Product Artwork Information

Screen printing is basically the process of using a stencil to apply ink to your menu covers. What's clever about using this traditional method is that several screens can be used to produce a multicoloured image or design onto a wide range of different covering materials.

You might remember having done something similar in a school art lesson once, but you can rest assured that in terms of personalising menu covers; this technique is very much too cool for school!

Wood engraving is a relief printing process (similar to screen printing), and is one of the oldest personalisation techniques used at Smart Hospitality.

Wood engraving is known for its fine lines and is a printing method that lends itself beautifully to our real wood menu covers. A wood engraving is made by cutting and burning an image into the grain of hardwood (i.e. the front, back or spine of your menu cover). To apply colour, the engraved area is subsequently filled with a special type of paint. Multiple colours can be used (just like screen printing), so long as they don't touch. However, for a more authentic look, many of our customers leave the engraving as is.

Engraving is an extremely durable way of personalising your hospitality presentation products. Every menu cover or guest room folder we engrave is done by hand: this requires a lot of creativity, skill and care.

Metal plate printing is pretty damn cool even by our standards! We simply print your artwork onto metal aluminium plates and set them into an embossed area on your menu covers. This technique allows for a full colour image and can also be done using a piece of laminated substrate should you require a more matt finish. Metal plate printing, however, is all the rage.

This our latest printing method and, as far as design goes, a breath of fresh air! With specialist industrial print machines, we are now able to feed through a PVC type material with either a gloss or matt finish as though it were paper! By using white as a base colour, this enables us to print a full photographic image to the material which can then be used to bind your menu covers. Of course, this requires some precise measuring and quality book-binding on our part once the material is printed, but our manufacturing team are nothing short of miracle makers. The results are pure magic!

Hot foil can also be applied over the top of your printed menu should you wish to add further depth to your design.

This traditional technique oozes elegance and adds a real personal touch to your menu covers. Our hot foil colours range from gold, to silver, to pink, white, yellow and blue... to name but a few. Most are available in either a metallic or matt finish. Many other colours are available upon request and we can even source a specific pantone if you are able to cover the charges for the foil role.

Multiple colours can be used per cover so long as as they are for separate shapes or letters that do not touch ...a timeless classic!

We can also emboss your artwork and then fill it with hot foil for a more dimensional look.

For a little more jazz why not try out one of our sparking foils? Just ask a member of our sales' team upon enquiry.

Embossing consists of pressing your logo, image or text into the covering material of your menu. Where-as debossing is where the background of your logo, image or text is embossed so that the artwork appears raised on the cover. Both are an extremely subtle and robust way of personalising your menu covers.