Special Printing Techniques

A Tactile Touch with Embossed Lacquer

Let your logo be felt under your fingertips. The spot UV (selective varnish) technique adds a raised, glossy layer to the areas you choose, turning your business card into a truly luxurious object.

What Is Embossed Lacquer?

Embossed lacquer — also known in the print industry as spot UV or selective varnish — is the application of a clear, UV-cured varnish layer to only the areas you specify on your business card. Applied not to the whole surface but to select points (spot), this process creates a striking contrast with the rest of the design. The result is unique both visually and to the touch: run your finger over the logo and you'll feel a slightly raised, perfectly smooth surface. This effect is especially dramatic on transparent PVC, where it works with the light to create real depth.

Matte or Glossy?

Spot UV comes in two distinct aesthetics. The tone of your design and the message of your brand will determine which way to go.

Glossy Spot UV

The UV varnish cures to a high gloss that reflects light and intensifies the color beneath it. When glossy spot UV is used over a matte background, the lacquered area looks as if it's leaping off the surface. The contrast is at its maximum.

Logos, large headlines, geometric accent shapes and designs that demand maximum visual impact

Matte Spot UV

The varnish cures to a matte finish, putting the tactile difference front and center instead of visual shine. The card looks matte all over, yet you can easily feel where the lacquered area is with your fingers. It creates a subtle, sophisticated effect.

Luxury and minimalist designs, those that call for a strong corporate identity, and cases where you want to reduce fingerprint marks

Where Can It Be Applied?

Spot UV makes the strongest impact when it highlights specific design elements. Rather than covering the entire surface, make strategic choices.

Logo and Brand Mark

Your logo is the most important element on the card. Give it texture, light and dimension with embossed lacquer. It leaves a memorable mark that looks different from every angle of light.

Name and Title

Highlighting your name or title with spot UV draws the recipient's attention straight to you. It creates a powerful effect, especially for senior positions.

Geometric Patterns and Frames

Corner ornaments, fine lines, borders and background patterns gain both texture and a play of light with embossed lacquer. It adds depth to the design and enriches a plain background.

Special Accents and Icons

You can highlight a website icon, a phone symbol or social media logos with spot UV. Even small areas become noticeable thanks to embossed lacquer.

At most 70% of the card surface can be covered with spot UV. For the best contrast effect, we recommend limiting the lacquered area to 30–50% of the total surface. Very fine lines (under 0.25 mm) and small type (under 8 pt) can lose their detail under the lacquer.

How to Prepare Your File

Creating a print-ready file for spot UV requires a special layer structure. Follow along step by step.

Finish Your Design File in CMYK Mode

Prepare your main design in CMYK color mode. The logo, text, background and all visual elements live on this layer. Create your file at 300 DPI resolution with 3 mm of bleed.

Create a Separate Spot UV Layer

In your design app (Adobe Illustrator or InDesign), create a new layer and name it 'Spot UV' or 'Varnish.' Move or copy every object you want lacquered onto this layer. Use 'Paste in Place' to keep the objects in their original positions.

Make the Spot UV Layer 100% Black

Convert all objects on the spot UV layer to pure black (C:0, M:0, Y:0, K:100). The press operator uses this black layer as the lacquer printing plate. It's the shape information that matters, not the color. Don't use gray or midtones.

Export as PDF and Check It

Save the file in PDF/X-1a or PDF/X-4 format and make sure the 'Spot Colors' option is checked. In Adobe Acrobat, verify the separations via Advanced > Print Production > Output Preview. Make sure the spot UV layer appears as its own separation.

When ordering from TransparentCard, upload two separate files: (1) your full-color CMYK design, and (2) the black-and-white layer file containing only the spot UV areas. When you design through our editor tool, we generate your spot UV mask automatically.

Transparent Card + Embossed Lacquer: Maximum Impact

Transparent PVC and embossed lacquer are one of the best-matched combinations out there.

The biggest advantage of transparent business cards is that whatever's behind them becomes part of the card. Embossed lacquer takes that effect a step further: as light passes through the transparent PVC, it hits the spot UV layer and creates refraction. Under edge lighting in particular — a desk lamp, window light, a phone screen — the lacquered area glows with a play of colored light. The result is a one-of-a-kind experience that brings transparency, depth and tactile luxury together on a single card.

Highlight your logo with full lacquer on the transparent background, and pick out small accent details with a frame or outline lacquer
A matte background paired with glossy spot UV works on a transparent card too; just keep in mind that the matte film will reduce the transparency a little
Avoid very large solid lacquered areas; keeping the transparent areas visible is the card's greatest aesthetic

Durability and Care

The UV-cured lacquer layer is extremely durable. Under normal conditions of use — a wallet, a card box, your palm — the spot UV area stays scratch-free and unfaded for 1–2 years or longer. The PVC base is already resistant to water and moisture; the lacquer on top reinforces that protection. In terms of fingerprint resistance, the spot UV surface picks up about the same amount of smudging as standard matte lamination. A damp, soft cloth is all you need for cleaning; don't use abrasive products or alcohol-based solvents. Avoid leaving the cards in direct sunlight for long periods, as UV damage can alter the color of the lacquer layer.

If you carry your business cards in a leather or hard plastic card box, the lacquered surface will keep its like-new look for years.

Related Guides

Gold Foil→Silver Foil→Design Guide→

Frequently Asked Questions

Regular full UV coating is applied evenly across the entire card surface. Embossed lacquer (spot UV), on the other hand, is applied only to selected areas. This selective application creates a strong visual and tactile contrast between the lacquered and non-lacquered areas. With full UV there is no contrast, as the entire surface looks the same.

No, it can be applied to both the front and the back. That said, the design stays better balanced when one side is heavier and the other is kept simpler. Applying heavy lacquer to both sides gives the whole card the same texture and weakens the contrast effect.

For spot UV, we recommend a minimum line thickness of 0.5 mm (about 1.4 pt) and a minimum font size of 10 pt. Details below these limits can lose their edges or stick together under the lacquer. Logos and large decorative elements give the best results.

Spot UV is supported in the TransparentCard editor. In the design interface, simply select the elements you want lacquered and enable the 'Coating' or 'Spot UV' feature. The system automatically extracts the lacquer mask as a separate layer when the print file is generated. If you design in an external app, you can use the two-file upload option.

When glossy spot UV is applied, the lacquered area takes on a slightly opaque reflective layer. This effect is mostly desirable aesthetically: the glossy lacquered area playing with light creates a strong contrast against the transparency of the rest of the card. Matte spot UV reduces visual reflection and affects the transparency relatively less.

Yes, since spot UV requires an additional printing plate and a special process, it costs a little more than standard printing. But given how significantly it raises the perceived value and professional impression of your card, the investment usually pays for itself quickly. You can review the options on the order screen for pricing details.

Want help with your embossed lacquer design?

Our design team will help you optimize your file for spot UV and choose the most effective areas to lacquer.

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