Foil stamping at home. Cold and hot foil stamping

Foil stamping is mainly used for giving souvenirs and gift printing products individuality and originality. Decorate in this way business cards, cards, folders, notebooks, labels, stickers, bags, leather products, etc. There are several ways of printing foil, differing in the way and material of application. Technologically embossing - the procedure is not particularly complicated. Decorate in this way any souvenirs can be even at home.

Methods of foil stamping

You can make such decor by your own hands in two ways:

• Using a laminator;
• An iron.

Next, we'll figure out how to make embossing on these technologies, in more detail.

How to apply a drawing using a laminator

To perform printing in this case, you will need a laser printer besides the laminator . It is better if it is not full-color, but ordinary. As for the laminator, it is worth buying a model with a very large compression force. Toner-sensitive foil will also be needed. If desired, you can use either matte or glossy, and holographic.

Paper is best to take a simple one. Textured or special decorative for stamping at home is not very suitable. When using such a material, the picture will turn out to be sloppy and ugly. In the depressions of paper of this variety, the metal simply does not stick.

Stamping with foil using a laminator is as follows:

• Find a beautiful vector pattern or ornament. You can also write in a program, for example in the same "Photoshop", the appropriate text with the original font. It is desirable only that it is not too thin.
• Print the drawing on the printer.
• Put a sheet with a pattern or inscription on the table and cover it with a metallized foil of any color.
• Put another sheet of blank paper on top of it.
• Run the resulting "cake" through the laminator. Thin foil must stick to the picture. If the pattern turns out sloppy and intermittent, the procedure can be repeated. Run the sheets through the laminator until a satisfactory result is obtained.

Material from the sheet should be removed neatly, without hurrying.

Foil stamping at home with iron

Of course, laminator is not in every household. It is worth this device is inexpensive, but buying it in order to make a beautiful embossing is absolutely not necessary. You can use for this purpose a regular iron for ironing. With respect to the inscription or pattern, the procedure in this case will be exactly the same as when embossed with a laminator.

The printed sheet should be placed on a hard surface with a drawing up. The foil is superimposed on it with the purl part down. That is, the shining side should be on top.

The iron is put on minimum heat. On the foil they need to drive as accurately as possible. If it does not stick to the pattern, increase the heating mode a little. The foil should be ironed for about 2 minutes, until a thin metal adheres to the heated paint. Do not remove the foil from the sheet at once. Wait until it cools down.

Embossing on the skin

By the technology, which will be presented below, you can decorate almost any leather product: a bag, boots, a purse, a notebook, a belt, etc. To execute a picture in this case, you need a cliche - a special stamp with a pattern. You can take, for example, some big metal button. The order of foil stamping in this case is as follows:

• The skin is placed on a hard surface.
• A small rectangle is cut from the foil (according to the size of the future drawing). It must be applied to the skin.
• Next, heat the iron and press them down with foil. Keep the hot sole on the material for about a minute.
• After the thin metal warms up well, the iron is removed.
• Without waiting for the workpiece to cool, it is necessary to attach a button to it and press it down properly. Keep "cliches" on the skin should be at least 30 seconds.

Stamping with foil at home on the skin - the procedure is simple, but in any case pre-work on an unnecessary piece of material is still worth it. If you do not keep the iron or stamp, the picture will turn out to be sloppy. Remove the same foil from a bag or purse will be quite problematic.

Printer for embossing

Today, if you want, you can buy special electronics for making inscriptions and patterns with thin metal. This is the so-called hot foil stamping printer. It connects directly to the computer via the USB connector. Of course, this device is not very similar to an ordinary printer. The foil in it is wound on two shafts located on both sides of the working part. Under them is a movable flat solid surface. In the set with the device there is a disk on which specially designed for printing the software is written down.

Of course, there is a printer for foil stamping not cheap. Yes, and buy it is still quite problematic.

Industrial Embossing

So, how to decorate souvenirs, things or cards using foil, we have found out. Now, for the general development, let's talk about how the embossing is performed in industrial conditions. In this case, of course, much more sophisticated, professional equipment is used, for example, a foil stamping press. The procedure itself is performed in compliance with specially developed technologies.

In fact, foil stamping is not more than one of the types of printing. The only peculiarity is that a drawing or an inscription is made using not a paint, but a thin metal. When performing the embossing in this case, the method of high printing is usually applied. This means that the parts that respond directly to the pattern itself protrude above the surface of the cliché stamp. The embossing procedure is carried out in an industrial way:

• The printed form is heated by electricity. The required temperature is maintained by means of a thermostat.
• At each operating stroke, the strip of multilayer foil intended specifically for stamping is moved a predetermined distance. This process is called pulling.

That is, when using such serious equipment as a foil stamping press, the procedure for drawing the drawing is done approximately the same way as when applying the printer.

How to make an embossing cliche in an industrial way

The technology of foil stamping involves the use of special wear-resistant and durable stamps. Clichés for such decoration can also be manufactured in different ways and from different metals. The pattern is applied to the surface either by mechanical engraving or by chemical etching. Clichés are usually made of metals such as brass, magnesium, copper and zinc. Most often the first two materials. Magnesium clichés are used if the embossing requires a not too large batch of products. The wear resistance of such stamps is not particularly high.

Brass cliches for foil stamping are used to process a large number of products. Copper and zinc are rarely used, which is mainly due to environmental problems.

Types of foil used for industrial embossing

The material used for printing in factories is very different. This can be a foil:

• Metallized. It is a well-known shiny material: golden, silvery, bronze. Using such a foil, it is possible to perform both a concave and convex pattern.
• Pigmentary. After embossing, this variety has the appearance of ordinary paint.
• Clear lacquer. This type of material is performed by embossing matte surfaces. After its application on the product remains a spectacular shiny pattern.
• Textured. Such a foil can imitate different materials: wood, leather, stone, etc.
• Holographic. This is one of the most interesting types of material. Embossing with a holographic foil is performed, for example, on banknotes to prevent their forgery.
• Scratch-foil. This version is used for temporary protection of information from reading.
• Diffraction Foil. It is used for printing on plastic.
• Magnetic. Used in the manufacture of credit cards.

Material for cold and hot stamping

All foil can be divided into two main varieties:

• Designed for cold stamping. With this foil, you can print on products that can not withstand high temperatures. Usually these are thin films intended for making bags and packages. An advantageous feature of such a procedure as cold foil stamping, from the "hot" method is that this method can perform drawings with halftones.
• Designed for hot stamping. This variety is used in industry most often. The types considered above refer specifically to this group.

With the help of embossing with foil, it is possible to apply patterns, logos, drawings, advertising and congratulatory inscriptions, panels, etc. on the products. The technology for performing such printing is simple, and the procedure itself is characterized by low prime cost.