Raised Spot Gloss coating add both pop and depth to your printing projects by applying areas of raised, clear coating*. To get it, you’ll need to create a separate mask file in addition to your color artwork to let us know where you’d like it applied.

UV or Gloss coverage should be less than 30% otherwise there is the risk of the cards sticking to one another. Also remember when creating your design that the depth of the Raised Spot UV/Gloss is 50 microns. 

Raised Spot UV Video

Raised Spot UV vs. Spot UV
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What is a Mask?
Mask files are black and white files that show where to apply additional finishes like Spot Gloss coating. They are separate from your colored artwork file, but both files work together to create your project.

Creating a Mask for Your Coated Project
The easiest way to create a mask for your project is to use your print file. Remove all elements from the file that will not be coated, since the mask is only used to show the placement of coating.

Next, change the color of everything to be coated to black (C0 M0 Y0 K100). There should be no other color in your mask file.

Another option is to create a new file the same size as your artwork. Place the elements to be coated in the identical position as your artwork, and fill them with black. 

Best Practices for Mask Files
When creating masks for coated projects, alignment is the most critical part of the process. Make sure your artwork and mask files are the same size, and all shared elements are in the same position.

Because coating differs in application from ink and occurs after the printing process, coated areas shouldn’t be extremely small or thin. Stay away from delicate graphics and thin or small fonts. The minimum line weight for raised Spot UV masks is 0.5 points.

For the best results, your mask file must be submitted as a vector file and created in a program like Illustrator or InDesign. Otherwise, you won't have sharp edges on the artwork.

If you have any questions about creating a mask for your raised spot project, feel free to contact us, and we’ll be happy to help. For those who don’t feel comfortable with the process, our design department can create a mask from your artwork.

*Please note that when applying Raised Spot Gloss to a white background, the gloss may appear to have a yellow tint and not a true clear finish.