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Foil Stamping This is one of the areas where a logo that is great for the web or traditional print may not look as good as you had anticipated. And since it can cost more than print, you certainly want the quality to be evident. There are several things to take into consideration. 1. Simple designs transfer to this medium better than a complex one with gradients and fine lines. 2. Companies that do foil-stamping (traditional one color) require that the design be submitted as strictly black and white artwork. No shades of gray. Either a high quality hard-copy with no jagged lines or a digital copy with the same requirements. (Just because it is digital, doesn't necessarily mean it is going to be better.) 3. Small letters and details tend to "fill in" with foil when heated so sometimes the text must be enlarged to make it readable. 4. For the cleanest result, a minimum of 2 pt. lines are preferred.
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What
Makes Good |
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 In this sample you can see that just changing the
color elements to black doesn't produce an acceptable version. Whoops!
where did the boat go? And what's that strange item sticking up
between the trees. Keep in mind that everything white will be black
and everything black will be gold (or silver or whatever foil color
you choose.)
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 The best way to check whether your artwork is going
to look good as a foil stamp is to turn all the elements yellow or
gold and put a black (or whatever color your book is going to be) box
behind it. Even when it looks good in black and white, this little
trick will show more accurately what it will look like. Here's one
solution. The sail and flag have been given a white stroke to give it
a little more definition and breathing room. The letters are large
enough and not too close together so they should come out pretty
clean. You could do it this way, but I think the next example is much
better.
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 In this second version, the trees have been outlined
(black on a black and white piece of artwork) and the sail and boat
would contain the largest amount of foil and be the focal point. The
sample shown is a fairly typical 2 and 3/4 inch size. If the logo is
to go on the spine as well as the front of a book, that has to be
considered also. Some logos are just too complicated to be translated
to a very small size and end up looking like a "blob" of
gold.
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For more information about Foil Stamping, visit Foil Stamping and Embossing Association |
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a few things need to be changed to produce a good imprint. On the plus
side, all the lines are at least 1 pt. (2 pt. is better) and the
artwork is simple without gradients,
shadows and is not rendered in a pen and ink style with a multitude
of fine lines. This is the standard for logos and seals destined
for print also.