Film cores have two main types of surfaces: those with seams and those without seams. The seams are those lines you see on the cardboard core, spiraling from one end to the other. They can be fairly shallow or pretty deep, and in some cases, they can affect the quality of the final roll of material. Whether or not those seams matter depends on the material going around the core, the depth of the seams, and the strength of the core material.

Impressionability

The materials that get wrapped around a film core vary in how well they hold an impression. Fabric tends to just sit on the core; while it can technically crease, it takes a lot of pressure on the specific seam to create a crease in the fabric — and even then, the crease can fade over time. After the first layer or two, the fabric really won't see any new creases from the seams. However, foil creases easily, and it doesn't take much pressure to create a crease. Plus, the foil will hold the crease indefinitely. So, the harder it is to crease the material, the less important those seams are in choosing a film core.

Depth

What's more is that deep seams, as opposed to those where you have a seam revealing only a thin layer of cardboard, can create more drastic creases. Wrapping paper might get creased a little on that first layer that wraps around a film core if the seams are shallow, but the rest of the paper roll will be fine. However, if the seams lead to deeper valleys in the film core's surface, more layers of paper could develop creases simply because there's more room for that paper to move downward and be crushed.

Weak Points

Film cores with seams aren't necessarily weak. Again, many of these cores have a very strong main structure, with the top seam being fairly shallow. But if the seams are fairly deep, they can weaken the core so that, if the core is dropped, it could collapse and damage the entire roll of material.

There are a lot of variations out there for film cores, so take a close look at each type. As long as you keep the impressionability and depth in mind, as well as the need for a strong core, you'll eventually find the type of core that suits your product the best.

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