Foil stamping is the application of a pigment or metallic foil, typical foils are either gold or silver. The stamping process starts by taking a custom heated die, stamping the die onto the foil which makes it stick to paper leaving the design on the paper. With that said, we are going to use our own business card to demonstrate how simple setting up your foil files.
This process is basically the same exact process as setting up a Spot UV file. If you know how to set up Spot UV already, then you know how to set up foil files! When submitting files that contain foils, please send separate files rather then having the foils inside of groups in one file. The first two files below are files that will be printed. As you can see, there’s no indication where the foil will go because printing and foil stamping are separate runs. This is why we need separate files.
Now, what you want to do is make your foil layers 100% black. The white background indicates no foil (basically transparent). Anything is that colored with 100% black will be foil stamped. You can simply do this by adding a color overlay to the merged layer. Your CMYK colors should read — C: 0% || M: 0% || Y: 0% || K: 100% –. This is what your files should look like when submitting them as a foil mask.
For the finished result before print, you will be sent a digital proof to show you where the foil stamping takes place. The turquoise color indicates where the colored foil will be stamped with the print layers. When submitting you files please label correctly such as (cardAprint.psd, cardAfoil.psd, cardBprint.psd, cardBfoil.psd)
Feel free to email us at sales@wetheprinters.com or give us a call at (708) 414-6194.
No question is a dumb question!