Enhancing the Appearance of Printed Products Using Special Effects

Abstract

There are many applications of special effects on a printed sample. Special effects not only help projects stand out, but also enable printers to effectively separate themselves from their rivals. The methodology of this study will employ a set of eight print samples which contain different types of printed special effects. They were subjectively assessed by selected observers who utilized psychometric scaling procedures. All samples are standard CMYK print samples with the following special effects which are gloss and matte laminating, fragrant and textured specialized paper, lenticular 3D, foil stamping, and spot and textured varnishing. The objective of this research is to identify the application of the special effect and its influence to the observer. The research revealed that the factors which influenced user perceptions of the printed product are the content of the printed product, color variation, color reproduction, visual design, and technical implementation.