What is varnish in printing?
A varnish is a clear coating printed by the press like an ink, over a whole sheet (flood varnish) or only chosen areas (spot varnish), in gloss, satin or matte, to protect the print or add contrast.
What it means for your file
On an offset press it goes on from its own plate, like an extra ink, so it adds little cost to a job that is printing anyway. It protects less than an aqueous or UV coating or lamination. A spot varnish needs its own layer in the file: solid shapes in a named spot color set to overprint, just like spot UV.
For coatings applied after printing, see aqueous and UV coating; for a thicker gloss on chosen areas, see spot UV.
An example
A brochure on matte coated paper with a spot gloss varnish over its photos makes the pictures look deeper while the text stays soft and easy to read. The file has the artwork, plus a separate layer holding solid shapes over each photo in a spot swatch named as the printer asks, often “Varnish”, set to overprint, and the printer makes the varnish plate from it.
A common mistake
Expecting a spot varnish to look like spot UV. A press varnish is thin, so the contrast between gloss and matte is subtle, and on uncoated paper it soaks in and barely shows. For a strong shine you can see and feel, ask for spot UV over matte lamination instead.
How to fix it
If your printer sent the file back saying “The foil (or spot UV) needs its own layer,” the fix page has the step-by-step way to do it yourself, and a fixed price if you’d rather have it done.
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