What is Hot / Foil Stamping?

Hot stamping transfers foil from a carrier film to a part using a heated die. The foil bonds to the surface only where the die touches the part, which is how the design takes shape.

1. A die engraved with the design is heated and mounted in the press.
2. Foil is positioned between the heated die and the part.
3. The die presses down, and heat and pressure release the foil from its carrier and bond it to the surface.
4. The die lifts, the carrier film advances, and the finished part is removed.

For parts with curved areas, we can use contoured dies and proper tooling to hot stamp surfaces with compound curvature.

We hot stamp with standard foil colors as well as reflective silver, gold, and hologram foils. For tipping, we can also use customer-colored foil to match your brand. Reflective silver foil, for example, works well for text on the contoured collar of a bottle for the cosmetic industry.

Hot stamping is a dry process, unlike screen printing or pad printing, so decorated parts can be bulk packed on-line with fewer concerns about damage to the decorated image. That can save on packaging and handling costs. Polypropylene and polyethylene parts can typically be hot stamped without pretreatment, which also reduces decorating cost compared to pad printing and screen printing. The attention-grabbing effect of reflective foil is not something pad printing or screen printing inks can achieve.

Brands use hot stamping when a part needs a finish that stands apart and holds up through handling and packing. It also works well for repeat production. We have automated hot stamping for automotive components, medical devices and equipment, and electrical components. Our hot stamping machines can be equipped with a 4-station dial table to increase output, and go / no-go indicators confirm each part is loaded correctly. The bulk of the parts then eject into their original packaging.