Substrate-to-Process Compatibility Guide
Which substrate works with which print and finishing process — and when it only works conditionally. 30+ substrates across offset, digital, flexo, gravure, screen, UV, foil stamping, lamination, and die cutting. Rated from industry practice, not theory.
| Substrate | Offset Litho |
Digital Toner |
Digital Inkjet |
Flexo- graphic |
Gravure/ Roto |
Screen |
UV Offset |
Hot Foil Stamping |
Thermal Lam. |
Solvent/ SFL Lam. |
Flatbed Die Cut |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Coated Art Paper (Matt/Gloss) Paper & Board · 90–350 gsm |
✓ | ✓ | ◐ | ◐ | ◐ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | — | ✓ |
Uncoated / Maplitho Paper & Board · 60–120 gsm |
✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ◐ | ◐ | ✓ | — | ✓ |
Cast Coated Paper Paper & Board · 115–300 gsm |
✓ | ◐ | ✗ | ✗ | ◐ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | — | ✓ |
Duplex Board / Grey Back Paper & Board · 180–450 gsm |
✓ | ◐ | ◐ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | — | ✓ |
SBS / FBB (Solid Bleached / Folding Box) Paper & Board · 200–400 gsm |
✓ | ✓ | ◐ | ✓ | ◐ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | — | ✓ |
Kraft / Brown Paper Paper & Board · 60–200 gsm |
◐ | ◐ | ✓ | ✓ | ◐ | ✓ | ◐ | ◐ | ✓ | — | ✓ |
Newsprint Paper & Board · 45–52 gsm |
✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | — | ◐ |
Tissue Paper Paper & Board · 14–25 gsm |
✗ | ✗ | ◐ | ✓ | ◐ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | — | ✗ |
BOPP Film (plain) Flexible Films · 15–40 micron |
✗ | ✗ | ◐ | ✓ | ✓ | ◐ | ✗ | ✗ | — | ✓ | ✗ |
BOPP Film (corona treated / printable) Flexible Films · 15–40 micron |
✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ◐ | ✗ | ✗ | — | ✓ | ✗ |
BOPET / Polyester Film Flexible Films · 10–50 micron |
✗ | ✗ | ◐ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ◐ | — | ✓ | ✗ |
Metallised BOPP / BOPET Flexible Films · 12–20 micron |
✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ◐ | ✗ | ✗ | — | ✓ | ✗ |
CPP Film (Cast Polypropylene) Flexible Films · 20–60 micron |
✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ◐ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | — | ✓ | ✗ |
PE Film (LDPE / LLDPE) Flexible Films · 25–150 micron |
✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ◐ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | — | ✓ | ✗ |
Aluminium Foil (plain) Flexible Films / Packaging · 6–25 micron |
✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ◐ | ✗ | ✗ | — | ✓ | ✗ |
Paper Label Stock (PSA) Label Stock · 60–120 gsm face |
✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ◐ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | — | ✓ |
BOPP Label Stock (PSA) Label Stock · 30–60 micron face |
✗ | ◐ | ✓ | ✓ | ◐ | ✓ | ✓ | ◐ | — | — | ✓ |
BOPET Label Stock (PSA) Label Stock · 25–50 micron face |
✗ | ◐ | ✓ | ✓ | ◐ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | — | — | ✓ |
Shrink Sleeve (PETG / PVC / OPS) Label Stock · 40–60 micron |
✗ | ✗ | ◐ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ◐ | ✗ | — | — | ◐ |
Synthetic Paper (BOPP-based, e.g. Yupo, GreenVision) Specialty & Synthetic · 80–200 gsm equiv. |
✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ◐ | ✓ | ✓ | ◐ | ◐ | — | ✓ |
NCR Paper (Carbonless) Specialty & Synthetic · 55–80 gsm |
✓ | ◐ | ◐ | ◐ | ✗ | ◐ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | — | ✓ |
Thermal Paper Specialty & Synthetic · 55–80 gsm |
✗ | ✗ | ◐ | ◐ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | — | ✓ |
Watercolour / Textured Paper Specialty & Synthetic · 200–400 gsm |
◐ | ◐ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ◐ | — | ✓ |
Cotton Rag / Handmade Paper Specialty & Synthetic · 90–300 gsm |
◐ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ◐ | ✗ | — | ◐ |
Metallic / Foil Paper (Glassine base) Specialty & Synthetic · 80–200 gsm |
◐ | ◐ | ✗ | ◐ | ◐ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | — | ✓ |
Decor Paper (for laminates) Specialty & Synthetic · 50–150 gsm |
✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ◐ | ✓ | ◐ | ◐ | ✗ | — | ✓ | ✗ |
Corrugated Board (E/F flute) Corrugated & Board · 1–2mm |
◐ | ◐ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ◐ | ◐ | — | — | ✓ |
Corrugated Board (B/C/BC flute) Corrugated & Board · 3–7mm |
✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | — | — | ✓ |
Greyboard / Millboard Corrugated & Board · 1–3.5mm |
✗ | ✗ | ◐ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ◐ | — | — | ✓ |
Litho-laminated Corrugated Corrugated & Board · 3–7mm base |
✓ | ◐ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | — | — | ✓ |
Conditional ratings — what the ◐ means
Every ◐ in the table has a reason. These notes explain the most important conditional combinations.
