Digital printing has been around for a few years now, but machines are now becoming increasingly advanced to be able to incorporate varnishes & foils as part of the process. Metallic inks have been available since 2010, but their levels of reflection are nowhere near as bright as metallic foil.
Historically, foil blocking (or hot foil stamping) involves applying metallic foil to paper or card, using heated plates (or die). This leaves the foiled elements slightly debossed and textured, as the foil is hot pressed onto card or paper stock. The problem with this, is that small intricate designs or type below a certain font size would not print correctly due to the die not being capable of transferring this detail onto the foil.
Advances in digital printing now allow such intricacies. Sakurai, a Japanese rotary screen print specialist, has launched a unit that applies metallic foil over a screen applied varnish. This means that foil can now be applied anywhere on a B1 sheet of any paper type to achieve detail which was impossible to achieve through other methods. The final results are stunning, giving the foil print a deep metallic sheen whatever the scale. As this can be achieved in-house by most printers, the cost benefits can easily be passed on to the customer.
More importantly, with no need for conventional dies which take time to order in and set up, the benefits are low setup costs, short runs and variability. Therefore, where the premium look of foil blocked print was once the domain of large runs of expensive corporate brochures, it can now be applied to anything from business cards to wedding stationery.
Useful Links
http://www.sakuraiuk.co.uk
https://packagingnews.co.uk
https://easyfairs.com/PIUK
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