Foil Decoration

For sprucing up a product's image, foil decorating has lots to offer.

HERE'S ONE WAY to make a product stand out on a store shelf: don't make it bright and shiny. It will stand out—just like the Model T once did when Henry Ford said that cars come in one color, black.

Today's products that are vying for the consumers' purchasing dollars must be bright and shiny. It's a fact of life on the store shelf. Although there is no question that high-end products must provide this high-quality look, it is also necessary for just about any product category, at any pricing level.

"Packaging for perfume, chocolate and gum, film, CD, DVD, cigarettes, and foodstuffs exhibit the same high-quality design as labels for wines, champagne, or liquor," says Sam McElree, product/ sales manager for KURZ Transfer Products. "Competition at the point of purchase is being decided more and more by attractive packaging and the recognition value of brand perception through the use of holographic foils."

Foil decorating, including hot and cold foil approaches, can meet the needs of brand managers across a full spectrum of applications. As always, there are compromises—typically in the areas of cost versus quality—that need to be understood to apply the right approach for the application.

Hot foil stamping

Hot foil stamping is the quality standard that foil decoration is measured against. But as usual, the high quality also comes at a higher cost.

One of the key advantages of hot foil stamping is it provides the fine detail definition that high-end products such as cosmetics and wine labels demand, says Arnall Page, API dieLESS product manager for API Foils. The tradeoff in higher costs for this level of quality come from the special equipment needed for application, the need for a heating element, and the use of engraved stamping dies.

ITW Foilmark's National Sales Manager Chris Corbett points to the cost of the rotary hot stamp cylinders as the main cost factor for hot foil stamping. "However, prices of cylinders have dropped by as much as 50 percent in the past five to six years," he says.

The return for the higher costs comes from several advantages that hot foil stamping has to offer. In addition to the sharp edge definition that is critical in prime label applications, Corbett points to a brighter, smoother finish, and a much wider selection of metallic foil colors and diffraction foils that can be applied to both paper and film. One of the problems with cold foils is that the adhesive is not smooth and this can result in a distortion in the reflectance from the surface of the foil.

Another desirable feature that hot foil stamping offers is the use of embossed stamping. This can provide "distinctive touch packaging designs with visually striking relief or embossed stamping through the use of CNC engraved dies," says McElree.

In addition to reducing costs for cylinders, hot stamping system suppliers are also addressing the speed limitations that, for the most part, have relegated hot stamping to an off-line process. "Modern hot stamping machines, using either platen or round cylinder technology, are now capable of delivering between 7,500 to 12,000 stampings per hour, depending on the type of machine used," says McElree. "This compares to under 5,000 stampings per hour just a few short years ago, therefore greatly reducing the cost of hot stamping due to the higher processing speeds."

Corbett points to a recent trend in foil decorating that may lead to more hot stamping being performed inline. "Chemistry advances in hot stamp foils allow for significantly higher run speeds, so now [hot] foil can be run in-line rather than as an off-line process." These advances are aligned with a trend that is seeing sheet-fed carton printing moving to web-fed printing, he observes.

Another trend in hot stamping is the use of overprinting of the foil. Corbett says this ability again comes from chemistry advances in the foil that allow the use of UV inks on top of the foil. Overprinting can provide additional brilliance that enhances graphic appeal.

Overprinting with opaque or even transparent color systems offers "intriguing possibilities" notes McElree. "These can offer the package designer numerous design options for both color and effect."

Cooling it down

Although cold foil printing does not meet some of fine detail definition that hot stamping offers, J. Michael Rivera, vice president of sales for AMAGIC Holographics, believes it offers many advantages for flexographic printers. These include: low initial investment; lower cost of photopolymer plates that apply a UV adhesive (as compared to a rotary hot stamp die); higher press speeds (up to 450 fpm); in-line process; and the ability to apply foils onto hard-to-hot-stamp substrates such as unsupported films, PET, and plastic bags.

Cold foil printing achieves its best results on film and non-absorbing paper substrates; it is not effectively used with porous substrates. However, Rivera reports that some AMAGIC customers have reported excellent results using the Raflatac Raflasilk semi-gloss PSA stock. "Others are able to attain good cold foil results using primers and sealers on top of semi-gloss paper stocks," he says.

Rivera believes that cold foil printing is now an accepted alternative to hot stamping. He sees it expanding from narrow-web flexo to other printing processes such as wide-web flexo, letterpress, web offset, and sheet-fed offset printing. As an example, he points to MAN Roland's new Prindor InLine cold foil equipment that was unveiled on the Roland 700 sheet-fed offset press at drupa.

For new trends in cold foil applications, Page notes that narrow-web flexo carton and label printers now have the ability to lay down a silver through-cure cold foil or silver holographic through-cure cold foil and then overprinting the foil in another station to achieve various metallic color effects. "This is a very cost-effective way for a customer to add value to their product," he says.

"Cost-effective" is the key selling point for cold foil printing. Because it eliminates expensive tooling costs, it "can be beneficial for short runs, lower quality labels, and proofing applications," says Corbett. However, because of some of the quality limitations when compared to hot stamped foils, he says that it is not typically suited for higher quality packaging and label work.

Metallic ink option

The use of metallic inks is an option that can provide a similar look on the store shelf, but to date, foil suppliers have not seen a significant impact.

"While metallic inks have improved over the years, they still cannot approach the brilliant 'eye catching' effects of hot or cold foil decorating," says McElree. "It has been shown through several independent studies that foil stamping has a tremendous impact on sales outcomes. From a marketing perspective, it plays a critical role in product recognition and you cannot get this effect from the use of metallic inks."

Hot or cold?

The right answer to this question depends on the application. Top quality, higher cost—use hot foil; good quality, lower cost—use cold foil. In either case, keep your eye on both, because hot foil costs are coming down and cold foil quality is going up.

By Tom Polishuk

Editor-In-Chief