You may have only come across foil and letterpress a few times before. If so, you might have trouble distinguishing between them. We want to help change that. Then, if you want any foiling services, you can rely on us.
Without getting overly technical, the largest distinction is the colours they can print. Foil printing tends to have shiny, reflective finishes like silver, gold, or holographic. The design or text will shine and sparkle when you move it around in the light. Letterpress will produce more of a matte finish instead of being shiny or reflective. It’ll be one colour throughout and a normal shade like sage green or dusty pink.
Foil’s differences
Let’s have a look at the differences in more detail, starting with foil. To begin with, foil printing uses heat. You need a particular press that heats up alongside metal printing plates to print from. You’re unable to utilise the plastic plates you would with letterpress as they’ll melt.
With foils, you are also restricted to the colours available for purchase. You can’t merely mix any foil colour and press print. It is possible to buy matte foils like flat white or black. Yet, they can be tricky to print. Furthermore, foil is opaque, preventing you from overlaying two colours like letterpress can do.
On the other side, foil allows for more embossing options. Included here is 3D embossing. Contact us if you need high quality foiling services.
Letterpress differences
The key thing with letterpress printing is it uses no heat. Some presses don’t even need electricity. Printing plates are also plastic and slightly cheaper than foiling’s metallic plates. With letterpress, you can work with any colour of the rainbow too. Since the ink with this method is transparent, you’re free to overlap two separate colours to create a third. You have lots of options for creativity.
Specific letterpress machines also come with die-cutting abilities. This can be fun if you’re looking to cut designs into distinct shapes.
Similarities
We’ve talked about the differences, now we’ll finish with some similarities. Firstly, both methods produce a wonderful impression. You can choose whichever you prefer to get the right look. Both can also blind deboss.
Second, you can only print one colour at a time with both. It’s not possible to print a design that has the names in red and the body text in black all at the same time. You must print one colour and change to the next to print the second part.
Lastly, it’s possible to play around with your printing materials. For example, some people print on fabric on their letterpress, while others print on leather with their foil press.
We can rise to the challenge with expert foiling services
At Foiling Services, we can offer foils for decorative and protective applications. Our team makes use of the best equipment to guarantee excellent results. No matter what shade or pattern it is we’re working with, we can meet the challenges.
So, if our foiling services interest you and you’d like to use them, feel free to speak to us. We’re creative and will ensure your products look fantastic.