Tactile Printing

Beverage purchase becomes a tactile experience with "cans with a feel" from Ball Packaging Europe.

A special overvarnish is used to give a can surface the feel of orange peel, for example in the case of orange juice.  This means that individual designs and the brand identity of a product are not just visible but also tactile. 

This particular effect is achieved by applying a special overvarnish using the wet-in-wet process. Beverage cans are coated with varnishable and non varnishable printing inks (Novar).  The tactile overvarnish is applied to these printing inks and immediately forms structured and smooth surfaces over the various printing inks, as required for the decoration.  It is possible to use six to eight different colours.

Novar, for example, is used to print pictures of fruit such as oranges on cans.  The overvarnish then produces a tactile surface over the picture of the orange and a smooth surface over the rest of the can body.  The special overvarnish has another "tangible" advantage: it enhances the grip, the consumer holds the can more firmly even when it is taken straight from a cooler.