TYPES OF MOUNTING
FOAMCORE
Easy to size, has a built-in memory, and is lightweight yet sturdy. Great for posters, signs for presentations, trade shows, projects, community events, directional signage, advertising materials, lectures, and home design. While Foamcore mounted images are long-lasting, they are also ideal for temporary use due to their low cost. Comes in black or white and from widths of ¼” and ½”.
GATOR BOARD
Stronger than Foamcore but with a similar weight, it's an ideal choice for photo mounting, exhibits, and indoor displays that require rigidity, durability, and warp resistance. The rigid polystyrene foam core of Gatorboard gives it a harder surface than Foamcore and makes it moisture resistant. An ideal lightweight mounting material. Gatorboard is available in 1/4″ and 1/2″ thickness giving it a lightweight, museum quality.
SINTRA BOARD
Lightweight and durable, Sintra is an archival mounting material made of PVC plastic that’s ideal for long-lasting indoor and outdoor print applications, best suitable for sign display construction and photo mounting. Sintra prints are resistant to dents, scratches, moisture, and chemicals, which makes them an excellent choice for displays, exhibit booths, cutouts, and photo mounting. Sintra is available in 1/8″ or 1/4″ thicknesses, black or white.
LAMINATION WEIGHTS
1.5 Mil
This is a relatively thin laminate, so it does not add much rigidity to the printed piece. An economical choice when applying laminate to print materials that are constructed of heavy paper or cardstock, presentation folders, restaurant menus, and manual covers. The flexible thickness is also perfect for laminating labels and decals.
3 Mil
This film thickness provides adequate protection yet is still thin and flexible enough to allow the printed piece to be folded. For this reason, 3mil laminate is frequently used for restaurant menus that require folding, such as the popular bi-fold or tri-fold menu. A 3mil laminate is also a good choice for wall posters, maps, or the pages of a manual or flip book.
5 Mil
This laminate size adds moderate sturdiness to print materials and holds up to frequent usage. Although it can be scored and folded, the thickness of this laminate may yield a “spring open” effect on folded pieces. This thickness is an ideal choice for flat pieces that get handled often. This includes instruction materials, charts, diagrams, bookmarks, event passes, dry/wet-erase memo boards, and some restaurant or bar menus.
As you choose a laminate size, Please Keep in Mind
Combination of a heavy substrate and/or thicker laminates cause a printed piece to become extremely stiff