Thinking to only offer matt finish lamination on digital, daft or good idea?

[Karen White]

I have only ever offered gloss lamination and to be honest, i don’t think i have ever been specifically asked for a matt finish.

[Martyn Heath]

Hi Pane, i go towards the daft 😁. Im not disagreeing that matt may look better but i think people look at crispness, brightness of colours etc. I never offer matt unless requested and the only jobs i might consider/offer is on internal work.

However maybe your clients/market is different out there.

[Pane Talev]

😂 Cheers Martyn.

I agree about the colour brightness / sharpness.

[Pane Talev]

Matt lamination hides a lot of imperfections on one project.

Scratches on media. Scratches on background. Strange shades in prints.

Matt lamination makes us and the client look better.

One example. Older van/ lots of scratches, gloss lamination is showing all the scratches.

[David Rogers]

We find quite a clear divide culturally on gloss v matt.
We have our mainly ‘ooooh, shiny, shiny!’ customers and less of the ‘oh, that’s nice’ matt ones.
Gloss scuffs up even when you’re laying it, when the customer wipes it with a gritty cloth and it terrible when you’ve done large areas of printed solid colours and the light hits it wrong – matt is a whole lot more forgiving but does mute the colours a little.
Tend to offer matt/gloss when doing trays – again, quite a clear divide on who demands gloss.

To ONLY go matt won’t win you any favours as the “oh, it’s not very bright is it” response will have you overlaminating in gloss to pull that finish back!

If you want to push clients to opt for matt – sell gloss as ‘premium gloss’ for an extra surcharge.
We did that for matt years ago – if they want it, they’ll pay for it (or you can give them a ‘free upgrade’).

[Jamie Wood]

Most of our signage is matt laminated, unless the client specifically asks for gloss. We give them the choice on labels and other stuff.

[RobertLambie]

We use Gloss for everything!
That said, I will use matt laminate for certain applications but that is purely based on my own choice.
However, if a customer requests a matt finish, then we charge extra for it based on a minimum spend/volume of signs or vehicles.

Vehicles and Sheet Materials are Gloss and cut vinyl graphics are gloss, adding prints that are Matt beside gloss text and gloss background surfaces looks odd unless you are purposely trying to create a desired finish/look.

I try and hold as small a range of stock as possible, so Gloss is the choice I opted for.

[David Hammond]

I offer both gloss and matt.
Sometimes a design suits matt or it needs gloss to really punch the colours If it’s a wrap, it’s gloss because I’m not having two rolls of expensive laminate on the shelf.

Another reason I narrowed down my services, I don’t need to keep rolls and rolls of stock for every type of job.

[Leslie Anderson]

Only Gloss for me. 🙂
I have never ever used Matt laminate.

[Simon Worrall]

I have always been given to understand that Matt laminate doesnt last as long as gloss. Ive never tested this and Im happy to be proved wrong. I know that when stretched too far or heated too much when wrapping, then mat tends to go a bit glossy and ruin the consistency of the wrap.

But I get your point, Pane. Matt certainly looks very smart.

[Jamie Wood]

We do only use matt on signage, not on wraps or vehicle graphics.

[Joe Killeen]

That’s a bit Henry Ford “any colour once its black”. I use Gloss, Satin and Matt depending on the job.

In the general running costs its not a lot to stock a roll of gloss and matt

[David Hammond]

Just to add to this.

Gloss is the majority of my work, I have matt in for occasional jobs, and I do some internal work for a few agencies and a bit of stuff where it’s being filmed, where Matt is better suited as there’s no reflection issues.

I only stock Polymeric matt/gloss, and on the very few occasions where I’d need to laminated polymeric (I only use it on short term stuff) I use the poly lam. Cast I just use Gloss.

It can get expensive having rolls of different laminates, matched to different vinyls,

[Mark Johnston]

We have matt in stock just now but seldom use it. mainly always gloss.

[Pane Talev]

Thank you all for your replies.

I cannot offer matt only. I understand.

Also agree that for vehicle gloss is better unless a special request.

I will keep offering both. Having another matt roll laminate on the shelf will not hurt the business.

[Leslie Anderson]

Can I retract my reply? 😳😂
I met with a large customer of mine yesterday, that has requested all their stage set graphics and backdrops should always be in a matt finish to stop the reflection of stage lights, cameras and that type of thing. So I will now have to stock both types of laminate. 🙄