- What it is
- A polypropylene or polyolefin film with a printable surface, sold as synthetic paper — Yupo and Teslin are the two trade names asked for most often, and they behave differently: one is a smooth polypropylene sheet, the other a microporous film that drinks ink and takes a laminate pouch well. Neither is paper. There is no fibre, so a spill does not cockle it, a fold does not weaken it into a tear line, and a corner that gets bent springs back instead of staying bent. It is chosen for a service life rather than for a look.
- What it is printed on
Synthetic stock, which the materials library holds as a single film weight. The decision that matters is not the weight but the surface: some grades take a normal ink set and some need an ink that keys to plastic, and that decision is made against the job rather than against the design.
- Synthetic stock, 200 micron0.20 mmNo fibre in it at all, which is why nothing swells, nothing cockles and nothing tears along a line.
- How it feels
- Smooth and faintly waxy, cooler than paper and slightly heavier than it looks. Bend it and it returns flat. Pull it and it stretches before it gives, which is the moment most people realise it is not paper. A wet thumb leaves nothing behind, and a menu that has been in service for a season still snaps when it is picked up.
- What it suits
- Menus, plant and asset labels, luggage and equipment tags, membership and access cards, outdoor notices, site and roadshow signage, and anything that lives near water. It does not suit a plain fold — synthetic stock will not hold a crease and needs a scored hinge designed in. It does not suit writing with a ballpoint unless the grade has a receptive surface, and it does not suit a perforation.
- Lead time
- Standard turnaround is 7–14 working days. Counted from approved artwork rather than from the enquiry.
- The common mistake
- Assuming it can be perforated and punched like card. It cuts beautifully and it tears terribly: a perforation on a plastic film stretches rather than parting, so a tear-off stub either refuses to come away or takes half the piece with it, and a bare punched hole elongates into a slot under load. Anything that has to be torn wants a different material, and anything that has to hang wants an eyelet or a radiused slot.
Print idea
Synthetic stock menus and tags
A printable plastic film with no fibre in it, so there is nothing for water to swell and nothing to tear along. It is specified for anything handled wet, handled outdoors, or handled thousands of times.
Standard turnaround is 7–14 working days.
What synthetic stock menus and tags is
A polypropylene or polyolefin film with a printable surface, sold as synthetic paper — Yupo and Teslin are the two trade names asked for most often, and they behave differently: one is a smooth polypropylene sheet, the other a microporous film that drinks ink and takes a laminate pouch well. Neither is paper. There is no fibre, so a spill does not cockle it, a fold does not weaken it into a tear line, and a corner that gets bent springs back instead of staying bent. It is chosen for a service life rather than for a look.
Synthetic stock, which the materials library holds as a single film weight. The decision that matters is not the weight but the surface: some grades take a normal ink set and some need an ink that keys to plastic, and that decision is made against the job rather than against the design.
- The printed face, drawn in this stock’s own shade and its own surface structure.
- The cut edge, drawn at the estate scale of 1 mm = 22 px.
- The die-cut edge, radiused at every internal corner because a steel rule bends to a radius.
The specification
Six fields, and the last one is the useful one.
The same six questions are answered for every entry in this section, in the same order, so two objects can be compared without reading two pages of prose. The mistake is stated last and stated plainly, because it is the one that costs a reprint and it is the reason this page is worth sending to a colleague.
Where this sits.
Every entry is indexed three ways, because a buyer arrives knowing the occasion, the object or the material and almost never all three.
- Format
- Material and effect
Also worth looking at
- Perforation and scoringStandard turnaround is 7–14 working days.
- Holographic and metallised substratesStandard turnaround is 7–14 working days.
- Die-cut shapesStandard turnaround is 7–14 working days.
- PostersThe specification, and how it is quoted
- TicketsThe specification, and how it is quoted
- StickersThe specification, and how it is quoted
- Corporate giftsThe specification, and how it is quoted
- Point of saleThe specification, and how it is quoted
- Digital printingThe specification, and how it is quoted
- Every print idea, indexed three waysThe section index
- The materials libraryCaliper, weight and what each finish costs
Send the specification for this, and it comes back quoted.
Every job is quoted from its specification — stock, quantity, sides, finish, size and deadline.
- Quantity
- Stock — or the feel you want, if you do not know the stock
- Sides printed
- Finish
- Flat and finished size
- The deadline
Artwork is welcome but not required to start. Email sales@ezprint.com.sg if you would rather attach files.