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Why You Should be Using Foil Prints
If you’re looking for a way to make your printed materials stand out from the crowd and wow the audience, you should consider using foil printing. In this article, we will go over what foil printing is, some things you can do with it and why we think it’s an awesome technique.
What is foil printing?
Foil printing is the process of bonding foil to the surface of the paper in order to create luxurious and beautiful designs. To begin, a design is created or uploaded onto a computer. Then, the design is printed as a film negative. This film negative is laid on top of a metal plate that is sensitive to UV light. Next, a UV light is turned on. The film negative allows UV light to touch the exposed parts of the metal plate without affecting the other parts. After a while, the metal plate must be washed and put in a special acid bath. When this is finished, the desired design remains raised on the metal plate as the unexposed parts were etched away. This stamp-like creation is called a die and is the specialized tool used for hot foil pressing. Once the die is made, it is heated up inside of a hot stamping press. The desired foil is inserted between paper and the die. Foils used for modern foil pressing have a layer of a glue-like substance, called a release, that enables the foil to stick to a “substrate,” like paper when heated. The hot die heats up the foil and allows it to bond to a paper’s surface, resulting in the finished product. This method, like letterpress, can only press one sheet of foil into a piece of paper. So, if a product requires more than one kind of foil, separate die with unique designs are needed for each kind of foil. Each piece of paper will go through the press once with the first die and the first foil. Then, the press must be reloaded with the next die and the next kind of foil. Then, the paper must be fed through again.
The most common foil colours are silver and gold. But, there is a wide range of metallic and solid colours as well as clear foils that are available to add some glossy colour to any of your printed materials.
Why should I consider foil printing?
Foil printing will add another dimension to your printed project, making it stand out and be more visually appealing than other materials that are printed on plain paper and with plain ink. Typical projects that team well with foil printing include business cards, annual reports, restaurant menus, event tickets and invitation cards. Another reason to try out foil printing is that foil is an opaque medium. Unlike thermography, lithography and letterpress, foil stamping does not use any ink. As a result, the foil colour does not change based on the colour of paper on which you are printing. Foil can be used for a number of finishes, including metallic, matte, glossy, pearlescent, holographic and even patterns like marbling.
The next time you are working on a printed project that you want to add a little more glam too, maybe a wedding or baby shower invitation, consider using foil printing to leave your recipients in awe!
