What are the advantages of foil blocking?

Foil is a bright metallic reflective finish bringing print to life.

Most clients within the printing and packaging industry have heard of the foil blocking process and the benefits it can bring. We’ve broken hot foiling advantages down into 7 areas to help you understand, in more detail, how foil can be of benefit to you.

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Many designers have heard of foil blocking but the potential is often unrecognised due to unfamiliarity.

At Blockfoil we strive to open people’s eyes to the huge range of different possibilities available using foil.

Foil enhances a printed product lifting the appearance to a new level.

A common misconception with foil blocking is that the costs are prohibitive. This couldn’t be further from the truth.

Working with our team of experts it is normally possible to find a solution to suit any budget.

Foil is the best way to separate your product from the crowd.

In today’s crowded marketplace the importance of creating a memorable image is paramount.

A potential customer’s first impression is of extreme importance and a carefully designed print using vibrant foil colours will grab the customer’s attention.

Foil establishes premium brand positioning and enables premium pricing.

The strategic decision to add foil to your product is an important one.

A rich, metallic finish gives a perceived added value to the product which is proven to arouse the interest of a potential customer.

Foil offers brand protection.

Buying a particular product has a lot to do with confidence in the brand.

The addition of foil blocking assures the customer of its quality and authenticity.

Foil sells more

When used effectively foil increases visibility in the retail environment. Not only will the product leap out at you from a visual perspective it stimulates the urge to ‘touch and feel’ the product.

Encouraging the customer to ‘engage’ with your product is an essential part of ‘making the sale’.

Foil blocking is not a dark art

The experts at Blockfoil will not only guide you in how best to use foil but will give you an overview of the blocking process, if requested, to enable you to speak with confidence to your clients about the process in future.

What can we foil block onto? Find out here.

This page will tell you all about the print finish of foil blocking. You can learn about its process, advantages and disadvantages, common uses, why and when you should use it, rough price estimates and also tell you about a method you can use in order to replicate this process with everyday home equipment.

What is Foil Blocking?

Foil blocking is the process of adding foil on to a printed design by using a die. This foil is permanently stuck to the design in order to create a shiny metallic effect. Foil blocking can be seen in use on everyday items such as cards, DVD cases and even food packaging.

Foil blocking in generally added to the printed media in order to help bring emphasis to certain areas of the design. For example in media such as birthday cards you will often see foiling used on the text of the front cover so it stands out compared to the rest of the design. Another example is a business card, here foiling could be applied to a pattern or a common brand asset in order to help make the business card stand out when put against other cards.

When used in moderation foiling can suit a brand which is trying to come across as premium as you can achieve a shiny metallic gold effect.

Examples

As stated earlier you can probably find examples of foiling all around your house.

The Process

1. A metal plate is etched away to leave the design in relief and becomes the die

2. The die is then mounted onto the top bed of the flatbed press

3. The media used (e.g. plastic) is placed on the bottom table of the flatbed press with the design facing up

4. The foil is placed over the media with the foiled side facing away from the die and towards of the media

5. The die is heated to a high temperature around 110 degrees (depending on the type of media used)

6. The flatbed press is shut and the die is compressed with force into the surface of the foil, marking the media with the foiled design

7. Once transferred the flatbed press machine is opened and the waste foil is removed

   Contact us to discuss your requirements of Cold Foil Stamping Machine. Our experienced sales team can help you identify the options that best suit your needs.

8. The final printed metallic design is then removed from the flat bed press machine

Pros and Cons/Cost

Foiling is a relatively low cost when performed by a small local press (such as OS printing – a printing firm which we visited in Reading). 1000 sheets of a maximum size of B3 was roughly around £95, although prices does vary depending on the type of foil being used.

Now lets look at the pros and cons.

Pros:

• Prints on a variety of mediums

• Wide range of colour choice

• Different textures can be created

• Enhances the finish of the work

• Flexible print finish: additional printing finishes can be applied over the foil, such as varnish, this can be applied to create a different effect to the finish – this makes more a level surface

• The price is not dependent on the amount of detail of the design, meaning that the design can be as detailed and intricate as you like

• Printing illustrations is just as easy printing typography

• When compared to metallic inks foils are more durable
• When compared to metallic inks foils can give a much shinier finish

Cons:

• Cost: price is almost tripled when printed at a commercial printer (where it is classed as a finishing process, rather than a simple printing process)

• The creation of the dye is a separate process made by an outside company and therefore comes with cost

• The proposed price is distinguished by an outside company and therefore comes with a cost

• The proposed price is distinguished by the amount foil used

• The temperature has to be changed according to the medium used

Home Made Foiling

You can achieve a foiling effect with everyday equipment you have at home; however you shouldn’t necessarily rely on this effect to produce final outcomes as results can be very inconsistent.

You need:

• Foil
• Iron
• Paper
• Laser printer

Instructions:

1. Create a design in the appropriate software. Areas which you want to foiled should be jet black. Print this design off on a laser printer.
2. Place the design down so the design is facing up. Place the foil on top of this with the coloured side facing up towards you. Place another piece of paper on top of the foil; this acts as a layer of protection.
3. Iron over the protective layer of paper for roughly 1–2 minutes.
4. Remove protective paper. Peel off the foil
5. Your design should now be foiled!

The Future of Foil Blocking

Cold Foil Blocking

In typical foil blocking, a high level of heat and various dies are used to create the desired effect. However recent strides have been made in technology, to which the process can be preformed cold and without dies. This is preformed by simply overprinting onto silver foil. The process has started to be adopted by some of the biggest printing manufactures in the world.

We contacted ‘Eagle Systems’ in the US who preform the process, they distinguished the process as:

1. Ink is removed: The inked sections of the foil blocked design are removed.

2. Adhesive applied: The ink-less sections are replaced with an adhesive that is printed on a lithography plate in the pattern you wish.

3. Silver foil added: Silver foil is placed on top, and is rolled through an impression cylinder that sticks to the adhesive sections.

4. Press Used: The is medium then carried through the press which overprints colour on the foil – allowing for infinite colour choices.

Form the process steps, the printing technique could be termed as a printing process rather then typical foil blocking which is a stamping process using dies.

Benefits: According to Eagle Systems, the process is much more cost effective. It can be set up in 3/4 days in a pre-existing printing workshop; and can be reconstructed to fit a printers current offset lithography press. By having this quick start-up process and simple configuration; cold foil blocking could be a feasible option for any designer wanting a easy, cheap print finish.

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