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Foil is a material that is very thin and delicate that is able to be transferred onto printed ink by heat. It comes in many different colours and different finishes.

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Metallic Foil – This is what most people refer to simply as foil. The foil has a metallic look and almost all foil suppliers will carry common metal colors, such as silver, gold, copper and bronze. However, metallic foils also includes colored foils, such as metallic blue, red, green, etc.

Pigment Foils – These are foils that are either matte or gloss colors, but have no metallic sheen. Their primary use, when it comes to graphic design, is where you have a product that won’t be printed but still requires some graphics. For example, you may be making a black packaging box. Rather than print black, you are using a black paper. This means inks printed on it won’t appear. So you use a white pigment foil to put the name of the product on the box.

Pearl Foils – These are foils that are transparent/translucent and have a pearlescent shine. You will commonly see these on wedding invitations. They do add some color, but are primarily used to give a shine to some element of your design.

Holographic Foils – These are foils that have a “rainbow” effect, similar to the back of a CD or DVD. As light shines on the foil, it is reflected back in a rainbow of colors. Also in the category of holographic foils are those that have a holographic pattern in them, such as a repeating starburst, dot pattern, etc.

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There are two common methods of foil stamping used today: traditional foil stamping and digital foil stamping.

Traditional Foil Stamping

This method begins with the desired design being etched onto a metal plate called a foiling die, which can be compared to a conventional rubber stamp. The die is heated up, and a thin layer of foil is placed between the die and the substrate. The die then applies pressure to the foil and the printing surface, causing the foil to permanently bond to the surface in the shape of the etched design.

For multiple colored designs, separate dies need to be created for each colour, and several runs of the press machine are required to produce the final design. Special effects such as embossing or raising may be achieved through the use of another specialized die.

Digital Foil Stamping

Digital foil stamping, also known as digital foiling, is visually similar to traditional foil stamping. However, instead of using a stamping die to press the pattern onto the substrate, the image is digitally printed using a special type of foil that adheres to the printed surface.

Digital stamping eliminates the need for multiple dies in multi-coloured and multi-patterned projects. This method can be compared to conventional inkjet printing.

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DURABILITY: Depending on the substrate being used, different methods of foiling are more effective than others. A cold foiling strategy is not suited to uncoated substrates. Hot foil stamping provides more latitude with substrate types since the foil is applied by heat application on the sheet versus the use of an adhesive.Foiling will be more durable when the correct method for the substrate is used to apply the foiling.

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DURABILITY: Depending on the substrate being used, different methods of foiling are more effective than others. A cold foiling strategy is not suited to uncoated substrates. Hot foil stamping provides more latitude with substrate types since the foil is applied by heat application on the sheet versus the use of an adhesive.Foiling will be more durable when the correct method for the substrate is used to apply the foiling.

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Single Level Die/Foiling Die – This is the most common die. In fact, when referring to a foil die, you are generally referring to a single level die. The die has two surfaces—the surface that stamps the foil and the area that doesn’t. Pretty simple. All etched copper and magnesium dies are single level dies.

Pattern Die – This is a die that has a micro texture in the foiling surface. This is an alternative to using a textured foil, which we’ll cover below.

Combination Die – This is a combination foiling and embossing die. We will cover embossing in a separate article, but in short, it’s the raising of a surface through stamping. Foiled areas look a lot better when they’ve been embossed and so many foil applications are followed by embossing. A combination die allows you to foil and emboss in a single pass through the press. This is great, but there are a few limitations—everything that’s embossed, must be foiled and vice versa. And the dies are far more expensive.