Coated paper — digital inkjet ◐
Standard aqueous inkjet does not print directly on coated paper — the coating prevents ink absorption. Requires either a primer coat, special inkjet-receptive coating, or SC ink technology (as used by Screen Truepress HD series). Without treatment: ink beads up, poor adhesion.
Kraft paper — offset litho ◐
Printable but irregular surface causes dot gain and uneven ink lay. Works for simple 1–2 colour packaging printing. Fine detail halftones and tight trapping are difficult. Unbleached kraft surface absorbs ink unevenly — allow for 15–20% dot gain compensation.
Uncoated paper — UV offset ◐
UV offset works on uncoated but requires careful ink selection. UV inks cure by radiation not absorption — the ink sits on top of uncoated paper rather than being absorbed. Can give a rubbery feel and poor adhesion if wrong UV ink formulation used. Conventional offset is usually preferred for uncoated.
Duplex board — digital toner ◐
Digital toner presses (Ricoh, Xerox, Canon, KM) can handle duplex board up to their stated maximum GSM (typically 350–400 gsm). The limitation is the fuser — heavy board can cause fuser marks or jamming. Always test the specific board brand — recycled-fibre grey-back duplex may have surface inconsistencies that cause toner adhesion problems.
BOPP label stock — digital toner ◐
Some cut-sheet digital toner presses (HP Indigo, Ricoh Pro C series) can print on BOPP label stock, but not all. The electrostatic process can cause static buildup on film substrates. Requires specific film-compatible stocks tested by the press manufacturer. HP Indigo handles BOPP label stock well with the right ElectroInk — confirm with your specific model.
Synthetic paper — foil stamping ◐
Foil stamping on synthetic paper (Yupo, GreenVision) is possible but requires careful temperature and pressure calibration. Synthetic paper is heat-sensitive — too high a temperature distorts the substrate. Cold foil or low-temperature foil recommended. Always test before production run.
Uncoated paper — foil stamping ◐
Foil stamping works on uncoated paper but adhesion can be inconsistent due to irregular surface. Rough-textured papers (laid, wove, linen-textured) may give patchy foil adhesion. A size or sealant coat prior to foil stamping improves results significantly.
Coated art paper — digital inkjet ◐ then laminate
When laminating digitally-inkjet-printed sheets, check ink curing time before laminating. Aqueous inkjet ink may not be fully dry/cured, causing adhesion failure. Minimum 24-hour dwell time recommended before thermal lamination of inkjet-printed sheets.
BOPP film — screen printing ◐
Screen printing on BOPP requires corona treatment of the film surface before printing for ink adhesion. Plain BOPP is too non-polar for most inks to bond. Treated BOPP (38–42 dyne/cm surface energy) works for screen printing with solvent-based inks. Check treatment level before printing.
SBS/FBB — gravure ◐
Gravure printing on board is done in India for high-volume packaging, but requires flexible gravure presses (not standard web gravure configured for films/flexible). More commonly, gravure-printed flexible film is then laminated to board. Direct gravure on SBS is specialist work.
Shrink sleeve — die cutting ◐
Shrink sleeve films can be die cut but with care — the material is heat-sensitive and stretchy. Rotary die cutting is preferred over flatbed for sleeves. Blade sharpness and cutting speed are critical — blunt blades drag the film rather than cutting cleanly.
E/F flute — offset litho ◐
E and F flute corrugated (thinner) can be printed on sheet-fed offset presses with corrugated-rated configuration (raised press, CX package on Heidelberg). B/C flute is too thick for standard sheetfed offset. For B/C flute, pre-print the liner sheet, then corrugate — this is called pre-print corrugated production.