Laminating seems to be the preferred method form most of our customers, it avoids little specs of dust spoiling the surface sheen on large areas of UV varnish. But using Spot UV (using it on just some areas) achieves a nice contrast between any matt finish and the spot UV which feels and looks great.

If you are interested in these finishes in order to protect your print then laminating is the best. We even have scuff resistant laminate.

Both need a good surface to key to and both work better on smooth coated papers. Spot UV keys well to a matt laminate and is our preferred method to gain maximum contrast between the two.

This really depends on the coverage of the ink, we need the ink to be dried completely before applying a laminate and thick areas of ink require longer to dry. The laminate also needs time for the adhesive to cool and set. So ideally we need around 24hrs extra to laminate a job. We’re often able to speed this up if the ink coverage is not so great.