Thermography is also known as Raised Printing giving prints an ink pop up effect with lower cost compared to engraving. Thermography is commonly used mainly for business cards, invitations and letterheads. It can also be creatively used on covers of booklets and directories and greeting cards content imprinting.



No. Thermography is a finishing procedure after Offset Printing or Risograph Printing to give the ink covered area a raised effect.

1. Printed sheets exit from the press onto a conveyor belt taking them through the thermography unit attached. (or manually transferred to the thermography unit if printer is using a desktop model instead of a floor model)
2. While slow-drying ink is still wet, a nozzle sprays colorless thermography powder over the printed sheets.
3. Powdered sticks to the wet ink. A vacuum unit sucks all powder not adhering to ink back to the power reservoir.
4. A heating unit melts the remaining powder into the ink. The powder swells as it melts, so the printing pops up on the paper.

Roughly speaking, there are 3 grades of thermography powder - fine, medium, and coarse. Medium power works well in most situations, but fine lines and types may require fine powder for best results.