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Unsightly
cracking on folds will ruin the appearance of gorgeous printing.
Although enamel paper coatings are beautiful, they are more brittle than
the paper fibers themselves. And worse, ink can be more brittle than
coatings.
Although there is no foolproof way to prevent cracking, stack the odds in
your favor. Always try to plan your first fold with the grain.
If you can't, consider using a stock with short fibers. Jobs will
look better if your bindery professional chooses the right fold-plates,
machines and production techniques for your job. Expensive
preventative measures include offline channel scoring (die scoring),
aqueous and UV coatings, and laminating.
Run speed is critical because the shock load on paper increases
geometrically with machine speed. So, when fibers break, try slowing
down production speed to reduce paper fiber stress. With any luck,
this may completely eliminate the problem.
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