Author: Richard Rochat

The lamination process continues to be popular in the print world, with users of laminating film like book manufacturers, commercial printers, and graphic artists looking for it’s sleek, professional finish. However, with the variety of choices available, how do you know which thermal laminate film to use for which kind of products? Here we detail the three bases of thermal laminate films and their common application uses. Polyester is a wonderfully versatile film, usable for most applications. It offers superb scratch and scuff resistance for everyday wear, exceeds most durability standards, and it has reliable folding characteristics. Polyester’s high...

First, let’s have a look at the components of a printed piece before we discuss applying laminating film. Stock – Paper stocks have different textures and levels of acid content in addition to varied thicknesses. Toner vs. Ink – Printing machines use either powdered toner (dry) or fluid ink (wet) to add an image to the stock. Whether you are using an oil-based media or not is also important to consider. Heavy vs. Light Toner Coverage: When you print using a high amount of toner coverage, for example, a full-color brochure with a full bleed, maximum adhesive strength will...

Also known as polyester, PET, and PETP, this laminate is the most common of the thermoplastic polyesters. Calling it “polyester” often causes confusion – not only is it chemically similar to PBT also a thermoplastic polyester, the most common resin system used in GRP is also a polyester system – and also often called just “polyester”. (In this latter case, however, the polyesters are chemically unsaturated and are “free-radical polymerized” into a thermoset). Polyethylene Terephthalate is a strong and hard, stable material that absorbs very little moisture. It offers excellent gas barrier properties as well as chemical resistance with...