How to Add Special Finishing Effects to Self-Adhesive Labels

November 9, 2026

You add special finishing effects to self-adhesive labels by choosing the finish during label design, before production. At TenovisLabels in Maribor, Slovenia, we offer partial or complete coating, lamination, cold or hot printing with metal-coated films, gold printing, effect varnishes, screen printing, blind embossing, and printing on the back of the label.

Which finishing effects can be added to a self-adhesive label?

Self-adhesive labels can take coating, lamination, metal-film printing, effect varnishes, screen printing, blind embossing, and reverse-side printing. We apply each of these at TenovisLabels as part of label processing, after the label is printed with flexographic or digital technology.

A label is the most important external element of a package. It carries the trademark, it shapes how the finished product looks, and it works as a marketing tool. Finishing is how a label gets noticed next to its competitors. The table below lists what we can add and what each option does.

Reverse-side printing: three ways to use the back of the label

Reverse-side printing means printing on the back of a self-adhesive label, and we offer it in three forms. We can print directly onto the adhesive, print onto a cut-out, or supply the printed piece as a pasted label.

This matters when a label needs more room than its front face gives. Usage instructions, a promotion or a short legal note can sit behind the label and appear when the label is lifted or when the product is seen through clear packaging. If the information is extensive enough to need pages or layers, our booklet labels and multi-layer easy peel-off labels are built for that job. A finished back panel suits shorter content.

How do you specify a finish so it prints right the first time?

Start with the product, the application and the performance requirements, then choose the finish. A label on a pharmaceutical tube, a food container and a grinding wheel faces different handling and different shelf conditions, and the finish should answer those conditions.

Our label design and technical development work follows that order. We take the customer's expectations, product requirements and production requirements, then move through the first galley proof, the production specifications and implementation. During that process we help with:

• Material selection for your product, including structured papers, matte or glossy films, and special films and colours.
• Placement and printing depth, which decide where a finish sits and how it relates to the printed artwork.
• Special effects, such as the no-label look or scratch-off materials, which depend on the right substrate from the start.

A typical scenario: a cosmetics manufacturer wants a gold logo and a raised brand mark on a matte film label. The finish choices (gold printing and blind embossing) and the material choice (matte film) have to be settled together, so we review both at the galley proof stage instead of adding the finish afterwards.

Choosing between gloss, matte and coating

The surface you choose changes how the label reads and how it behaves, and the decision starts with what the label has to do. Coating, whether partial or complete, and lamination give the label surface a defined character. Matte and glossy films are available as materials. Partial varnish lets you give one element a different sheen from the rest.

Barcodes are the main practical constraint on glossy surfaces. The GS1 Release 1.1.0 guideline on 2D barcodes in retail recommends avoiding shiny surfaces around barcodes because reflected light can interfere with decoding. GS1 specifically warns that glossy label coatings can distort a 2D barcode. If your label carries a 2D code, keep that area matte and use gloss, metallic or varnish effects on the brand elements.

Which products suit which finishes?

Finishing choices follow the industry the label serves. We supply labels for food and beverage, pharmaceutical, cosmetics and personal care, chemical, automotive and industrial, and abrasives products.

• Cosmetics and personal care: metal-coated film printing, gold printing, blind embossing and partial varnish give premium visual cues.
• Food and beverage: coating and lamination protect the label surface, and our BRCGS Global Standard certification for packaging materials covers our packaging production and label printing. We announced our renewal on 29 November 2024, and the details are in our news section.
• Pharmaceutical and ointment labels: information-heavy products can combine finishing with a multi-layer format for instructions and multilingual content.
• Abrasives, automotive and industrial products: these labels need a specification built around the application and performance requirements, which our technical team develops with the customer.

For plastic products where the label must become part of the item, our IML in-mould labels fuse with the plastic during injection molding. That is a separate label format with its own specification process.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between cold and hot printing with metal-coated films?

Both methods put a metallic film on the label. Hot printing transfers the film using heat and pressure, and cold printing transfers it using adhesive without heat. We offer both for self-adhesive labels. We choose between them with you according to the artwork, the material and the look you want.

Can finishing be done on labels printed digitally?

Yes. We manufacture self-adhesive labels with flexographic and digital production, and the finishing options sit within our label processing service. We select the printing technology with you based on your product, application and performance requirements, then apply the finishes the design calls for.

What do I need to send to start a finishing project?

Send us your product type, how and where the label will be used, the performance it needs to deliver, and any artwork you already have. From there we prepare the first galley proof and the production specifications, and we advise on material and finish together.

If you have a self-adhesive label in mind, whether it needs gold printing, blind embossing, a partial varnish or printing on the back, tell us about the product and where the label will be used in the form below this article, and our team in Maribor will come back with a finishing proposal.