hot foil stamping and other techniques

If you want to make an impression with a gold, silver, holographic or metallic effect in general, please read the information below to see and adjust your request according to your budget:

- There are several ways to bring out a metallic effect on a medium with very different prices.
- Traditional hot-foil gilt remains the highest end but is often competed by metallic digital inks, digital hot foil, UV varnishes or metallic spot colours.
- Many samples of gilding are available at our central agency to see during our opening hours. Take the opportunity to request a quote in parallel.
- Please read the detailed information below

Metallic inks and Sleeking Small and middle runs

Business cards
Flyers
Invitation cards
Wedding cards
Product sheets
Diplomas
A4 Certificates
Letterhead
Perforated tags
Brochures (on cover)
Leaflets
Complementary slips
Menus
Table top displays
Bookmarks
Other

Metallic Pantone Large runs

Business cards
Flyers
Invitation cards
A4 product sheets
Letterhead
Perforated labels
Posters
Folders with flaps
Bookmarks
Other

Other finishes Iridescent effect

Hot foil stamping : 
Business cards
Table top displays
Other

Metallic substrates : 
Iridescent papers
Vinyl decal
PVC business cards
Buttons
Label on rolls
Magnets
Doming stickers
Other

In order to print with a metallic effect, you must give us basic vector files Illustrator or Indesign as a layer or as an addition to your print file.

Hot-gilding (conventional or digital), by Pantone© metallic or UV varnish in screen printing:

The gilding file must be in full CMYK black, that is to say in 0/0/0/100 as a separate file (or alone if there is only gilding). Remember to vectorize this file.
The very fine lines stand out without concern in metallic Pantone© . They do not pose any particular concern in hot gilding but can make the specification of the manufacture of the mold. For gold or silver UV varnish, very fine lines are not recommended. See details below.

Metallic digital ink: 

Download the tutorial to make your files in the Tutorial tabs under the forms of the products concerned. Textured or recycled paper only accepts tracing while coated papers can be printed with flat. 

Here is a summary from the cheapest to the most expensive according to the constraints of each type of gilding (detailed below) in order to make the right request for quotation:

Metallic digital inks: from 10 euros + taxes customize your support (flyers, business cards, invitation, brochure...). Without having the shine of a hot gilding, this option is nevertheless a very good compromise golden, silver or iridescent effect. 

Digital sleeking : from 25 euros + taxes wih a very shiny effect on smooth, textured or coloured papers with several colours available (gold, silver, holographic and copper). 

Pantone metallic : from 100 euros + taxes with offset printing only : offered as an option on the gold or silver site on flyers, posters, letterhead and large series of business cards, the Pantone© remains the cheapest option to give a metallic effect to your prints. It remains on quotation on other existing metallic colors.

UV gold or silver screen printing after offset printing: this type of varnish is a perfect middle ground between Pantone© and true hot-gilding. 

Traditional hot gilding : manufacture of a metal mold then gilding each unit of your prints with or without printing. Many colors of gilding to choose from, it is the high-end of gilding but also the most expensive. Available as an option on premium business cards and discount (gilding size to be respected), otherwise on quotation according to the size of your gilding on any type of support.

Digital Sleeking is used for small print runs with a high gloss effect on any paper up to 500g thick. Order in gilding alone or in addition to a black, color or white print on tinted media.

Files : you must imperatively deliver normalized files: normal color or black print file (if printing) + separate gilding file composed of heavily loaded CMYK black plots 100/100/100/100. Our graphic designers will then make a manipulation to insert a black frame around your visual (outside the visible field) in order to better adhere the gilding to the paper. 

Information:  the cost of setting is much lower for a gilding alone (25 € ht) than a gilding combined with another print (quadri, black, white...- 65 € ht) : your gilding file is first printed in black then the printing goes under the heated gilding film which will melt the black ink and thus make the gilding film stick to the black. Then we print the rest of the file (color, black or white with many calibration tests and sometimes shuttle between our different workshops according to the papers): there are 3 printing operations instead of one with metallic inks (and 2 operations in case of gilding alone).

