Custom Raised UV Files Part 1

Have you tried adding Raised UV as a print embellishment on your business cards or presentation folders? Using a template downloaded from our website and Adobe Illustrator, you can make impressive, custom Raised UV designs in under 15 minutes! Raised UV gives print elements a tangible lift off the page and shine. Raised UV is a great marketing tool as it highlights design elements on printed products as well as adding a memorable tactile effect. Feel free to learn more about the benefits of Raised UV here. This tutorial is the first in a series of tutorials we are creating to showcase different ways of designing print-ready Raised UV files in Illustrator. These instructions use Adobe Illustrator’s pen tool to create custom outlines around shapes in an image. To look through some Raised UV Folder images, feel free to visit the Presentation Folder Inc. website here. To order free Raised UV samples, visit this link.

You can follow along our step-by-step breakdown of designing Print ready Raised UV Pocket Folder Designs below. Feel free to watch our tutorial video if you would like to follow along visually.

Visit the Presentation Folder website

1. Go to https://presentationfolder.com/ to download a template for your Raised UV file. In our tutorial, we will be designing a Raised UV file for a presentation folder.

2. On the website’s menu, head to the “Resources” tab on the right-hand side and click the arrow to drop down all the options. Choose: Templates, then, Raised UV Textures.

This is a screenshot of presentationfolder.com's webpage showing navigation from the Resources tab to the Raised UV Textures templates. Clicking the Raised UV Textures Button leads you to the Templates page.

3. Choose a texture template to start (The Parquet Texture is used in the tutorial) by clicking: Download Template, underneath the Parquet Texture option.

Download the Pocket Folder Template

This is a screenshot of 3 distinct Raised UV Folders with buttons underneath to download the templates pertaining to the texture.
Free, easy to download Raised UV texture templates for pocket folders.

4. Your download will open in a new window, but be sure to save to your desktop or wherever you will be accessing your project files.

Open the Raised UV Template in Illustrator

5. Once you have saved the template, reopen in Adobe Illustrator.

6. Review your template by going to the right-hand bar, Layers, tab. You will see one of the layers is a magenta folder titled “Raised UV.” The magenta layer helps keep all Raised UV elements organized, visually distinguishes between the Raised UV portions of the artwork. When the file goes to print, the machine will identify the layers and print accordingly.

The layers section of the template in Adobe Illustrator
CMYK and Raised UV Layer separations

7. You can remove the parquet texture from your template, start from scratch and add your own raised UV design elements. (For purposes of this tutorial, we go ahead and delete the texture to create our design)

The pocket folder Raised UV template opened in Adobe Illustrator
Illustrator File with the Raised UV texture removed

Add your CMYK Artwork

8. Import your artwork elements to your template. In this tutorial, we use our “Soda Bottle” folder artwork.

A CMYK Artwork File for a pocket folder. Orange Background with text that reads "The Fancy Soda Co." on the back of the folder and the "The Fancy Soda CO." and "Best Soda in Town!" on the front. The front of the folder also features an image of soda bottles in an ice chest.

9. Before you begin on marking the artwork, be sure to have the “Raised UV” Layer folder clicked on the right-hand side, while you work. You will be creating new layers under the “Raised UV” Layer folder as you design.

A closeup of the image featuring soda bottles in an ice chest. There is a green, orange, and blue soda bottle surrounded by ice cubes with visible condensation.
In this tutorial, we will be tracing the large soda bottle shapes

Trace a large shape in your image

10. As you will see in the tutorial, we use the PEN TOOL (left click to lay down points) to outline (no fill) the soda bottles’ contours. Every time you click down, you add a new anchor point to your layer, connecting each line and point you create. The more anchor points, the more details you can get. The editing process involves deleting or adding anchor points, depending on how precise you are. You want the lines to be as tight and clean as possible to create a full vector.

A screenshot of the icons for Adobe Illustrator's pen tool.
Illustrator’s Pen Tool

Fill in your Raised UV shape to make it a solid

11. Once you have created your shape, reverse the stroke’s color, so we have a white fill, then switch to magenta under your layer, and you have your first raised UV layer. (In the tutorial we repeat step 10 on all three soda bottles)

A screenshot of a CMYK + Raised UV artwork file. The file is the same as the CMYK artwork file, just featuring solid shapes covering the soda bottles with the color Magenta.

12. Once you have all of your shapes completed, check to be sure they are all appropriately stored in the magenta raised UV folder. Toggle the eye icon on/off, to make sure they are all linked.

Save your file

13. SAVE YOUR FILE. We accept many file forms, see here. We suggest either an Adobe Illustrator (AI) or a print-ready PDF file. Visit our site to learn more! https://presentationfolder.com/

And you are done! You will now have a Raised UV artwork file that is completely custom to your company’s image and branding. Stay tuned for our next Raised UV tutorial using Illustrator’s Image Trace function for fine-detail, textural Raised UV designs.

Digital Printing VS. Offset: Three Innovations You Should Know

 

Three Innovations You Should Know

In the last 15 years there has been a lot of talk about print maintaining relevance in the digital age. Luckily, presentation folders, business cards, advertisement posters, and other tangible promotional products haven’t lost their edge. Even more so, leaders in the presentation folder industry  have seen a convergence between print technology and digital technology that has progressed the capabilities of the industry for the better. One major innovation, known as digital printing, has expanded capabilities of print which have in turn allowed for creativity at a cost-efficient price. In a world driven by mass-produced online content, a commitment to tangible, user-driven design has been an integral aspect to keeping  print alive. And ironically, the implementation of digital technology is allowing us to keep this commitment. The following paragraphs will outline a few innovations that digital technology allows for, including: variable data, lower prices on short runs, and specialty finishing services.

