A Lasting Impression

Today I attended a webinar about synthetic papers and their uses, including growing applications in the short-run digital world. For most everyday uses, synthetic papers are not a practical option because of their expense and long-term impact on the environment. However, when your piece is intended to be long-lasting, needs to be durable, tear-resistant, waterproof, and have the ability to be cleaned, then synthetic papers become a very attractive option.

Traditionally, to provide durability traits for a printed piece, you would have to apply a laminate coating. This adds both expense and additional time to production. As an example, if you printed 100 8.5 x 11 signs on a synthetic paper, the cost would be about $.35 per unit. If you printed on traditional paper and then used a pouch laminator, you would spend about $1.52 and sending it through a roll laminator you would spend $.46 (illustration source: Paperspecs Webinar). The additional step of applying the lamination also adds significant time to the final production.

What are some applications for durable synthetic papers?

• Menus
• Table Tents
• Bookmarks
• Manuals
• Tags
• Runner’s Bibs
• Key Tags
• Signs

This list is not exhaustive, but in general, anything that requires durability is a good candidate for production on these papers.

The availability of these papers with compatibility for digital devices enhances their usefulness because they now can be used in personalized and short-run applications with increasing cost effectiveness.