What’s old is new again! Foil stamping has been around for years, but has never gone out of style. These traditional techniques can be used in a variety of ways to achieve different effects. Depending upon stamping design, foil can make something look more traditional or more contemporary. Either way, the graphics will pop.
Foil stamping and embossing can be used separately or together, but any of the three methods will get great results in gaining attention for your product and increasing its perceived value and quality. Here at Superior we have several pieces of equipment and an in-house die maker with over 20 years of experience in making and hand sculpting brass and magnesium dies.
Both embossing and foil stamping use a raised die (and sometimes a counter die) to strike the substrate and make an impression in it. In blind embossing that is the entire process and no foil or color is used. Blind embossing generally creates a subtle, conservative and upscale effect. In foil stamping the heated die strikes the foil and imprints it onto the substrate. Depending on the foil color and design this can be a subtle, elegant finishing effect or an attention grabbing show stopper. When the two processes are combined, the substrate is first foil stamped and then embossed to create a three dimensional raised effect.
Almost anything can be embossed and/or foil stamped, from paper as thin as .918 inches to bound books or Moleskine notebooks. When printing on paper stock we recommend gloss cover or other stocks with a smooth surface. (Foil will not look as crisp on a linen or other textured paper because of the uneven surface.) In addition to paper, we can also stamp on plastics, fabrics, leather, vinyl, wood, corrugated sheets, paperboard, foam board, sintra board, styrene, and ultra board. Have another material you’d like foil stamped or embossed? We can probably do it! Just speak with one of our stamping experts at 781-303-0022. Even if we can’t stamp directly onto your preferred substrate, we may be able to stamp another material and then mount it to your substrate.
Once you’ve decided what to stamp, you can then decide that kind of foil to use (if any!). The most common type of foil is metallic foil. As its name suggests, it looks like metal due to it shine and shimmer. Metallic foil comes in metal like colors such as gold, silver, bronze, and copper, along with shades of standard colors like purple, green, blue, red, orange, yellow, and pink.
Consider gloss pigment foil If you do not want a metallic look, but still want some shine. It gives a glossy, painted look to the finished piece and is available in many colors. On the other hand, you may not want gloss and shine. If that’s case you should go with a matte foil for a dull finish with deep solid colors. Solid white foil is generally in this category. Holographic foil contains a multidimensional image made with lasers and special optics. Holographic foils have a 3D/moving effect to them and are often used for special effects. Other special effect foils include rainbow, marble, woodgrain, leather, pearl and scratch off. Scratch off foil is used for coupon codes and other locations to provide a scratch ticket type of effect that the user can scratch off to reveal additional printing underneath.
Here at Superior Packaging & Finishing we have an in house die making department that has all of the materials needed for any die your job might need. Having our dies made in house has several advantages including minimal downtime - no waiting for a die to come in from outside vendor, quality control of dies, ability to fix or make changes immediately.
Foil stamping and embossing are popular finishing operations for a variety of products. Call 781-303-0022 or email info@sbpack.com now to have one of our experienced customer service representatives guide you in your stamping options.
I want to...
Request an EstimateChoose this if you have a project and specifications in mind and want an estimate of the cost to produce it.