See Me, Feel Me

Creative printers are capitalizing on the demand for innovative yet cost-effective paperboard packaging by developing their own proprietary solutions. Curtis Packaging describes its CurtCRYSTAL™ product as a patent-pending, proprietary printing process that lowers the cost of achieving tactile, micro-embossed-like effects by eliminating the need for off-press processing and embossing dies. Likewise, the company’s CurtCHROME™ metallic printing process is said to simulate the brilliance of foil at a fraction of the cost. To a great extent, the choice of substrate has ramifications up and down the supply chain from design to delivery. Paperboard suppliers are stepping up to the plate with grades designed for superior runnability, cost-­effectiveness, and customer appeal.