PACKAGING WITH PIZZAZZ
Thermography Offers an Exciting New Alternative
By Anthony F. Urgola

The packaging industry is constantly evolving to keep up with market trends. Since consumers are drawn toward creative packaging designs, retailers and marketers need to be clever and innovative to entice buyers into buying their products. As a result, today's packaging has become more eye-catching and features more vibrant designs than ever before.

The good news is, a variety of unique printing processes are now available to help create effective packaging. Thermography, or raised printing, can add a new dimension or value that is beneficial to a myriad of products, giving designers a powerful new tool to enhance their work.

Thermography is a specialized printing process. The smooth look and feel of the raised print is created by using offset, letterpress or flexography presses combined with attachments specifically designed to add to the thermographic powder and heat process which raises the printing. The professional look and feel of thermography make it ideally suited for a multitude of uses, ranging from letterheads, envelopes, business cards, report covers, personal stationery, invitations and announcements to greeting cards, wrapping paper and product packaging.

DRAWN TO RAISED PRINT - The unique nature of raised print adds an entirely new dimension to printed materials. Research has shown that consumers often purchase impulsively. Therefore, a package or label has to draw a consumer's eye and look attractive to them. Customers are drawn towards raised printing because with thermography, they can actually "feel the difference."

A product can be simulated on a printed piece by raising its image which adds a dimension and shine that make it stand out from the flat print on the rest of the package. It also stands out from a similar product competing for space on the same store shelf.

For example, manufacturers raise the print on polished fingernails or lipstick on a woman's lips and feature this on a bottle label or box, or how about a candy package where colorful candies seem to jump off the package? Chocolate chip ice cream packages have raised chocolate chips, or multi-colored sprinkles that look just like real sprinkles. All powders and resins used to raise the print are completely non-toxic and safe, making them even more consumer friendly.

Recent innovations in thermographic equipment have further increased packaging options and affordability. New retrofit web thermography units can now be added inline to almost any web press. This allows for inline thermography to take place in conjunction with flat printing in only one pass through the press. This process provides even more decorative options in conjunction with flexo, offset, letterpress or silk screen printing, and foil stamping all in one continuous operation.

The thermographic processes used in the past, such as slower sheet-fed methods, were traditionally done offline. These processes, although still suited for many products, made thermography too expensive to consider using on product labeling or any item printed on a web press, but the new retrofit web thermography unit has allowed raised printing to be created inline on a flexography, letterpress or offset press. This capability dramatically lowers production costs and opens up thermography for a wide range of new uses, including product packaging, gift-wrap and labels.

Before this new technology, it was not practical or cost effective to produce thermographed packaging labels. However, this web technology now makes it possible to produce thermography on a web press for labels, software packaging, gift-wrap, gift-bags, book covers, and greeting cards at minimal costs.

Thermography also provides a less expensive way to highlight an area as an alternate to foil stamping, embossing or the UV coating process. The speed of the press does not have to be slowed down the way it does during other processes, and expensive dies or toxic chemicals are not required. These value-added results can now be achieved at a much lower price.

A FAST GROWING MARKET - The packaging market has the potential to become one of the fastest growing markets in the printing industry. Product manufacturers, marketers and retailers have seen how the colorful package printing and creative designs produced by thermography can help increase consumer interest, especially when eye-catching glitters, coming in an assortment of colors, and the luster of the pearlized look are used.

Thermography can also serve as a product security function, as the process is now being used by packaging companies in China to produce more complicated and elaborate packaging in order to frustrate potential counterfeiters. Another benefit would be its capability to be used as Braille on packages or labels to be felt and read by visually impaired consumers.

From business cards and letterheads to innovative product packaging, Fortune 500 companies across the country are using thermography to increase profits. One creative company in Utah is creating simulated leather book covers using thermography by utilizing a textured design, a major crayon manufacturer is raising the print on coloring book borders to make coloring easier for young children and wallpaper manufacturers have a keen interest in using thermography to create raised patterns and designs.

Thermography powders can produce a wide range of colors, textures and effects to add excitement to printing, especially packaging. The two types of powders available include transparent, which is the most popular, and opaque. Transparent, or clear, powders come in a variety of finishes including high-gloss, semi-gloss, dull and semi-dull. The final color is achieved by combining colored ink with the clear powder. Iridescent, pearlized and metallic finishes and glitter colors can also be added for additional packaging pizzazz.

Although the thermographic process dates back to the early 1900s, the industry continues to raise expectations.

Anthony F. Urgola is a board member of the Worldwide Printing Thermographers (WPT) Association and the president of Faust Thermographic Supply, Linden, N.J. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., WPT's mission is to promote and advance thermography as well as the use and application of the thermographic process. For more information call 202-393-2818 or log onto the web at www.thermographers.org.