Adding Value to Prints with Mounting
and Lamination
By Diane Berkenfeld
A print is just a print… or is it?
If you offer premium printing, on
fine-art inkjet media or Silver Halide or metallic papers, you also most
likely charge a premium price. Customers
understand this and pay the higher price for the perceived value.
By mounting or laminating prints, you can increase the perceived
value yet again, and charge more for the services.
Why hand a print to a customer in an
envelope or rolled up with a rubber band when you can provide them with
a print mounted on Gatorfoam, Mural Mounts, Standouts, or another
substrate? Mounting keeps
prints flat, and protects them from getting damaged.
Coda offers large variety of pre-coated
mount boards in 4’ x 8’ sheets as well as cut sizes.
“We specialize in pre-cut sizes,” notes Greg White, regional
sales manager, “so our customers don’t have to bother with trimming
the boards themselves.” Custom
sizes can also be accommodated. White explains that all of the boards
are packaged with extra protection at the corners so they should arrive
ding-free.
In addition to cut sheets, Coda also
manufactures all the equipment and supplies you’ll need to mount and
laminate prints.
White offers some important things to
remember when you’re in the market for a laminator/mounter:
-
Inkjet, Silver Halide or any media with a coating requires
cold lamination. Thermal
lamination is designed for encapsulating items printed on a printing
press. Cold lamination incorporates a layer of laminate on the top of a
print, which is then trimmed and mounted to any of a variety of
substrates.
-
General rule of thumb: A laminated print will last 5-6
times longer than one that isn’t laminated.
This is especially true for prints displayed outdoors.
All Coda laminates incorporate a UV Coating.
-
Bigger is better. You
can always run smaller prints/mount boards through a larger machine, but
not the other way around. Try
to get the largest possible machine that you have room for in your shop,
as the Coda machines are built to last a lifetime.
-
A hand-crank machine is fine for mounting, but if you’ll
be laminating, you’ll need the added power and speed-control of a
motorized unit.
-
All Coda machines can be used for cold lamination as well
as mounting, and accept substrates up to 2 inches thick.
-
Coda mounting adhesive is aggressive and permanent.
This allows mounting of products such as canvas.
Coda does not offer a re-positionable adhesive, as these products
tend to fail over time.
-
By laminating a sign printed on vinyl material, that sign
is now waterproof. This is
because the vinyl itself is waterproof, as is the laminate.
Both are similar material and will expand and contract at the
same rate. This will protect
the image or type from fading or scratching off.
White notes that it is easy enough to mount an 8x10 or 11x14 print
on a board with a hand roller, but larger prints really should be done
on a mounting machine. This will eliminate any air bubbles and will
provide the even pressure needed for a clean job.
“Some labs will have one machine dedicated to mounting, with
another dedicated to laminating,” he explains, “which will eliminate
any waste caused by switching the laminate out.”
New Products Coming to IPI
White is really excited about a new line
of boards that Coda designed specifically to address the issue of the
“orange peel” effect that is seen when mounting metallic or high
gloss prints. These types of
images show every flaw in the adhesive and mounting board.
The new Coda boards feature a super smooth adhesive with a poly
carrier which is then specially applied to several boards in the Coda
line-up. “We’ve decided to offer this new line to the IPI members
before the product is introduced into the marketplace,” White says.
“We are also going to be introducing a
new laminator with greater flexibility to add options down the road as
your business expands. These will include more feed and take-up mandrels
that integrate into the cabinet, and a heat assist option that will warm
the pressure sensitive laminates to about 90 degrees F. This should be
especially beneficial to anyone in a colder climate,” he adds.
To find out more about the mounting and
laminating products that Coda offers, check out their IPI partner page
or go to the website at www.codamount.com.
You can contact Greg White at (805) 484-8883 or email him at greg@codamount.com.
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