Coloured Cardboard

Spectrumcoat Pantone colour flood coating

If you print overall solid colours using flexo or silk screen methods at your sheet plant, Spectrumcoat colour flood coating offers a noticeably better finish and coverage.

Spectrumcoat is a coating used for flood colours (i.e. all-over coverage) on corrugated cardboard. Perfect for manufacturing retail packaging and POS, coated board is easily converted, overprinted, and varnished. Available in any Pantone colour, it matches customers’ brand colours precisely and consistently.

At GWP Coatings, we utilise specialist equipment at our UK production site to coat almost any grade of corrugated material. Our coating process guarantees both high quality and short lead times from as little as 200 square meters of material. Crucially, we can also supply your sheet plant as part of a confidential trade agreement.

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Benefits of colour coating for cardboard

By sourcing colour-coated cardboard from GWP Coatings, you can expect the following benefits:

Consistent, high-quality coverage and finish.
Accurate and consistent Pantone colour matching.
More cost-effective and faster than flexographic printing of solid colours.
Easily overprinted and converted using standard equipment.
Can be over-varnished or coated to provide specialist finishes or performance.
Fully recyclable and environmentally friendly.
Available in low and high volumes (from 200 square meters).

A person checking the colour of coated cardboard with a Pantone book.

Technical and conversion information

Spectrumcoat is an overall, Pantone-matched coloured coating developed primarily for use in the Point of Sale display industry and applied to corrugated boards using specialist coating equipment.

This colour flood coating can be over-varnished to give either a matt or gloss protective finish, or have Liquiguard, a water-resistant coating, applied. Spectrumcoat is also easy to overprint using standard inks.

Spectrumcoat colour flood coating is also available from 200 sq. metres (please note that if GWP Coatings is supplying the board, some grades are only available from 500 sq. m). GWP can match Spectrumcoat to your specific Pantone reference.

The minimum board size is 250 x 600 mm, and the maximum is 1500 x 4000 mm. This large sheet size means that Spectrumcoat is more cost-effective than the equivalent silk screen process, and has generally quicker lead times due to the high speed of the coating process.

Typical materials coated with Spectrumcoat include clay-coated liners, fully bleached kraft, white top kraft and brown kraft.

GWP Coatings recommends using white material when applying pale colours, whereas brown kraft liners are suitable for darker shades. Application of both matt and gloss varnishes over any Spectrumcoat colour is possible.

FAQs

What is flood coating?

Flood coating is the process of applying a uniform layer of ink (or other coating) to an entire surface. The purpose is usually to either change its colour or add a protective, glossy finish. Printers and packaging manufacturers often use this technique to create a solid colour background.

What is flood-coated cardboard used for?

Flood-coated cardboard is a popular choice for creating visually striking point-of-sale displays and retail packaging. Cardboard stands of this nature often have large blocks of solid colour, which can be difficult to reproduce consistently using standard printing methods.

Could I print large blocks of colour instead of using Spectrumcoat?

Most converters faced with printing an overall solid colour attempt to print on their flexo printer slotters. This process is not usually successful, however, particularly in comparison to preprint quality. Spectrumcoat easily achieves preprint quality, allowing converters to overprint additional wording and designs onto the material’s surface.

Is it possible to buy cardboard with coloured liners?

Whilst it is possible to source corrugated cardboard material with coloured liners, doing so severely limits the choice of colours available. The limited options mean customers have to select the nearest alternative to their brand identity. Spectrumcoat allows you to match any Pantone colour exactly, regardless of board grade or quantity required.

What is Pantone?

Pantone is effectively a library of colours that act as references for brand identity and product colours. The Pantone Matching System (PMS) assigns colours a specific number (e.g., PMS 485), which designers and manufacturers can accurately reproduce across various items such as packaging, POS, in-store banners, posters, etc.

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