•  The dark colour of the substrate or ink is absorbing the UV light and the adhesive is not curing. To resolve this you can increase the UV power and/or increase the dwell time by stripping a little further down the web.

•  There are a lot of markets demanding cold foil. Some of them are prime labels, cosmetics, wine, beverages and novelty stickers. Imagine any label for your customer that could be improved by adding a foil highlight.

•  There is a full range of metallic colours the most common being reds, greens, golds and silver. Even holographic,  diffraction and iridescent foils are available.

•  Most times your customer won’t know the difference. Most cold foils are available in the same colours as those used for hot stamping.

•  The different types of adhesive are for different printing processes and substrates. A thin viscosity is used for flexo, a slightly heavier viscosity is used for letterpress, and a high viscosity letterpress version is used for porous substrates like textiles for example rayon or satin.

•  Our foils are made specifically for cold foiling and are designed to allow UV light to pass through. They have special release characteristics allowing cleaner edges after stripping and are printable. The bottom surface is specifically designed to adhere to our adhesive. Our adhesives allow you to use low volume anilox rollers for the sharpest print detail and are printable on a wide variety of substrates.

•  Cold foiling has been used on Labels, Cartons, Ribbons, Toothpaste Tubes, even on Wood! Let your Imagination be your guide to the endless possibilities for cure through cold foiling.

•  That depends on the UV system you have on the press. We have seen speeds up to 350 feet per minute.

•  Cold foiling works on most films and papers. Sometimes a coating to seal the surface may be required.

•  Uncoated paper and absorbent materials do pose a problem. See our technical pages for solutions.

•  Yes, If your plates are suitable for UV ink you can use them for cold foiling.

•  You can cold foil on any flexo or letterpress that has UV curing capabilities.

•  We have support available 24/7.

•  Setting up the printing head for cold foil is the same as setting up for a spot colour. You will have to allow a little extra time to web the foil and set the nip roller.

•  Start by calling us or e-mail info@coldfoil.com. We can review your needs and offer suggestions. We will familiarize you with the process and arrange to send our information or sample kit depending on your needs.

•  The Wet Lamination system: The adhesive is applied, then laminated before curing. It uses the newest "cure through" technology foil for crisper, cleaner lines and better gloss, brightness, and reflectance as it is cured through the film leaving a smoother surface.

•  The Dry Lamination system: This method depends on partially curing the adhesive, getting it tacky for a window of time, and then laminating and stripping the foil during this tacky period. Since this process uses cationic adhesives, a special press cleaning regimen is required. This method is only recommended when a customers application or web is not capable of running Wet Lamination.

•  That is an interesting question. Imagine the windows of a large office tower. They are often covered with a metallized coating that reflects the IR rays of the sun but light still passes through. UV light passes through the foil in a similar manner.

•  Contact us. We have sample kits available at a reasonable price and can provide you with all of the technical information to get you started.

•  The amount of reducer you use will depend on your press conditions and substrate but generally when used about 5% is sufficient.

•  Start as you would with normal UV flexo ink and adjust depending on the type, solids, and substrate.

•  It is important for best cure. The higher the speed you want to run the more you will need.

•  The nip is the most important part of the process, otherwise it won't work properly. Review our technical pages for very specific information.

•  It is important to choose a suitable web path. Generally the shorter and simpler the better.

•  Stripping gold foil is very similar to removing waste matrix. You will find that one angle may work well for one design and another angle is required for a different design.

•  Call us or e-mail info@coldfoil.com

•  Knowing your press type, the wattage of your UV lamps, and if you have the ability to strip before or after the nip. Knowing more is also helpful but is not required.

•  Once you and your press people are comfortable with cold foiling we recommend showing this to your sales staff. Once they are also comfortable and see this works, they will be better able to explain it to your customers. You could try some existing customer labels (using foil in place of a certain color) and show your customers the end result. This way they could better understand how this will help them gain shelf appeal and increase business, since the label will stand out.

•  You must have at least 80 durometer and you will need more than the normal amount of nip pressure. We can help you find a supplier but most of these products are available OEM.

•  You will need to have a minimum of 300 watts per inch of UV power. There are various methods of checking UV power for instance color change stickers or various UV meters, but generally if your bulbs are over 1000 hours old they may need replacement.

•  We would offer additional ideas. Once limited to this way, we would supply adhesives for the cationic method.  

•  Generally the smaller the better. Angles are also important but depend on the print.

•  Choosing an anilox for cold foiling is just like choosing an anilox for ink. A 300 line anilox is a good starting point.

•  Try to avoid substrates that are too absorbent. Some semi gloss stocks will need to be coated to seal the surface.

•  Generally you should avoid any text or line screen that you could not run with ink on a similar anilox. Reverse print actually works better than when done with hot foil. It is always best to test anything you are suspect about before accepting orders.