Hot stamping consists of transferring a film or aluminium foil onto paper using heat and pressure. A wide variety of foils is available: pigmented colors, iridescent, pearlescent, holographic, light diffracting, security foils and of course gloss or satin metallics, based on aluminium foils with lacquers.

 

• Use a paper with high bulk or rigidity. The hot-stamping process could crumple or tear the sheet of paper otherwise.
• Avoid heavily textured papers for foiling images that contain very fine detail, unless you consider plate-sinking the area to be foiled.
• Use a UV varnish if you are hot stamping on coloured Curious SKIN papers
• Think about creative contrast and craft. For instance, hot-stamping gold or silver foils works well on dark Curious SKIN and Keaykolour papers.
• Consider using papers from 160gsm for double-sided hot stamping applications.
• Use the smoothest of papers, such as Conqueror CX22, for mirror finish foiling.
• Print using offset or screen printing before the hot-stamping process.
• Check with your printer when using foil blocking on black paper. The foil could react with the carbon dyes present in some papers. Conqueror, Keaykolour, Rives and Olin Colours, for example, are safe: They do not contain any carbon black.