Clear varnish thermography is a method of turning flat printing into a thermographed piece. Let's say you have a process color piece that you want to thermograph. Take the printed four-color work, lay clear varnish on it, and send it through the thermo unit. Now you have a thermographed, process color piece. The pigmented varnish is still transparent but now is slightly tinted.
Pearlescent thermography uses a special pearlescent resin.
This resin contains the color pigment and is available in many colors. When melted, the resin takes a pearlescent sheen. This makes a beautiful, appealing product. Each of these thermography techniques can be used individually or in combination with each other. Add a little gold glitter to gold metallic resin, and you will create a brilliantly sparkling gold.