Hot Foil Blocking vs Cold Foil Blocking – What’s The Difference?

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Hot Foil Blocking vs Cold Foil Blocking – What’s The Difference?

18 April 2016

In this article you will learn:

Any printed item you see with a shiny foil design on it will have either undergone hot foil blocking or cold foil blocking. Printing companies often offer both hot and cold foiling – here we outline the essential differences in the techniques and how the different techniques effect the end result of this print finish.

What is hot foil blocking?

Hot foil blocking, also known as hot foil stamping, hot foil printing or just hot foiling is a technique which transfers a foil design onto a substrate.

A block is made of a particular design; this block is known as the hot die; then a combination of heat and pressure transfer the design onto the paper or board. Hot foiling is done post-press which means that printed areas cannot overlap foil sections.

Here’s a video of the process:

You can get hold of foil in almost any colour and even with hologram or pattern designs.

Press Method:

hot_foil_press_diagram

Image credit: http://www.pdsinternational.com/printing_information/processes/hot_foil_printing.php

And cold foil blocking?

Cold foil blocking is similar to hot foil blocking, but as implied by the name, doesn’t involve heating. It’s an inline process so it happens during printing. The design is applied via UV activated adhesive rather than heated die, and therefore uses a UV lamp instead of heating equipment. Cold foiling is also sometimes called dieless foiling.

There are two methods you can use to adhere the foil – the free radical method, which uses UV without an initial cure or the cationic method which uses an initial cure and post cure to secure the foil. The different methods used depend on the type of press in use.

Free radical method

  1. Print adhesive
  2. Laminate foil to surface
  3. Pass substrate and laminate foil through UV lamp to harden adhesive and to bond the foil to the substrate
  4. De-laminate foil

coldfoil-article-1

Cationic method

  1. Print adhesive
  2. Pass substrate under UV lamp to start the cure and make adhesive tacky
  3. Laminate foil to surface
  4. De-laminate foil

coldfoil-article-2

Image credit: http://www.flexoexchange.com/gorilla/coldfoil.html

Hot foiling vs cold foiling

HOT FOILING

Better quality, brighter and doesn’t suffer from pinholing which can be a problem with cold foiling.

Hot foiling can be combined with embossing and stamping to produce a tactile effect. Cold foiling can’t.

You don’t need an ultra-clean environment to hot foil; you do to cold foil.

You don’t experience problems with UV lamps which can be common during cold foiling.

COLD FOILING

Significantly cheaper. Adequate where very high quality isn’t a concern.

In-line foiling means it can be completed after or in between printing processes.

Much quicker process than hot foiling. Fast set up, no brass dies.

Flexibility in terms of being able to do short/long print runs.

Hot foiling is generally favoured by those looking for real finish and quality. Cold foiling is becoming increasingly popular however as techniques develop to iron out the problems with quality which originally put people off. Cold foiling also has the appeal of being generally cheaper than hot foiling which is why a lot of printers offer both techniques.

Find out more:

Foiling and Embossing FAQs

Gold Foiling Tutorials from 12 Craft Bloggers

Dieless foiling – how to do it with heat

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