Print test : you can order a print test by clicking here.

Tips : we recommend a minimum of 10 points font and 1 point tracing.  Otherwise the black print under the gilding will appear in place of the gilding. The gilding is not applied on a printed background, it only applies on a white background (it is impossible to fit the gilding perfectly on a printed background or in ultra precise superposition with printed elements). If you want a color background, opt for a tinted paper mass (according to our stocks to discover on the order form of the desired product). 

Colours available : silver, gold, copper or holographic.

Digital metallic inks are used on quantities in digital print for a low price printing, on smooth or coloured paper or textured or recycled (depending on stock). Can be ordered in metallic printing alone or as a complement to a CMYK print.

Files : you must submit standardized files according to the tutorial to download. 

Constraints : only working on smooth papers (white or coloured). The rendering changes completely depending on the paper used, it is darker on textured or recycled papers and lighter on smooth papers.  

Print test : you can order a print test by clicking here.

Colous available : silver, gold, iridescent colors (mix of 60% silver + CMYK 40% maximum). The iridescent colors are less "metallic" than silver or gold used alone: indeed, the metal ink rate does not exceed 60%. Use on smooth paper only. 

The traditional hot gilding is the most famous and luxurious result in the printing market. There are many colors available or effects (gold, silver, bronze, white, black, color, holographic etc.). Hot gilding is really synonymous with premium brand and is affixed on many media (printed, packaging, plastic). The process slightly emboss the paper giving a small effect noticed at the passage of the finger. But this has a cost!

For all requests for quotation, you must give us the surface of your gilding in cm2 (for example 2 x 5 cm) accompanied by your request for global printing and your contact details and desired deadlines. We will send this format to a specialized manufacturer of gilding mold which will then give us its price. This price will add to the price of printing in offset machine and the price of time of finishing for this gilding made at the unit.

Minimum Gilding width: 1 cm
Maximum width: 19 cm

Note: it is therefore not possible to draw a golden line over the width of an A4 sheet. For this use a golden Pantone or a gold metallic digital ink. Available as an option on many media.

We keep the gilding mould in stock, so you can reprint it in the future without having to buy a new mould.

The costs of starting and manufacturing the mold make the quotes to several hundred euros. (according to papers, options, quantities, formats, everything is variable so requires a customized quote).

The metallic gold or silver Pantones are presented on many products as an option on our site to facilitate the order; they are available in permanent stock. These same spot tones with flat or on other metallic tones (bronze, blue, red, purple etc.) are on quotation only because they must be ordered. Never forget to specify the percentage on your file of this color that the right quantity is ordered from suppliers. 

These spot tones give a metallic look to your prints. The rendering is not as visible as a traditional hot gilding but the price is lower because it is a simple ink and we have to simply wash one of the printing trays. There is no gilding film or mould to make. 

The rendering is also different depending on the paper. On a smooth paper, the direct tone is the brightest and most visible. If you matte this paper, the direct tone loses a little brightness. By contrast, it will gain some vigour. On all uncoated (not smooth) papers, metallic ink will be partially absorbed by the paper making the effect more dull. It is also a very high-end rendering on beautiful flat surfaces (on request). On coloured papers, the direct tone reacts with the paper colour: try to make the contrasts stand out! 

The golden or silver UV varnish is a varnish that looks like a nail polish with metallic silver or metallic gold color. It allows you to work with text from shapes so that certain parts of your printed document stand out. It can also be the only color of your media.

It is positioned in terms of price between the direct metallic tone (Pantone© silver or gold) and true hot gilding. The rendering of brilliance is also located halfway between the two.

It is applied in screen printing on offset machine on texts and forms. Avoid too narrow lines (the direct tone or hot gilding are more appropriate). It is therefore not suitable for a small print.

Minimum one week production time and only on quotation. Cost of pre-printing: 250 € + taxes. On quotation.