Champ’s Specialty Services and Capabilities 

Champ Printing is one of the only printers in the Pittsburgh region to offer specialty printing services in-house. Each of our specialty services are overseen by one of our skilled pressmen, ensuring your project is meticulously embellished and finished.  

Our specialty service include: 

Embossing and Debossing:
Embossing and debossing are both great options to give a touch of elegance to your finished piece. Embossing is the process of creating a raised design on paperstock. Debossing is the opposite of embossing and instead leaves a depressed imprint on the design area on the stock.  

The Embossing or Debossing process requires custom metal plates to be created to a project’s exact specifications and design. Our Kluge machine feeds the stock between the two plates and with the combination of heat and pressure, the imprint is raised or depressed into the stock to give it the desired look. 

Foil Stamping:
Foil stamping is a sophisticated technique that adds a touch of luxury to any project. This specialty printing process is also run on our Kluge, which uses heat, custom metal plates, pressure and foil film to seal a thin layer of foil in the desired design and area on your printed piece. 

The foil comes in a wide array of colors and finishings. Generally, gold, rose gold, silver or bronze foils are the most popular, but we can produce a piece using any foil color you’d like.  Finishings include gloss, matte, pearl, holographic and even unique patterns.  

Additionally, we have been seeing more and more clear, semi-transparent foil used to just give a pop of refinement, while letting the ink printed below shine through.  

Die-Cutting:
Die-cutting is another process that can make your project even more distinctive. This technique can be for decorative or functional purpose, depending on the use of the piece. 

When our Kluge machine presses the custom mounted steel die into stock, it cuts through the stock creating a unique pattern, shape, or design. An entire piece can be die-cut (such as a door hanger) or a section can be die-cut (such as a window on a report cover). We recommend contacting us when finalizing artwork to ensure it’s set up properly for die cutting. 

Offset Thermography:
Thermography is another option to add prestige your printed materials. It is a specialized process that raises the ink and gives texture to a finished piece. This technique is very popular with business cards, stationery and invitations. 

This process combines offset printing ink with a powdered resin and heat. Immediately after a piece is printed, it goes through a thermography tunnel, which dusts the wet ink with the powdered resin and then heats it up. This melts the resin to form a raised and glossy ink look. Since the powder is transparent, the raised resin takes on the color of the printed ink.

Specialty Services FAQs

Since our specialty services are customized for each project, we recommend contacting us directly with your questions. This will give us a better understanding of your project’s specs and we can provide you with recommendations, turnaround information and additional details.