Presentation Folder with Raised Digital Foil
Raised Digital Foil Pocket Folder

Variable Data

 

Variable Data is the usage of different data point in one printing “run.” If you are looking to print business cards for your office, each employees name would be a different point in the job. With a traditional offset press, each business card would carry unique data, meaning that each card would require a unique plate to print. Cleaning and replacing each plate per business card adds up time and cost of ink quickly, which is why many clients chose to opt out of the personalization of their products when partnering with an offset printing supplier. Digital printing, however, adds no extra cost in time or cleanup to add variable data as its software is equipped to add the changes, meaning that the possibilities for personalization are not only economically practical, they are encouraged in the framework of digital machines. Customizing presentation folders, business cards, and other promotional products with variable names, key terms, and imagery becomes a seamless ergonomic process when utilizing digital printing presses. Digital printing makes the possibilities for personalized marketing truly palpable.

 

Lower Prices, Shorter Runs

 

In the same token, shorter runs become cost and time efficient, again placing value on  personalization and authenticity that just wasn’t practical with offset printing. Because there is no need to clean off and separate plates between vastly different jobs, unique promotional products with smaller quantities are affordable and recommended with the horsepower that digital printing offers. Printing short, unique runs of presentation folders, business cards, and posters have never been easier.

Raised Digital Foil

Specialty Finishing Services

 

Lastly, many Digital Printing presses offer specialty finishing services that not only augment the design of an array of promotional products, they also ensure a quality and durability not guaranteed by products printed elsewhere. Specialty lamination (matte, gloss, scuff-proof and more), Raised UV Coating, and Raised Digital Foil are all within reach on Digital Presses.

 

 

A Note from the PFI team: We love to track the newly innovated while keeping the authenticity of age. While we are powered by the surge for new design that comes with digital presses, we cannot help but feel nostalgia for more minimal business cards hand letterpress-ed with wood type. We strive for a balance in human and software power, and with all of the digital capabilities mentioned above, we keep many offset and Letterpress presses in-house, and cherished by many of our staff. We have an array of digital, offset, and letterpress printing presses to fit the unique needs of you and your clients.

Product Feature: Tax Folders

Because the last thing you need to worry about during tax season is the folder that holds them.

Tax Folder with Emboss
Gray Tax Folder with Window Slit

About the product:

We understand the chaos that comes with tax season, and how one “season” can end up lasting many months. The last thing you want to be worrying about during these busy months is the presentation folder that will hold your finished report, which  is why we have teamed up with accounting teams of all sizes to develop a simple product that works for any of your tax report needs. Printed in the classic presentation folder dimensions of 9 x 12 x 4, our tax folders make elegant report covers. Typically, we print tax folders on neutral dark gray, green, or blue thick 100# linen stock from Group B . This robust stock can accommodate anything from short tax returns to a large-scale annual report.

Tax Folder with Window Slit and Gold Foil Stamping
Red Tax Folder with Window Slit

Unique and Functional Form:

We start with a traditional presentation folder and implement design strategies to fit your unique tax folder needs. We make tax folders keeping practicality in mind without compromising an emphasis on brand consistency. Depending on the length of your report, we can incorporate an expanded spine with or without staple tabs for different sized tax returns.

 In addition, we die cut a small window on the cover of the folder in order to make the name and year on the report visible. If your tax folders require any additional functional demands, we have the equipment and expertise to implement multiple solutions.

Showcasing your Brand:

When it comes to designing tax folders, we like to keep it simple. We understand that you want your report covers to be straightforward while also leaving a lasting impression on clients. Using a durable frame that supports their sensitive information will allow your business to maintain a client-facing professional ethos, but adding an extra touch of design with leave them with that lasting impression. Because we prefer to use durable, dark-colored stock for tax report covers, we don’t recommend any actual printing done to these specific presentation folders. Instead, utilizing foil stamping and embossing will allow your showcase your brand. Embossing with a gold, silver, or bronze foil stamp finish is the best way print on tax folders. Showcase your tax reports with a functional, sleek presentation folder that will protect months of accounting.

Navy Blue Presentation Folder with Gold Foil Stamping
Emboss with Gold Foil Stamping

Coatings and Lamination

A STRONG FINISH MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE



We believe one of the most valuable aspects to printed products is the combination of visual and tactile experiences it creates with the audience.

When looking at an image on a screen, you’re simply just looking. With print, not only are you looking at it, but holding it in your hands. That tangible quality that comes inherently with print is what sets it apart, makes it memorable and allows it to have a greater impact.



With that in mind, we’ve curated a book of coating and finishing options, that both enhance the look of the print and form the finished surface that ultimately determines what it feels in someone’s hands. Each finish has both aesthetic and functional properties.



Using a finish that complements the design, perhaps accentuating a certain element is often an overlooked and underestimated aspect to printing. When done well, a strong finish can be used for your advantage to create more engaging printed pieces that keep your customers coming back, especially when they see how much it benefits them as well.

You may be familiar with the difference between a gloss and matte finish, and while there are many of each in this book, we aim to show the benefits, limitations and best practices for all of our coating options.



In addition to our traditional overall aqueous and laminate options, we’ll take a closer look at some exciting new digital spot coatings – Spot Gloss UV, Raised 3dUV and Raised Foil.

These unique spot coatings provide fresh ways to give your printed piece an unforgettable look and feel that can make print sensational. We’ll also show ways to best combine them with overall coatings for the most impactful finish.