Hoping to take your printed graphics to the next level? Say less. Big brands deserve bold graphics, and specialty printing effects like varnish, neon ink, and raised printing can enhance visibility, create complexity, and help you stand out amongst your competitors. In short, the intentional use of embellishments can make your project cooler.

Get to know our specialty printing capabilities and give us a shout if we’ve piqued your interest. We’d love nothing more than to bring your big ideas to life.

VARNISH

Varnish is a clear, transparent coating applied to a portion of a graphic. It’s primarily used to add emphasis or contrast to specific areas of a printed piece, such as highlighting important text or logos, or to create tone-on-tone patterns. Generally only used for indoor projects, varnish can be applied to acrylic, wood, plastics, metal, glass, banners, flexible foam panels, polyester, vinyl films, and various other rigid substrates. There are four different types of varnish – gloss, semi-gloss, matte, and drop gloss – and each provides a unique effect.

Gloss, Semi-Gloss, and Matte Varnish

Gloss varnish gives printed graphics a polished, smooth, reflective coating. It enhances the richness, depth, and range of color, making printed projects appear more vibrant and dynamic. Semi-gloss varnish has slightly less shine and reflective qualities than full gloss but is not quite as muted as matte. It can be used in all the same applications as full gloss. Finally, matte varnish adds textured contrast without reflective or glossy qualities.

Drop Gloss Varnish

Drop gloss varnish is used to achieve a textured 3D dome effect – think faux raindrops for an outerwear retail display. We generally apply this unique type of varnish in a repeating pattern across an entire graphic.

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NEON INK 

With the addition of our brand-new UV-LED printer, the swissQprintKudu (learn more below!), we can now print neon ink. This capability has greatly expanded our color gamut. Have a design with vibrant pops of color? Hoping to reproduce corporate brand colors across different materials and applications? No problem! Neon inks are also more visible in low lighting and fluorescent under a black light. Currently, we only recommend neon inks for projects that will live indoors.

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RAISED PRINTING 

While Infinity Images does not currently have 3D printers, we can achieve a 3D effect through raised printing. Requiring both a specialty flatbed printer and software, raised printing is the process of printing multiple layers of ink on top of each other to add height to the surface of an otherwise flat graphic. We’ve used raised printing to emboss logos and text for donor awards, and to add texture to projects like Portland Golf Club’s course maps.

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MEET OUR NEW SWISSQPRINT KUDU!

Last month we stepped up our specialty printing game! Introducing the swissQprint Kudu. This top-of-the-line UV-LED flatbed printer boasts a bevy of epic features: 

• We currently have the ONLY industrial large-format flatbed printer in the US with 10 colors (cyan, magenta, yellow, black, orange, neon yellow, neon pink, white, primer, and varnish). You read that right – only. 😎
• With 3 rows of 10 print heads, the Kudu can print up to 3,272 sq ft/hour, and at a museum-quality resolution of 1,350 dpi.
• The Kudu’s ink sets are VOC-free and Greenguard Gold Certified, meaning they’re low-emitting and contribute to cleaner indoor air.
• Sheet, single or dual roll, and tandem printing are all available.
• The quiet and energy-saving vacuum system is segmented into 260 parallel channels, ensuring precision and efficiency.