From day one of Another Loop, we only really had eyes for hot foil. It is a timeless technique that elevates the humble piece of paper, and although we can - and sometimes do - digitally print parts of our stationery, our real passion lies in hot foil.

Hot foiling is a manual process which involves no ink. Just a piece of card, a design etched into a heated metal plate, and a roll of foil. This is all sandwiched together for a split second under a whole lot of pressure to create the finished result.

When you work with us on your Hot Foil stationery, the process will go something like this...

1. We start by digitally designing your work. We’re able to accurately represent card colours and foil finishes for you in our mock-ups to ensure that we create your perfect palette and overall look.

2. Once you’ve signed off the design, we send it to be etched into a metal plate by our trusted supplier. For each individual piece of work such as an Invite, RSVP, Menu etc. we get a separate plate sent back.

3. While we wait for the plates, we get all the card stock trimmed to size and ready in our studio for print day.

Foils come in an almost unlimited range of shades, from Metallic Golds, Rose Golds and Silvers to Matte colours and even Holographics.

Once they’re pressed into the paper, the foils have a beautiful depth that would be impossible to recreate with a digital print. For example, a digitally printed gold tends to turn out as more of a mustard shade, with none of the tactility and interest that the foils have when reacting to light.

Hot Foiled designs are also enhanced by a subtle deboss into the paper, as a result of the pressure and heat of the press.

4. Turn on the machine and crank up the heat! Most foils require a temperature of around 100°C to work - so watch out for the hot plate...

5. We attach your personalised metal block to the machine and get everything lined up straight ready for foiling.
Each print run requires a fair bit of fine tuning as no two colours of foil or varieties of card stock react in the same way to each other. We have to carefully balance temperature, pressure and contact time before we are ready to start printing.

6. Away we go! Following the initital set-up we quickly fall in to a rhythm, individually feeding your blank card stock into the machine and hand stamping it with foil. This explains why it is generally a bit cheaper when you order larger quantities, as once we’ve got everything fine tuned we’re normally on a bit of a roll...

HOT FOIL FAQ’S

WHY DOES HOT FOIL PRINTING COST MORE THAN DIGITAL?

Hot foil printing differs from digital, in that it requires a metal plate to be etched for each design. This means that there is an upfront cost, alongside the associated expertise and set-up time required to create a perfect impression.
We have a minimum order quantity which absorbs some of the initial set-up cost, and as we have no need for expensive outsourcing, we hope to make this luxury finish more achievable, particularly when printing in higher volumes.

WHAT IF I NEED VARIATIONS TO THE WORDING?

Evening invitations and veggie menus are a few variations that pop up frequently and we’re more than happy to accommodate a little tweak to the wording to make your stationery work for your guests. We just have a small one-off charge to cover the cost of ordering an additional metal plate.

If you require more than one variation, e.g. guest names printed on menus, then we would recommend a digital printing method for this rather than hot foil.

CAN YOU HOT FOIL ILLUSTRATIONS?

Yes! Simple line drawings without too much detail or variation in line thickness tend to work best, as they need to be digitally outlined before they can be turned into a hot foil plate. We’ve always got our pencils at the ready in the Another Loop studio, so don’t hesitate to give us a shout if you would like a venue illustration included as part of your stationery package.

DO I GET TO KEEP THE METAL PRINTING PLATE?

To some couples, it’s just a back-to-front piece of metal, but for others, it makes a pretty cool keepsake! Just let us know and we’ll include it with your order.

HOW DO I KNOW WHAT THE END RESULT WILL LOOK LIKE?

We send digital mocks to all our clients, which we match as accurately as possible to our card colours and foil finishes. Although the depth of foil can’t really be simulated digitally these images should give you the confidence to make the all-important decisions - knowing that the best is yet to come when you receive them in real life.

Our swatch sheet is also included with all our sample packs, we would highly recommend picking one up to give you the very best representation for the all-important decisions!

DO YOU OFFER DIGITAL PRINTING TOO?

Of course, this is always an option. Digital print is generally more cost-effective and is sometimes more suitable, e.g. for Order of Services which require lots of small text.