Foil Stamping – NYC Printer

Foil Stamping & Printing: Manufacturing In New York City

Foil Stamping & Finishing

Foil stamping is a technique that uses heat, pressure, metal dies and foil film. Foil comes in rolls in a wide assortment of colors, finishes, and optical effects. Metallic foil is most commonly used today – particularly gold, silver, copper, and holographic, but foil rolls are also available in solid, pearlescent, and marbled colors, and in both glossy and matte finishes.

Foil stamping is similar to letterpress and engraving, using pressure to apply the text or image to paper. Once the design is finalized, raised metal dies are created in the appropriate shape for each color of foil to be applied. The dies are heated and then stamped with enough pressure to seal the thin layer of foil to the paper. Each color is applied individually through multiple runs of the press to create the final design. A final die may also be created if an embossed (raised) image or effect is desired.

Unlike thermography and lithography, foil stamping does not use ink. This is typically an opaque medium, but there are also semi-transparent tint foils, if you want to allow the paper color to show through. Metallic foils have a shiny, lustrous finish with a big visual impact. With thermography, lithography, and letterpress, metallics can fall flat and aren’t nearly as shiny.