Foil labels are an exceptional way of drawing attention to products, boosting seasonal promotions, and even adding an air of legitimacy when in the form of seals. When it comes to ordering your own shiny labels, you can go with different types of materials and processes.

Depending on your aesthetic, technical, budget, and design requirements, you can choose metalized paper, foil film with a plastic substrate, and choose between processes like hot foil stamping and cold foil stamping.

This piece will tell you all you need to know about foil materials and their print processes so that you’ll find it easy to choose the one that’s most suited to your needs.

Materials: Foil Film and Metalized Paper

Metalized silver paper and foil film are mostly used to print silver and gold foil labels. Printing on foil materials is more affordable than any foil stamping process because the printing process needs much fewer tools, equipment, and setup.

With foil stamping, the tinsel material is separate from your labels and are actually transferred via “stamping” onto the areas of your label that need to have a foil effect. With foil materials, these are already inherently metallic.

If you’ve decided that foil stamping is beyond the reach of your budget, using these materials is the next best thing. The actual use of your labels and what goals you have for them will help you decide whether paper or foil film is the way to go.

Here are the differences between metalized paper and foil film:

• Metalized silver paper isn’t as shiny as silver foil film. It is well suited for cool and dry application. As it is spaper, it will absorb liquids unless it is finished with laminate – and even this doesn’t make it completely waterproof. However, it is also cheaper, which may make it more preferable if it’s adequate for your applications.
• Foil film is plastic-based, more reflective, and withstands condensation, moisture, friction, and abrasion. Made from PET, the starting material already lends itself to a greater commercial appeal, producing higher contrast prints and more vibrant-looking colors, due to the glossiness of the PET.

Process: Cold Foil Stamping

Cold foil stamping requires little setup but is still more expensive than printing. It is an on-press process that needs more time and labor compared to printing. It works by transferring foil material onto the material you want printed on, also known as the substrate. This transfer uses a UV curing lamp and printing plates.

This process can be used to stamp small or large areas of labels with foil. You can achieve different colors too by printing spot colors over the silver foil. This can help give you a metallic color that matches your label design specifics.

Why Are Foil Labels Popular?

• They attention to your packaging
• They enhance the perception of the brand and product’s quality
• They make a design more unique by accentuating a label’s artwork
• They make CTAs stand out so that your promotions are more noticeable
• They boost the memorability of your brand and products

Markets in Which Custom Foil Labels Are Popular

To give you a clearer idea of how custom foil labels are used, we’ve listed the markets that use custom foil labels the most.

Food and beverage: The versatility of foil labels in terms of printing styles allows food and beverage labels to display quality on the product packaging. The product owners can be confident that the labels will withstand moist and abrasive conditions.

Health: Foil labels are used for various health products, including dietary supplements, vitamins, and nutraceuticals. The metal-like appearance of the labels draws consumers’ attention and gives the products a look of higher quality.

Bath and beauty: The conditions of storage and the nature of most of the bath and beauty products can lower the quality of labels. Tinted foil labels can give your bath and beauty products a premium look and remain uncompromised by wet and humid environments, such as bathrooms.

Promotional: labels wouldn’t be doing their job if consumers failed to notice them. The sheen of foil labels is a sure way of attracting the attention of potential customers. They’re sure to stand out more than labels without foil.

Bottom Line: Matching Your Needs to The Best Foil Labels

You may find that only one of the foil labels options is best suited to your needs. You need to think about your budget, needs, and time frame. Brainstorming with your marketing team can help you narrow down your options too. You can also look at your competition and decide what alternative sets you apart.

You then need to contact a professional label printing company to help you understand what your budget can get you. When you’ve thought through everything else, the company will have an easy time delivering exactly what you need.

Be sure you’ll stand out in any season with foil labels. Order them in sheets or roll format and start building your branding!