Paper finisher

Laser engraving A new technique for luxurious substrates has a haptic and visually impressive effect. Laser beams instead of ladyshave - this is almost normal for ladies who want to get rid of annoying hair. Laser operations that correct the visual acuity of the eye are also on the rise worldwide. Laser engraving has so far been considered for ferrous and non-ferrous metals, even wood and plastics. But laser engraving on paper? Why not? Jan Staecker, Christian Feichtinger and other market strategists at a Hamburg advertising agency asked themselves this question. Their experiments and developments over several years led to the agency brand Paperlux (www. paperlux.de) in July 2004. At Paperworld 2005 in Frankfurt am Main, together with Büttenpapierfabrik Gmund, they presented laser engraving in filigree applications for high-quality printed matter for the first time.
It is known from other materials that laser engraving does not allow any "engraving color". This means that the "base color" of the paper also appears. As the graphics, logos and lettering are removed from the paper at different depths using a laser beam, this type of finish appears brownish yellow on beige paper or slate grey on dark blue paper, for example. Such subjects have contour and contrast, are razor-sharp, tangibly fine and basically tactilely and visually innovative. Provided a minimum grammage of 120-150 g/m2 is used, the laser light does not scorch the worn, thin-skinned areas of the paper.
Paperlux only recommends Gmund papers, but advises against the Kashmir Cloth collection. The delivery time for laser engraving is around three weeks from approval. Motif testing and proof production are part of the service. Preferably vector-oriented data formats are processed.
Examples of Paperlux laser engraving.
Photo: hjl
Hans Joachim Laue