Scuff-Free Matte Laminate Creates Opportunities for Designers

Since first opening its doors for business back in 1997, Pinnacle Press’ clients have repeatedly asked the printer whether a scuff-free laminate was available to use on the covers, dust jackets and seasonal catalogs the company printed for them.

“Since the moment the company started, we’ve had that question,” said Pinnacle Press President Tom Rohlfing.

Like many other printers, Pinnacle’s customers were weary of using dark colors on covers, due to the ease of scuffing. So Pinnacle -- like many other printers -- faced a high-number of returns because of damage if they did not spend the extra money for protective plastic wrapping to preserve their publications during shipping and on the shelf.

Rohlfing said a new laminate -- GBC’s 8300 Matte Polypropylene Scuff-Free Film -- that the company recently began to stock appears to be the answer to the repeated inquires from its roster of university, trade and religious publishers.

“This is it,” Rohlfing said. “This is the answer to our problems. It creates all types of opportunities for designers, and you don’t have to shrinkwrap every book.”

GBC--a part of ACCO Brands Corp. -- said its product -- a combination of polypropylene and an abrasion-resistant coating -- is also intended for use on packages and other printed materials.

The Scuff-Free Film was specifically engineered to accept UV spot coating, thus allowing for greater flexibility on the design side.

“It’s a good value and priced right in line with other laminations,” Rohlfing.

The St. Louis-based printer, a division of Kohler Print Group, was one of the first color book-component printers to stock the GBC product, a coating that took its creator years to perfect.

“It’s something we’ve been working on for a while,” said Cindy Pilch, GBC’s senior product manager.

The product was introduced in September 2005 on a limited basis before being ramped up for the general printing public. Pinnacle Press made one of the first orders, and now several other printers have caught on.