Did you know that you can add an element of glamour and excitement to your print marketing with glitter that doesn’t flake or rub off? Did you know there is ink that appears only when photographed with flash, creating a hidden reveal in the image? Did you know it’s possible to do 4-color overprinting on scratch-off cards, maps or posters? Did you know that scented marketing takes advantage of the powerful connection between the sense of smell and parts of the brain associated with emotions and memories?
Experienced special effects print providers offer a wide variety of UV coatings and special effects screen printing techniques to add sensory appeal to one-of-a-kind print promotions and packaging projects.
Who uses Multisensory Special Effects Printing?
The world’s biggest and best-known brands use special effects printing to create promotions and packaging that incorporate the power of scent, texture, and hidden reveals to cut through distractions and stop customers in their tracks.
Experienced multisensory print providers offer many customized inks and coatings to create uniquely irresistible promotions, from scented wrapping paper to scratch-and-sniff billboards to custom scratch-off cards and tickets.
Here are some of the most popular options for incorporating multisensory special effects into your print and packaging promotions.
Popular Special Effects Printing Options for Irresistible Print Promotions
Glitter effects are available in many colors, including custom blends beyond silver and gold, and high-quality glitter is designed not to scratch off. You can also vary texture, feel, and density to create the right finished effect for the piece.
Gloss, matte, and satin UV coatings offer flexible finish options, while raised-profile effects can be built to variable heights, with 2–5 mils being common. Texture effects can simulate rubber, concrete, reticulating, gritty, or sandy finishes, and custom blends can be developed for more distinctive applications from “baby blanket” to satin.
Soft-touch coatings can be adjusted by degree, and scratch-and-sniff scents are available in hundreds of options, using encapsulated formulas refined over many years.
Scratch-off printing includes many color options, including 4-color overprint on smaller sheet sizes for games and promotional giveaways. SnapShot ink reveals itself only when photographed with a flash, making it especially useful for social media engagement.
Additional specialty options include chromic inks such as thermochromic, photochromic, and hydrochromic formulas; metallic inks in silver, gold, and custom PMS colors; glow-in-the-dark inks; pearlescent coatings; black light inks; customizable color-shift inks and pigments; and opaque inks in white, black, and grey.
Scented printing incorporates high-quality, long-lasting scented inks that create a powerful connection to parts of the brain associated with memories, emotions and moods. Depending on the scent you use, scent marketing can evoke a wide range of feelings, from excitement to peace to nostalgia.
Surfaces & Substrates Suitable for Special Effects Printing
Special effects printing can enhance any flat surface, including paper and plastic.
Other surfaces that can be printed include chipboard, corrugated, vinyl, acrylic, static cling, APET, PET, PETG, metal, glass, and wood.
