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Cost-effective alternatives to hot foil stamping?
July 31, 2008

Question: We are currently hot stamping gold, silver and color foil for book covers and cartons. We basically like the results but are hearing about less-expensive ways. What are the options?

Answer: Hot stamping has many advantages—and you can emboss at the same time. While the cost is high, the speed is also slow. We are seeing come to the market several alternatives, such as Eckart Top Star inks (both conventional and UV), the Metal FX system for sheetfed and web, and inline cold foiling from press manufacturers such as manroland and Heidelberg. There are a number of specialty UV coatings that have pigment as well.

Inline keeps costs in line

There are differences in the look of each system, and it does deserve careful study and a look at the costs. Generally, if you can do it inline, the savings are large.

Readers, please e-mail your questions to Ray.   

Posted by Ray Prince on July 31, 2008 | Comments (0)