ENTER A NEW MARKET WITH MINIMAL INVESTMENT

Cold Foil Printing is an in line process that works on rotary letterpress and rotary flexo presses closely duplicating hot foil stamping … but cold foil printing is faster, more efficient, and does not require the costly dies associated with hot foil stamping.

In commercial use for many years by a select few, the latest refinements in cold foil technology are now available to all label printers.

Regular anilox rollers and photopolymer plates transfer UV curable adhesive onto a wide variety of stocks. It can be applied in spot or solid print matching most artwork or design imaginable.

There are two types of Cold Foil Printing:

WET LAMINATION PROCESS

   REQUIRES REAL ONE PLAYER TO VIEW THE MOVE

The specially formulated UV-curable adhesive is first printed with a standard photopolymer plate onto the web substrate. The specially formulated foil is then laminated onto the wet adhesive. This laminated construction is passed through the UV dryer. The UV dryer cures the adhesive through the foil and a foiled image is created. The remaining foil is then removed and wounded onto a waste wind up.

DRY LAMINATION PROCESS

The specially formulated UV-curable adhesive is first printed with a standard photopolymer plate onto the web substrate. The adhesive is then cured with a UV dryer, making the adhesive "tacky." The specially formulated foil is then laminated onto the tacky adhesive with a high pressure nip assembly which transfers the foil onto the adhesive. The remaining foil is then removed and wounded onto a waste wind up.

WHY USE COLD FOI?

Throughout history, foil has been used to honor and adorn people, places and events. Pure gold was the primary source of foil. After the painstaking task of pounding gold into thin layers, the foil was then formed into armors, caskets, statues and shields. It was also used on important documents as a seal or certification of authenticity. Today, foil is being used more than ever. It is a valuable tool used to enhance illustrations, packaging, and labels. Cruise the shopping aisles, and you will realize the most noticeable products are imprinted with foil.

HOT STAMP VERSUS COLD FOIL

Traditional hot foil stamping has always been expensive and difficult to produce. Printers seldom have specialized foil stamping facilities in-house, typically because of the high cost and specialized nature of die production. The result - foil orders are printed off line or shipped out to third parties, adding significant time and cost to projects.

How Hot Stamping Affects Your Bottom Line:

•  Additional expense, due to die costs and third party involvement.
•  Longer lead times, two to six weeks on average jobs.
•  Minimum quantities required to cover initial set up costs.
•  Transcription errors, as a result of orders passing through two
    or three stages before completion.

Now Compare The Features of Cold Foil Printing:

•  Fast set up
•  No up front tooling costs – or dies
•  Faster running speeds
•  Works on a wide variety of substrates
•  Quick turnaround
•  Short or long print runs
•  Excellent registration
•  In-line and in-house

What Are The Benefits Of Cold Foiling?

•  Save time and money … foil printing has never been faster
    or easier
•  Recognition from internal colleagues
•  Customer satisfaction, repeat business and added value
•  Proven concept and flexible process
•  Ability to enter new markets
•  Repeat business
•  Added value

You can now offer the beauty of foil printing in a time frame that suits both work environment and needs. High quality products, great prices and superb service geared to meet customer needs profitably!

WHO DO I SELL TO?

The cold foil printing process was never designed to entirely replace the hot stamping system, although cold foiling allows for greater flexibility and lower operating costs. Rather than competing against hot stamping, cold foil printing allows the printer to expand their foil market.

Typically, any products requiring exceptional shelf appeal are good candidates for cold foil printing. Household consumables, scented candles, wine labels, and cosmetic packaging are the most popular. With the advent of holographic, diffractive and refractive foils, foil has broadened its use to include packaging and board applications.

The cold foil printing process is a perfect fit for low cost jobs such as children's stickers and gift tags. Jobs that were printed with gold or metallized ink also fall into this category. These jobs have a tendency to appear as a matte color and do not have the brilliance of foil.

An exciting new application is also available with cold foil printing. In the past halftone metallic effects were impossible with the use of foils. Now such effects can be easily achieved with cold foil printing and create many different options in the design of labels and packaging. End users will want to be made aware of this new application which can give a flexo printer the competitive edge.

For a more in-dept information on Cold Foil Printing, please refer to our cold foil handbook, "Cold Foil For Dummies". To order your copy, click to the HOME button below.