MARKET ENTRY WITH COLD FOILS

With its flexibility and relative ease of application, cold foil offers good profitability to printers who utilize it well. It also can be an entry to new markets. 

Cold foiling is attractive to customers because it is an in-line enhancement, removing limitations of schedule and budget while offering sustainability. Using fewer resources, it can offer elegant, subtle effects or high-impact glitz to consumer goods or luxury packaging. It is also a perfect candidate for other jobs that require a premium appeal. 

While cold foil is not intended to replace hot stamping, it is faster, more efficient, and does not require the costly dies associated with hot foil stamping.  As a result, cold foil allows printers to expand their foil applications and can be flexibly integrated into any printing process. Typical markets for cold foil include household consumables, cigarette cartons, wine labels, and cosmetic packaging. With the addition of holographic patterns, cold foil use has broadened to include higher end packaging and board applications. Brands are taking advantage of cold foil opportunities not only for shelf impact but for its customization possibilities which offer unique brand identity, anti-counterfeiting, and authentication. 

Cold foil can be a great offering for medium run lengths. Typically, long label runs are still using rotary hot stamp while short runs often go platen hot stamp. However, if a job is too small to justify the cost of an engraved cylinder but too large to run on a platen hot stamp system, cold foils can be a good solution. 

Cold foil is also a great upgrade to metallic inks. It can be used effectively in print jobs like stickers, gift tags, mailers and in publishing to elevate their appeal. 

For printers, market entry is relatively easy, with the availability of cold foil modules that can be installed on existing presses. The module systems are attractive, not only for their market expanding possibilities but also because they require a relatively low up-front investment. They use standard printing plates and require minimal additional training to operate. Due to their ease of use, it's possible to apply holographic and metallic effects to ever-expanding applications. As familiarity grows, as more printers adopt cold foils, and as machinery continues to evolve, application opportunities for cold foil continue to expand.

Explore ITW ShineMark cold foil solutions here.

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