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Typothalamus
Typothalamus
Known Participant
April 4, 2026
Answered

Guidance on creating a matte spot varnish file for text only in illustrated book

  • April 4, 2026
  • 3 replies
  • 220 views

At a juncture now where it’s necessary to create a matte spot varnish file for text only in an illustrated edition. The text is comprised of body text and titles in K only, and hundreds of sidenote annotations in a custom pms spot (a Pantone grey mix), which, due to the unforeseen effects of the printer’s UV LED offset process, are rendering now as an undesirably glossy text on our matte, natural finish Arctic Volume White stock, deliberately chosen for its non-glare properties. We’re preserving, however, the richly saturated and glossy look on the imagery that UV LED printing introduced (so a flood coat won’t do), but the text, in a dense and lengthy scholarly edition, can’t be encumbered with glare. 

The printer uses only Toyo ink and after many conversations with them and Toyo in the EU (where the printer is) the kabosh has definitively been put on Toyo Ink resurrecting their matte formula, eliminated 8 years ago. This would’ve allowed printing all text as a matte spot ink, avoiding the overprint matte varnish on text route, now required.

How does one set up ID file for such an application? Text items only - full matte varnish. Is there any distinction between text ‘overprint varnish’ (OPV) and text spot varnish - both terms/phrases seem in use but the printer uses the latter. All input/comments appreciated. Thank you.

    Correct answer BobLevine

    Briefly, you’d create a new layer and duplicate all of the text on it. Set it all to overprint and choose any spot color you want. Tell the printer to replace it with the varnish.

    And no, there’s no difference. Overprint is overprint.

     

    3 replies

    E
    Community Expert
    Eugene TysonCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    April 5, 2026

    ​@rob day  ​@BobLevine  ​@Dave Creamer of IDEAS  excellent advice so far, this is really helpful.

    One angle that keeps me up at night with projects like this is the physical registration on press. Since you're dealing with fine text and dense sidenotes, the margin for error is razor-thin. Even a microscopic shift on the press can result in "gloss halos" or shimmering edges where the varnish doesn't perfectly align with the ink. You might want to ask the printer about spreading the varnish plate by a tiny fraction (perhaps 0.05mm). Making the matte varnish slightly "larger" than the text is often a safer bet than a perfect match, as a slight matte overlap is far less distracting to a reader than a sliver of unintended gloss.

    On the technical side, it's usually best to keep your varnish spot color at a 100% tint. It’s tempting to try and "soften" the effect with a lower percentage, but that can actually backfire. A tint translates into a halftone screen on the varnish plate, which might leave your text looking grainy or mottled rather than smooth and readable. You want that varnish to be a solid "blanket" over the characters to kill the glare effectively.

    Because this is a complex scholarly edition, I’d highly recommend a "trust but verify" approach with the output. Use the Separations Preview in Acrobat Pro to ensure the varnish isn't accidentally "knocking out" the text underneath, everything on that Varnish layer must be set to Overprint. If your timeline allows, getting a few physical test spreads through the printer’s RIP on the actual Arctic Volume stock would be the ultimate peace of mind. It’ll confirm that the matte varnish and the UV imagery are playing nicely together before you commit to the full run.

      Typothalamus
      TypothalamusAuthor
      Known Participant
      April 13, 2026

      We’re now having a large sheet done as a test print (our second, as the first revealed the gloss/glare issue of UV printing even on matte stock), with all these recommended varnish settings – 0.05mm spread, full 100% tint, everything set to Overprint. The added complexity and cost of OVP matte varnish on text keeps me up at night, yet I’ve reviewed the prior print under all lighting conditions, with widely varying results. Under flat and even lighting (such as aboard the modern Singapore subway tonight, cool LED ), it’s less bothersome; one can suddenly wonder if this intervention is necessary. In contrast, under a multipoint lighting situation (such as today at a counter with dangling pendants, halogen color, well and adequately lit overall, but dynamic, not flat), the glare was an unmitigated disaster, utterly unacceptable, a night-and-day difference.

      For a critical edition and for a reader working to parse an exceedingly difficult and lengthy text, the scenario in the 2nd example, its effect on the reading experience, was so extreme as to be untenable for a responsible book designer. One cannot punish the reader, the entire enterprise, by capitulating to a printer and ink manufacture's push for UV LED printing without matting the text. We’re proceeding ahead, but will allow them to run one more sheet on Sappi Magno Volume as well as our chosen Artic Volume White, with a portion of the Magno unvarnished to verify the effect is still as evident on our backup stock choice. UV LED ink shine on text on bright white Arctic stock is a 1-2 punch to the eye where matte text would, otherwise, be ok.

      rob day
      Community Expert
      rob dayCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      April 4, 2026

      Hi ​@Typothalamus , Another option would be to run an extra matte black plate for the text only.

       

      That would eliminate the registration problem you will likely run into if the the varnish plate doesn’t register perfectly with the text. Running an extra black for text only would also eliminate the problems you will run into with last minute text corrections, which would have to be made twice.

       

      Running an extra spot black for text only used to be common practice with high end printing, when you wanted to manipulate the image black plate without affecting the text’s weight (black ink gain) on press.

      rob day
      Community Expert
      rob dayCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      April 4, 2026

      Here the text is a spot matte black:

       

       

       

        BobLevine
        Community Expert
        BobLevineCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
        Community Expert
        April 4, 2026

        Briefly, you’d create a new layer and duplicate all of the text on it. Set it all to overprint and choose any spot color you want. Tell the printer to replace it with the varnish.

        And no, there’s no difference. Overprint is overprint.

         

          Dave Creamer of IDEAS
          Community Expert
          Dave Creamer of IDEASCommunity Expert
          Community Expert
          April 4, 2026

          To add to Bob’s advice…

          I would name the layer Varnish and lock it after you create the varnish text or shape so you don’t accidently put something else on it.

          Name the spot color Varnish too and don’t use it for anything else.

          The spot color will separate with the other CMYK colors as its own color film/plate. Make sure you don’t have any other spot colors in the document (unless intentional).

          David Creamer: Community Expert (ACI and ACE 1995-2023)
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