Décor paper

What sets Sonae Arauco’s wood-based decorative panels apart from similar products is the stylish and authentic décor styles we have available, from the more traditional woodgrains, to unicolours and Fantasies.

Sonae Arauco’s wood-based decorative panels are distinguished by the authentic appearance of the decors we used, with high-quality and unique designs that are created with minute attention to detail. This is evident throughout our range of decorative wood-based products, from the beautifully veined marble-inspired Grigio, to our whimsical driftwood-inspired Pacific Woodgrain. But how exactly do we get such authentic appearing designs onto our boards? Well, the secret lies with sourcing the best possible décor paper.

Sonae Arauco sources its top-quality décor paper from several premier print houses that are based in Europe.  These specialty décor papers feature a number of trendy and original designs that , once laminated onto our boards, create an exceptionally high-quality wood-based decorative panel that can be used in a whole variety of applications from furniture, to kitchen cabinetry to wall panelling.

In this article we are going to look at the process behind the designing and printing of the décor paper we source.

Sourcing inspiration
The design process behind the décor paper which we use for our wood-based panels is interesting from start to finish. The whole process begins with specialist designers who are employed by the different printing houses, who go out into the real world and look for inspiration from mediums that perfectly capture the diversity of natural materials. These designers look at, interpret, reimagine and take inspiration from local and international trends when they’re looking for new original materials to source. With these trends in mind, the designers will go out and source authentic and original materials, such as uniquely textured pieces of wood or interesting pieces of marble – and even pieces of material which have unique or interesting back stories –  which they then use as a base to create the design of the décor paper.

For example, the design of our Foundry décor was developed by a designer who had previously worked as a welder and who was inspired to use an original piece of steel as the base for Foundry’s design.

Once the source material has been chosen, the next step involves scanning and designing.

Scanning the designs
Once the source material has been chosen, the next step involves scanning and editing these materials onto a computer where the designers can then tweak the designs to ensure that they will translate perfectly into décor paper. The scans are split into different layers which makes it easier for the designers to play around with different effects to create the final design. This can include introducing new elements, editing and making changes, as well as removing any flaws in the appearance of the original material to create the finished design, which will then be printed to create the décor paper.

Printing
Once the finished design is complete, it is then sent to specialised printers where it is printed onto special décor paper. The décor paper that  is used is highly absorbent and strong enough and able to handle being impregnated with resin without tearing. The specialised printers operate with 3 or 4 engraved rollers which are engraved with the different layers that correspond with the different layers of the finished design. Each of the engraved roller runs through a different coloured inkwell and then print their individual layer of finished design in ink on the special décor paper using a roller system. When the printing is complete, the décor paper will display the finished design, based on the original source material – such as Foundry’s sheet of steel.

Once completed, the finished décor paper can then be procured by companies such as Sonae Arauco, who import it and then laminate it to wood-based decorative panels. To find out more about the process behind how décor paper is laminated onto our boards to create our range of wood-based decorative products, read this article.

Read our previous article here: https://www.sonae.projects.coppertable.co.za/our-finishes-a-finish-for-every-decor/

For more information visit us at https://www.sonae.projects.coppertable.co.za/