What type of image are you looking to put forward with your high end product? Are you looking for that business card or how about that greeting card with that shiny metallic finish? If that is the case, foil stamping might be the perfect addition to your custom label. In short, hot and cold foil stamping is an easy way to give your custom labels a metallic, shiny finish.
Even though foiling is an added expense to a standard print job, due to the extra hours and resources that go into stamping the foil either hot or cold after printing, it is still an economical method for producing an effect that gives a luxury look to a product.
What is Hot Foil Stamping?
The process of hot foil stamping involves the application of metallic foil to paper using a heated die. It works by pressing the foil onto the surface. Hot foil cannot be used with certain heat-sensitive items such as vinyl or polyurethane.
The end result is the design of the die on the printed material. More often than not, embossing and hot foil stamping are combined, thus creating an image that stands out from other labels on the shelves!
What is Cold Foil Stamping?
The process of cold foil stamping can be a bit more cost effective than the more traditional hot foil stamping method. In part cold foil has more of an application of laminate in printing a metallic foil onto a substance. Cold foil stamping is the way of applying a metallic finish of foil onto a printing surface. Have you ever seen a fingernail job with a metallic finish? Enter cold foil stamping.
There are two processes of cold foil stamping. The first of the two methods are the older dry lamination process common in the offset printing industry, or the newer, more versatile wet lamination process, which is dominant in the label industry. In general cold foil acts like an additional ink and is actually an UV-curable, lamination adhesive.
In general, the foil stamped label is used to highlight and enhance label packaging and design. Have you ever seen a business card with a metallic like finish? More often than not that look was achieved with a cold foil finishing process.
Some of the most common markets for foil labels include the following industries:
- Food and Beverage
- Bath and Beauty Items
- Book Covers
- Business Cards
- Greeting Cards
- Invitations
At Unique Printing and Labels, let us be a choice to use for your high-end foil printing jobs today!