HOT FLAT FOILING
In principle, hot foil stamping is the process of using heat and pressure to apply metallic foil or holograms to materials such as light papers, carton board, laminated board, plastics and corrugated board. A CNC cut die die is heated and pressed into a substrate to leave an eye catching foiled impression.
Include a touch of luxury to your design by using flat foil. Metallic and coloured sheens can add stunning effects to high-end print products such as packaging, greetings cards, brochures and stationary. Using our various presses.
CAST & CURE
Is a revolutionary technology that allows an etched image to be applied into a UV coating to produce stunning visual effects on the printed sheet. The process is performed at press speed and in litho register, utilising standard printing plates.
Cast and Cure uses a UV duct varnish applied to the substrate via a litho plate, which releases an image of the film onto the substrate. The varnish is dried by a UV source, creating a holographic effect. Then the film is delaminated from the surface and rewound for future use. No material is transferred from the film onto the substrate. Also no varnish is transferred to the film. This allows for multiple uses of the film, which acts as an embossing tool to manipulate the surface of the coating on a submicron scale.
Cast and Cure is an environmentally friendly process using UV inks and coatings. It eliminates the harmful VOCs associated with similar processes. It also eliminates the need to use foil board or other metallised substrates which are non-recyclable.
Application of UV Coating
The UV coating can be applied partly or in solids from a printing unit using an offset plate or from a coating unit using a stripped blanket or a flexo plate.
Transfer of holographic pattern & UV Coating
During the transfer of the pattern the holographic texture of the foil comes in contact with the wet UV coating on top of the printing sheet. During this contact the UV coating is being cured through the transparent holographic film. The result is a vice versa of the holographic film pattern on the printed sheet.
Release and rewinding of the foil
Production of Packaging Solutions Cast & Cure
After the pattern has been transferred and the UV coating has been cured the plastic film is released from the sheet surface. The plastic film for Cast & Cure can be used multiple times, until the pattern on the plastic is fading away or the plastic film gets worn. The number of passes is depending on different parameters such as intensity of UV rays, type of coating, amount of coating etc.
COLD FOIL
Is a fast, cost-effective inline process that works in conjunction with most printing techniques, mimicking the effect of hot foil stamping. Cold Foil is applied to a UV-curable adhesive image using a standard printing plate. The foil, is affixed to the printed adhesive, creating an image prior to the application of printing inks. When applied inline, a major benefit is that the registration between the applied foil and the overprinted inks and varnish is press perfect. Generally silver, but also comes in a range of gold, stock diffraction patterns and custom holographic designs.
Designer Benefits
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Infinite spectrum of colour possibilities by registering foil to overprinting
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Increased availability as more print vendors begin to offer cold foil transfer
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Viability for a broader array of applications due to budget and schedule efficiencies
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Retain the texture of substrates, as cold foil transfer requires little pressure
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Flexibility to produce large, solid areas of foil with fine detail, in addition to half tones, small fonts and knockouts.
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Professional differentiation with the ability to provide cost-efficient value-added print
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Full Coverage, Fine Details, Halftones, Heavy Coverage.
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Brand Owner Benefits
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Cost saving and faster speed-to-market—no metal dies, post-press foil application or outsourcing
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Expanded sales and marketing opportunities —any run length possible
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Increased security possibilities—cold foil enables readability of EAS (Electronic Article Surveillance) tags
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No need to sacrifice sustainability for shine—cold foil transferred products are biodegradable and can be recycled using conventional techniques.
Cold Foil Samples
Click on an Image
FOIL EMBOSSING
Foil Embossing is combining both foil stamping and embossing in one affordable process, using a foil embossing fluted die. The cost of the die is a little more expensive than a traditional flat foil die bur the cost is offset against the cost of adding another process to finish the design of your product.
EMBOSSING
If the image is to be embossed, a metal die (female - usually made of brass), and a counter die (male) are required that fit together and squeeze the paper fibers or other substrate. A combination of heat and pressure "irons" the fibers, raising the level of the image higher than the substrate to make it smooth.
FULL UV VARNISHING
UV Varnishes typically cover the page with a transparent coating that feels very smooth and thick. The UV part stands for ultra violet which is the way the coating is dried – using ultra violet light. UV varnishes are usually seen covering the page in a smooth glossy coating that really brings out the colours in the page. They are also available in Matt and tints.
SPOT UV VARNISHING
Worth mentioning separately as this is a technique where you can choose a particular item on the page to cover in UV varnish. It’s done to add vibrancy to the coated item and can really add impact; the contrast of the spot UV’d element to the rest of the page can be particularly eye-catching. This contrast is heightened by adding spot UV on top of matt laminated printing.
