Hot Stamping
- by HeSona
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What is hot Stamping?
Hot stamping (also known as foil stamping) is a method of printing that uses the principle of heat transfer of the aluminum layer in the anodized aluminum to the surface of the substrate to form a special metal effect.
How does hot stamping work?
The basic process of hot stamping is in the state of pressure, that is, under the state that the anodized aluminum is pressed by the hot stamping plate and the substrate, the anodized aluminum is heated to melt the hot-melt silicone resin layer and adhesive agent, and the organic silicon resin layer melted by heat at this time.
The viscosity of the silicone resin becomes smaller, and the viscosity of the special heat-sensitive adhesive increases after being heated and melted, so that the aluminum layer and the anodized aluminum base film are peeled off and transferred to the substrate at the same time.
As the pressure is removed, the adhesive cools and solidifies rapidly, and the aluminum layer is firmly attached to the substrate, completing a hot stamping process.
What are the advantages of hot stamping?
Hot stamping is a very popular packaging process that has been used in packaging design for decades.
The pattern after foil stamping is clear and beautiful, and the color is bright and eye-catching, which can play the role of finishing touch and highlight the design theme.
It is very suitable for use in the logo and image of the packaging box. The bronzing process is often used in packaging boxes of electronic products, cosmetics, gifts, and health care products.
What is the difference between hot and cold stamping?
The cold stamping process prints UV ink first. After drying, print a special UV curing adhesive on the part of the ink surface that needs to be stamped;
and then pass through a UV drying device to evaporate the moisture in the adhesive and form a thin layer of high-viscosity pressure-sensitive adhesive.
Then, under the action of a pair of metal rollers, the aluminum foil is brought into contact with the adhesive and pressed together.
Due to the strong bonding force between the adhesive and the aluminum foil, when the waste is discharged, the part where the aluminum foil is in contact with the adhesive remains on the surface of the printed matter and becomes one with the printed matter, while the other parts of the aluminum foil are discharged like traditional bronzing.Thus completing the first part of the bronzing technique.
Since the aluminum foil pattern transferred on the printed matter floats on the surface of the printed matter, the firmness is poor, so the surface of the printed matter must be polished or coated to protect the aluminum foil pattern.
Compared with the traditional hot stamping process, the cold stamping process is faster and saves energy: the material is widely applicable, and cold stamping can be performed on heat-sensitive paper and some film materials.
The cold stamping process is limited by conditions such as adhesives and metal foils, and there are also some disadvantages, such as: after cold stamping, the printed product must be glazed or coated to protect the stamping pattern, which increases the cost and complexity of the process
Hot stamping used on Gift Boxes
The gift box is very suitable for hot stamping, and the material of the bronzing paper is also divided into many colors, the most common ones are gold, silver, laser gold, laser silver, black, red, white, and so on.
When using hot stamping you should care about :
1.The line of the hot stamping pattern should not be too thin, not less than 0.15mm, and the hot stamping text should not be too small.Otherwise, there will be rough edges, unclear, and so on.
If you need to print high-definition small fonts and very thin lines, you can choose the screen printing process.
2.The finished product after bronzing needs to avoid mutual friction between products, otherwise the text and pattern will be scratched.
3.If ordinary hot stamping is applied on the fabric, it is easy to cause fabric wrinkles due to the need for heat treatment. This phenomenon can be avoided by using cold stamping.
