Hot stamping or foil stamping is a printing method of relief printing in which pre-dried ink or foils are transferred to a surface at high temperatures. The non-polluting method has diversified since its rise to prominence in the 19th century to include a variety of colors and processes. After 1970s, hot stamping became one of the important methods of decoration on the surface of pouches and bags.
Along with foil stamping machines, among the commonly used tools in hot stamping are dies and foil. Dies may be made of metal or silicone rubber, and they may be shaped directly or cast. They can carry high levels of detail to be transferred to the surface and may be shaped to accommodate irregularities in the surface.
Foils are multilayered coatings that transfer to the surface of the product. Non-metallic foils consist of an adherence base, a color layer, and a release layer. Metallic foils replace the color layer with a layer of chrome or vacuum-metallized aluminum. Metallic foil construction has a metal-like sheen and is available in different metal shades such as gold, silver, bronze, and copper etc.
