What is Litho Lamination?

The Litho Lamination Process

Litho Lamination is a type of printing that uses a lithograph – a printing system that works on the premise that water and oil don’t mix. The two plates used in lithography are called positive and negative plates.

The positive plate used in litho lamination printing is made receptive to oil-based inks and to repel water. The positive plate is also a smooth surface. The negative plate is made in an opposite fashion – a rough texture designed to absorb water and repel oils.

Rubber rollers then squeeze out water and lift ink from the plate. The rollers then apply the ink – and the image meant for transfer – to the printing paper. The paper is then laminated onto a backing board – such as corrugated cardboard.

The Popularity Of Litho Lamination

Litho lamination is most commonly used in the packaging industry to create custom printed corrugated packaging and shipping boxes. Corrugated is an excellent material for shipping as it offers excellent protection for the products at an economic price. Unfortunately, corrugated is a less than ideal material to directly print graphics to.

For this reason, packaging manufacturers use the litho lamination process to combine the versatile properties of corrugated with high-quality, custom graphic printing – which is especially important for products such as “buy-in-bulk” items that place the corrugated shipping box directly in front of the consumer.

Litho Lamination is also used for cardboard retail signs, point-of-purchase displays, and floor stand displays – making it a great investment for manufacturers for a variety of packaging and advertising solutions.

Luckily, litho lamination packaging is very cost-effective, no matter what volume, quality, or purpose it is ordered for.

For more information on the litho lamination process, contact us  today.