Integrating foil on your labels can draw consumer’s eyes to your product and take your brand to a more luxurious level. Cold foil transfer and hot stamping are two ways you can integrate foil onto your label design.
The two main differences between the cold foil and hot foil are the way they are applied and the materials which they can be applied to. Even though the appearance of hot foil and cold foil is slightly different, the difference is almost unrecognizable.
Cold Foil
Cold foil is applied by printing a UV-curable adhesive in the desired areas that you want the foil. Then foil is applied to the adhesive immediately, completely covering it. The foil is stripped away but remains only in the areas where the adhesive was applied. Lastly, the labels are run under a UV light to completely cure the adhesive. The process of removing the access foil from the label makes this method less suitable for designs with fine details.
Hot Foil
Hot foil requires a metal die or stamp. This metal die is made in the reverse image of where the foil will be in the design. The metal die is mounted above the label on the press and heated. The foil material runs between the mounted metal die and the label. The metal die stamps or presses down on the foil using the heat to apply the foil to the label. Hot foil can be used with other printing techniques like embossing and is a better technique to use with fine details.
Economics
Cold foil is more affordable and less costly as a hot foil. The main price difference that makes cold foil more affordable is the price of the metal dies used for hot foil. The cold foil also can be done in a shorter timeline because metal dies can take about two weeks to receive. Another option that may be more affordable is printing your label on a metallic material instead of applying foil to a label. Even though the appearance of printing on metallic materials is different than applying a foil it can give the same appeal.
Make the packaging of your product stand out on store shelves by adding metallic paper or films, inks, or hot stamping/cold foiling to your label design. Contact Whitlam Group today and we can help engineer your label and find the best solution with your design.