Printing Techniques & Finishes – Boards & Boxes
I’m in the process of our first round of manufacturer queries (request for quotes (RFQs)) for Sigil, so have been thinking through printed components, foil stamping, and varnishes. It feels like a good time to revisit what options are available to us.
I talked about a lot of this material in my article: The Anatomy of a Card, where I covered card stocks, printing techniques, and finishes. This article is focused on other printed materials, more specifically chip board, gameboards, and boxes.
Anatomy of Boards & Boxes
Chip boards, gameboards, and boxes follow a similar printing process. First sheets of art paper (often 150-250 gsm) are printed, and finished either with a laminate or varnish.
The sheets are dried, and bonded to greyboard.
Punchboards are created by making extra thick cardstock with layered compressed paper, and overlayed with a printed sticker with the game-art pictures on it, usually on a white background. A die cut is then designed, made, and used to cut the punchboard around the images. You get it, pop out the tokens, and toss the extras. – PrintNinja
Components can have varying thickness. Below are the standard ranges I’ve seen quoted from manufacturers. Increasing thickness can add a “premium feel” to a game and be a good option for stretch goals.
Boxes: 1.0 – 1.5mm greyboard +157 gsm paper
Gameboards: 1.5 – 2.0mm greyboard + 157 gsm paper
Punch Boards: 1.5mm greyboard + 250 gsm paper
For Nut Hunt and Sigil we are using 1.5mm boxes + 157 gsm paper. We upgraded our Nut Hunt (punch board) tiles to 2.0mm, and I suspect we will use a 2.0mm gameboard for Sigil.
I want something more substantial than art paper for Sigil’s spells, but not so thick that it detracts from the board
While thicker components are often seen as more premium, there is a limit to what makes sense, and at some point thicker components can begin to feel clunky. For instance, since Sigil’s punch board components sit on top of the board – I am considering using 1.5mm punchboard so that they don’t stand too high above the play area.
Double Layered Boards
Double layered punch boards are two layers of punchboard bonded together. This creates recesses for meeples, cubes or other components.
Image from Panda GM
These are especially popular with player boards.
Embossing & Debossing
Embossing and Debossing are techniques to create elevated or depressed patterning on your box or board surface (or other printed material). They require the use of metal dies which are stamped onto the cardstock.
These are good overviews of the process: After Hours Creative Studios, Anstey Book Binding.
Embossing requires a male and female die, and the paper is sandwiched between the two dies to create a raised area.
Debossing uses one die which is pressed down onto the material creating a depressed pattern.
Both Embossing and Debossing can be used in conjunction with other finishes like foil stamping or spot UV.
Finishes
There are two primary types of finishes, with a couple of sub-types:
Liquid Finishes: a liquid varnish is applied to the paper or stock and then cured. There are three types of varnish:
Oil Based Varnish: This finishing was the historical norm.
UV Varnish: Is a varnish that is cured using UV light. UV varnish is stiffer than other types of varnish, and might be more prone to cracking. Historically it has only come in high gloss, but now comes in matte finishes as well.
Aqueous Varnish: Is a water-based varnish. It’s more environmentally friendly, and is the only offering at a number of manufacturers.
Laminate Finishes: are a thin film that is applied and bonded to the paper or stock. They typically add more thickness than liquid varnishes and when applied to thinner materials or cards can add to the stiffness.
Finish Attributes
There are a number of key attributes that apply to finishes. First is the glossiness. The desired level of gloss is mostly tied to aesthetics – although there is some tactile differences between glossiness.
Matte: Lowest reflectivity.
Satin / Mid Gloss: Medium reflectivity.
High Gloss: High reflectivity, more prone to clumping in shuffling.
While shiny gloss finishes are pretty, keep in mind that high reflectivity can reduce the accessibility of your game. My personal preference is matte, mid-gloss, or linen finish for most applications.
Linen Finish: is an application of cross hatching that is applied to curing varnishes. The term originates from pressing linen onto playing card sheets to create the dimpling.
While other materials have replaced actual linen in the process, the benefits to the method remain the same. By creating an un-even surface (like the surface of a golf ball) the airflow around cards is increased, improving the shuffle feel of the cards.
The linen finish also reduces the gloss of a varnish, so you won’t see high gloss linen finished cards.
While there is no shuffle-feel benefit to linen finishes on non-card components, some publishers apply linen finishes to their boxes and boards.
Soft Touch or Velvet Finishes: are a polyurethane finish that can be applied in a laminate or varnish. They are textured and described as feeling like smooth suede or a flower petal. Soft touch finishes are more popular for applications like book covers, although they do occasionally appear in board and card games.
Soft touch cards tend to clump and have a poorer fan. I would stay away from this finish for any component you expect to be shuffled, and only apply it on items like player boards or card boxes that you want to have a premium feel.
Decorative
Decorative elements can really make your printed components stand out. And by combining multiple treatments, some truly impressive looking boxes and boards.
Metallic Inks: A normal printing process uses 4 (CYMK) inks in line. Manufacturers can add a 5th metallic ink into the printing process.
Foil Film: A common kind of foiling is a foil film applied as an additional finish over an entire surface of your printed material. This creates a premium holographic feel.
Cold Foil Stamping: Similar to metallic inks a 5th adhesive is added to the CYMK printing process. The stock is then fed under a foil roller which adheres foiling to the specified area. It’s then cured (usually UV) and then a finish is applied.
Hot Foil Stamping: A hot foil stamp is applied embossing the foil onto the material.
Spot Varnish: An additional layer of high gloss varnish is applied to specific areas creating contrast, or highlighting specific elements.
Gilding: Predominantly used on cards and books, after the stock is cut, they are stacked and then a foil, or ink is applied to the card edges. This will create a colored or metallic edge. In some applications the edges are beveled and then gilded (think fancy wedding invitations).
What games have your favorite printed components, and what makes them stand out?
