Silkscreen | We can silkscreen covers of books and ring binders with as many colors as required. We use Vinyl based inks that dry naturally. These can help accent a design or work to compliment the cover decoration. Some applications of this are panels on a spine that have foil stamping in them, or silkscreened covers with or without additional foil stamping. A film positive is required for this (we can handle this for you if needed) and multiple colors need to have crop marks and be designed so there is some overlap for tight registration. Talk to you CSR for advice if your design will utilize this process.
Foil Stamp | We have 4 different hot foil stamping presses to help us create the look you need for book or packaging cover. We stock 8 foil colors and can get any color you are looking for including specialty foils like Hologram, Rainbow, and tint effect foils. A stamping die is required for this and depending on the run length and complexity of the die may be made from Magnesium, Copper or Brass.
Blind Embossing | This is where the design is pushed up. The blind refers to it not having any foil or silkscreen to the design, where only the cover is embossed upward. We have specialized Sheridan Embossing presses that allow us to emboss both the material and the board on a hard cover. This can provide a dramatic effect when your design fits this process. We can also emboss paper cover stock, which can be used for perfect bound covers and dust jackets as well as promotional material.
Top Stamp or Top Silkscreen | This refers to where the tops of the image or design are either foil stamped or silkscreened and embossed to register. A common design element in yearbook cover’s, it has a very dramatic effect for certain designs and logos.
Metal Applique | Also known as Metallay Embossing, this is where a very thick foil (think of heavy duty aluminum foil for your kitchen) that has an adhesive back is applied with a sculpted brass embossing die through the wrapped cover, and the foil covers the entire design area. This is a long standing Yearbook decorating technique and from our years of serving that industry, we can provide it for commercial applications. Always works best with a multi-level design and needs to have some type of surrounding border to allow for the film to cut cleanly. This process normally uses silver or gold foil, however we can get other colors like copper, red, green depending on availability. Many times we will also antique or Overtone the design to help bring out the detail. This hand applied process gives a very unique look as no two covers will be exactly alike!
Die Cutting | UBB has manual and automatic fed presses that allow us to die cut a wide variety of materials ranging from paper stock all the way to wrapped covers over .120 pt board. We utilize this when making slipcases, covers with windows, or adding a decorative treatment to cut edge or turned edge products. Our maximum size for automatic feeding is 21 x 29, and our hand fed platen press can do up to 26 x 37 in size and up to .150 pt board.
Graining | UBB has 27 different designs that we can use to really add some differentiation to your decorated cover. The most prominent use of this is when you want to have a distinctive and heavy graining pattern to the cover yet also want to utilize fine foil stamping. We can grain a wrapped (or unwrapped) cover and knockout the design where we will be decorating, which gives a wonderful multi-dimensional effect while allowing the stamping to be crisp and clean. These plates were designed for the yearbook industry and generally are limited to an area that is 14 x 20 or less. Contact your CSR for advice and information on this very unique decorating ability.
Padded Covers | This is where we use board that has foam padding glued to the board to give a nice and luxurious look and feel. We can create covers that are padded on both the front and back or just the front. Normally you do not pad the spine, but that can be done as well if your design warrants it. This feature can be used on book covers, ring binders or special packaging items.
Round Corner | This refers to the hard cover having the outer corners rounded instead of a squared off look. We can also round corner the text pages on a book with the same radius as the cover to give a finished look. Additionally we regularly round corner perfect bound or mechanically bound books where the covers and text are all round cornered. Most common radius is 3/8” for both hard covers and for soft cover books.
Gilded Edges | This refers to the edges of a bound book where either an imitation or pure gold leaf is applied. This can be done on one side (normally the head when it’s one sided) or all three edges and can also be used in conjunction with round corners.
Ribbon Book Markers | UBB binds many books that use one to three or more book mark ribbons. We can provide these in a wide variety of colors and most of the time we incorporate laser cut edges for a clean edge that resists fraying. These will mount underneath the headband and extend down at the foot long enough to allow you to grab it with your fingers and open the book by sliding toward the face. 3/8” wide is the most common, however in thin books we have to drop down to 1/4″ or even 1/8” wide as the width of the ribbon has to be less than the thickness of the book block for it to be applied efficiently.