What’s new in stamping foils? Bringing extra sparkle to print products

Stamping foil can help your products to really stand out – and you can probably do it with the equipment you already have. We speak to Matt Hornby of foil specialists Foilco.

Adding metal foil to indicate the importance or luxury of something has been a concept for hundreds of years. Even back as far as the eighth century, one gospel book is known as the ‘Codex Aureus’ – aurum being Latin for gold – because of its metallic decoration. More than a millennium later, as any glance around a typical retail environment will prove, it’s an idea that still remains popular.

“Stamping foil is attractive and grabs the attention of potential customers. If you walk through a duty-free area, have a look around and you will see that nearly every one of those products will have a stamping foil on it, whether that’s cigarettes, perfume, cosmetics or alcohol,” Matt Hornby, Chief Creative Officer of British foil-stamping innovators Foilco says.

“And it’s not just on those premium products. You’ll find foil stamping used to apply metallic or holographic effects on your wheelie bins that features the council’s name. Or on the tipping of the numbers on your credit card. Or on birthday cards. Once you see it, you can’t unsee it!”

With such a long history, the processes used in foil stamping have understandably developed in a variety of ways. There is traditional hot foiling, cold foiling and – in more recent years – digital foiling.

“Hot stamping foil already has the glue dried on the back of it – it is a complete process in one. All you need is a brass stamping die to stamp onto it,” Matt says.

“But digital foiling is more relevant to FESPA members as it involves first putting down inks or varnishes – you simply print the graphic as you would print anything else – and then you place the stamping foil down over the top of toner, print receptive varnish or primer, or even over a digital screen for textiles.

Matt Hornby, Foilco

“This is pushed together through the rollers of a heated laminator. We put the material through with the foil on the top and that heated laminator will bond the foil with the ink/ varnish. Once the adhesive you have printed gets warm and tacky, the foil will transfer onto the surface of the adhesive and…