Finishing - Foiling

This month and next month, packagePRINTING will cover two types of packaging enhancements closely linked together: stamping and embossing, and next month, foil decorating. According to Steve Lee, vice president and director of technical support with RotoMetrics, “Stamping and embossing have quickly become recognized as value enhancements.” It’s well known that consumers experience a tremendous amount of visual noise as they peruse store shelves. “In the competitive retail world,” says Christopher Raney, vice president, folding carton, Bobst, “you need a package to stand out on the shelf. Whether it is foil or embossing, they will both make a difference.” Jim Kingsby, technical service manger,

In a retail environment, a consumer’s first impression can be decisive. That means a package’s ability to deliver a sensory punch is a must for brand owners. The proliferation of specialized “high-impact” solutions (inks, foils, and other materials such as shrink labels, holographics, and lenticulars) is good news for consumer product companies (CPCs) looking to differentiate their products, as well as for designers working with a variety of applications. From a prepress perspective, the task is to supply end users with high-impact packaging with significant perceived added value that will create dramatic interest for the consumer, while presenting the converter with the fewest headaches.

In today’s competitive marketplace, brand owners are looking for an edge—any edge that will catch a consumer’s eye or provide them with a certain tactile feel as a consumer selects a package from a shelf. Last month, packagePRINTING explored foil decorating as one effect brand owners employ to attract consumers. While a viable way to enhance the eye appeal of the package, there are other effects package printers can employ to ensure that once a customer’s eye is turned toward a product, he or she will hold on to the product once they select it from the shelf. Screen printing offers package printers an

In the words of John Giusto, senior vice president of manufacturing, Curtis Packaging, foil decorating “is still probably the most significant enhancement that can be made to a package.” That’s a pretty strong choice of words, but not entirely out of line. Foil decorating is a very useful way to differentiate one package of graham crackers from another as they stand side by side on a supermarket shelf. It permeates high-end cosmetic packaging. “A high-end cosmetic package is not a high-end cosmetic package unless it has foil stamping on it,” says Giusto. “It just exudes quality or upper end.” High quality means higher value,

NASHUA, N.H.—CMM show management has announced that bielomatik, J&H Printing Solutions, Propheteer, BST Pro Mark, Martin Automatic, DMS, and Alden & Ott Printing Ink will be some of the leading companies showcasing their latest equipment at the Show’s new Narrow To Mid-Web Converting Tech Center at the Rosemont Convention Center, June 4-7 in Rosemont, Illinois. Designed to help converters better understand how they can combine both narrow and mid-web converting technologies, the new Technology Center will feature operating equipment from leading manufacturers producing various jobs during the entire four days of the Show. Produced in conjunction with DiTrolio Flexographic Institute, select conference and

When API Foils decided to upgrade the metallizing operations at its Rahway, New Jersey location, it turned to General Vacuum Equipment (GVE) as a leader in technically advanced, high productivity metallizers following the successful experience of sister company API Foils Lawrence (Kansas,) with its own General metallizer. API Foils is part of API Group, an international holding company with its head office located in Poynton, near Manchester, UK and businesses throughout Europe, the U.S., and the Asia-Pacific region. It also has a distribution network covering more than 70 countries. The Group manufactures high quality decorative and security packaging materials for use in the tobacco,

American Die Technology Rotary hot stamping dies are precision-engraved using high-quality, solid brass for optimal performance and durability. Write 635, Visit www.amdie.com American Int’l Machinery Rotary- and platen-style foil stamping/embossing systems. Foil systems are either retrofits or complete rotary stamping systems. Write 636, www.aim-inc.net J BOBST GROUP USA Hot-foil stamping, embossing, and hologram application on flat bed, Foilmaster or rotary Steuer presses for all commonly used materials. Write 637, www.bobst group.com, See Ad p. 39 Brandtjen & Kluge Kluge EHD and EHF series presses combine heat, strength, and precision, giving you striking graphic finishing capabilities.

Foil is a popular addition to packaging, but it has a few converting/printing quirks. To help solve common foil woes, pP recently went to foil suppliers seeking solutions. FOIL STAMPING HAS become a necessary capability for printers and converters to have. The substrate graces packaging in every market, and more and more consumer product companies are redesigning their packaging to include foil. Nowadays, if printers and converters don't have foil stamping equipment, they are positioning themselves to lose new and old customers. "With more and more customers using foils for their labels it is more important than ever that a printer is able to

Reducing foil waste can be simple. Experts tell you how. FOIL STAMPING AND embossing is, innately, a very wasteful process. Material waste is part of the package-enhancing technique. While foil scraps will probably never be eliminated from the process, designers, equipment suppliers, and end users are finding ways to reduce waste and save converters, printers, and their customers money. How? Stamping and embossing equipment suppliers recently chimed in to answer that question. Plan carefully Foil often graces packaging in the form of ornate designs or borders—accents to the overall design layout. This usage of foil automatically lends itself to foil waste, since only a

For sprucing up a product's image, foil decorating has lots to offer. HERE'S ONE WAY to make a product stand out on a store shelf: don't make it bright and shiny. It will stand out—just like the Model T once did when Henry Ford said that cars come in one color, black. Today's products that are vying for the consumers' purchasing dollars must be bright and shiny. It's a fact of life on the store shelf. Although there is no question that high-end products must provide this high-quality look, it is also necessary for just about any product category, at any pricing