for a wide variety of sizes.
5. Design – Designing a saddle stitch piece is generally very easy.
6. Mailing – Saddle stitching will add minimal weight to a printed piece. This is especially important for pieces that will be mailed.
7. Versatility – Saddle stitch projects can be printed in color or black and white.

Alas, saddle stitching does have some limitations. Keep in mind the following:

1. Thickness – Depending on the weight and caliper of the paper stock, saddle stitching might not be a good option. Bulky books might be too thick to fold properly. Post Press Specialties will be happy to discuss any and all specifications.
2. Spine – There is no room to print anything on the spine. This is a problem for certain projects.
3. Power of Four – Saddle Stitched books are created from folded sheets, thus the page count must be in multiples of four.

If you have any questions about saddle stitching or any of our print enhancement and bindery services, please don’t hesitate to contact Post Press Specialties at 816-257-1919. Located in Missouri, we’ve been serving the commercial printing industry for a quarter century.

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In their executive summary, the FSAE concluded that:

“There are clear advantages to foil stamping on packaging, in terms of attracting attention faster and retaining attention on packaging longer than identical packages without foil stamping.”

They went on to say:

“Overall, this pilot experiment clearly indicates that foil stamping on packaging provides real benefits concerning consumer attention on packaging.”

This is why many industries utilize foil stamping for their B2B marketing and packaging. Next time you are in a grocery story, take note of the many products that are using this technique. In marketing, first impressions are key, and a product marketed in a foil-stamped package may have a higher perceived quality and value than one in a standard package. In addition to increasing the perceived value, foil also draws attention, which can make a particular product stand out among a crowd of competition.

Consider the findings of Thales S. Teixeira in his white paper, The Rising Cost of Consumer Attention: Why You Should Care, and What You Can Do about It (Harvard Business School).

Teixeira concludes that:

 “Attention is a necessary ingredient for effective advertising. The market for consumer attention (or “eyeballs”) has become so competitive that attention can be regarded as a currency. The rising cost of this ingredient in the marketplace is causing marketers to waste money on costly attention sources or reduce their investment in promoting their brands. Instead, they should be thinking about how to “buy” cheaper attention and how to use it more effectively.”

Simply put, brands that are successful attract consumers and keep them engaged. Hot foil stamping is a cost effective way to achieve that goal. Over the last twenty-five years, Post Press Specialties has created stunning and effective pieces on a multitude of different stocks and substrates. Shiny gold, silver and other metallic foils are sure to grab attention in even the most crowded retail spaces. Foil stamping will not only help your product stand out, but it will also add a touch of elegance that will appeal to many consumers. We offer a wide selection of foil colors, finishes and effects from which to choose, to help individualize the style of your product packaging.

Over the last two and one half decades we have foil stamped business cards, booklet covers, pocket folders, stationery, holiday cards, invitations, labels, seals and postcards. Call one of the largest binderies in the Midwest, Post Press Specialties at 816-257-1919 and we’ll be happy to discuss your next project. We’ll help you finish what you’ve started.

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Saddle Stitching

Generally speaking, saddle stitching is the most affordable. Post Press Specialties have done thousands of brochures, handouts, calendars, and small catalogs that have utilized saddle stitching.

Method: Stapling printed sheets together at two or three points on the fold. It’s a cost effective, yet effective solution for simple projects without a spine.

Perfect Binding

Perfect binding is one of the most common methods for binding projects with a large page count or high caliper pages. If your project has over 50 pages (25 sheets), perfect binding is the way to go. Post Press specializes in perfect binding that will give your piece a high-end look and feel.

Method: A strong adhesive binds the book block to the spine, and the residual glue holds the pages together. Ideal candidates for perfect binding include large books, instruction manuals, catalogs, and magazines.

Wire-O Binding

Wire binding is a popular commercial book binding method, and is known by a number of different names including twin loop wire, wire-o, double loop wire, double-o, ring wire and wirebind.

Method: Users insert their punched pages onto a “C” shaped spine and then use a wire closer to squeeze the spine until it is round.

Plastic Comb Binding

Need binding that is flexible, durable and adjustable? Plastic comb binding might be the answer. It’s very cost effective and usually can be done quickly.

Method: Pages are first pre-punched to accommodate the plastic comb. The comb is inserted and can hold many pages. Also, you can add and subtract pages if necessary.

Post Press Specialties can help you with your next project. Call us at 816-257-1919 and we can discuss which method is best suited for your project. It’s just another way we help printers “Finish Strong”

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