Foil Embellishments

The hot foil printing is a very popular method of embellishing labels. The foil is adhered to the label by pressing with a hot cliche. The foil is available in many colors, including gold, silver, hologram, and many other metallic colors. The foil has a metallic hue and gives a very interesting look when illuminated from different angles. Due to the pressure with a heated cliche, the print becomes slightly debossed, which complements the feel of the design.

The cold foil printing has a very similar effect to hot printing, but unlike it does not use a heated cliche, but uses a standard printing plate, which applies varnish. It acts as an adhesive for the foil - where varnish is applied, the film fixes to the printed material. The foils can also be many and different colors, but the process does not create relief on the label.

The liquid gold, also known as silk foil, is an extremely popular effect, although it is relatively new to the printing industry. It produces a gold or silver effect, but with a very large relief and a slight spread at the edges. It creates the impression that the label is cast with liquid gold, which has formed precisely defined design elements. 

The gold foil creates a classic, golden metallic effect with a high level of gloss and light reflection. It’s like historical objects created by the old masters of this precious metal. The foil is often preferred by designers to print everything from small elements and coats of arms to specific effects and even entire designs based on gold foil. It radiates a feeling of luxury and exclusivity on the label, and hence on the product.

The silver foil is very commonly used because of its metallic, glossy shine, which catches the eye from a great distance, especially when the label is illuminated at an angle. Unlike the silver inks, the silver foil is extremely smooth and creates a feeling of a very fine finish on the label, hence a sense of luxury and mastery in creating the product.

In addition to the basic silver and gold foils, the foils can be of different colors, such as blue, orange and many others. They are distinguished from the other technologies by the extremely clean color, and their very shiny surface, creating metallic shine when illuminated at different angles. Designers often use colored foils to emphasize certain elements of the label design, but more recently also to create entire designs based on combinations of several foils.

Holographic foils are used both to add an interesting effect to labels and as the first level of their protection against counterfeiting. Although they do not have a real hologram that is unique to your product, holographic foils create a similar visual effect for the end user and create a sense of authenticity and high quality of the original product.