Postpress Technology 1000 (440-449)

440. What is hot stamping material?

A: Hot stamping material refers to the surface of materials such as paper, fabrics, leather, plastics, wood, coating materials, etc. Hot stamping methods are used to stamp various graphic materials through the hot stamping plate. There are many hot stamping materials, such as metal foil, color film, anodized aluminum, color foil and so on.

441. What is metal foil? What kind of total?

A: Metal foil refers to a thin metal foil that is made of metal or metal powdered. The metal foils used for stamping materials include red gold foil (24K), pure silver foil, copper foil foil, and aluminum foil.

442. What is gold foil?

A: The red gold foil is a very thin foil that is extended with 24K gold and very few filling ingredients. The appearance of red gold is very gorgeous, soft texture, chemical stability, is not easily oxidized and loses its luster, and its ductility is the best one among metals. The thickness of red gold foil used in hot stamping is only about 1 μm. Gold foil is made by tapping and rolling. The packaging method is a layer of gold foil burr paper, and then loaded into the carton, and then packaged.

443. What is sterling silver foil?

A: Pure silver foil is a stretched foil of pure silver. The silver texture is soft and ductility is second only to red gold, so pure silver foil is slightly thicker than bare gold foil. The appearance of silver is gorgeous, chemical properties are relatively stable, and it should be preserved for a long time. The price is much cheaper than that of Golden Chi, and it is also a valuable hot stamping material. The packaging of pure silver foil is the same as the packaging of red gold foil, and the method of use is the same.

444. What is copper foil?

A: Copper foil is a transparent paper base that has been infiltrated with a resin or a wax material. The foil is made of paint and copper-coated powder. After the copper foil is made of gold, it looks like gold, so it is also called false gold foil. However, copper is easily oxidized in the air and turns dark brown. The graphic after hot stamping is not durable. The thickness of the copper foil is larger than that of gold and silver foils, and is generally between 0.1 and 0.3 mm.

445. What is aluminum foil?

A: A hot stamping material that is directly calendered into a thin sheet using metallic aluminum. Its hot stamping effect is similar to that of pure silver foil hot stamping. Therefore, it is also called false silver foil. Because of its soft texture and ductility, aluminum has a silvery white luster. If the rolled calendered sheet is made of aluminum foil with a material such as sodium silicate on an offset paper, it can be printed. However, the aluminum foil itself is easily oxidized and the color becomes dark, and friction, touch, and the like are discolored. Therefore, it is not suitable for hot stamping of long-lasting book covers.

446. What is called aluminum foil?

A: Electrochemical aluminum foil is a stamping material made by coating or vacuum evaporation of a layer of metal on a film substrate. Electrochemical aluminum foil can be used as a decorative material for book hot stamping instead of metal foil. Gold is the most commonly used. It has the characteristics of gorgeous appearance, bright color, glittering eye-catching, easy to use, and can be used in paper, fabric, plastic, leather, coating materials, organic Hot stamping on glass, wood, etc. is one of the most commonly used materials for modern hot stamping. China began to introduce and produce electro-aluminum foil in 1965. Prior to this, the gold and silver materials used in hot stamping in China were all metal foils. After 1965, they gradually switched to electro-aluminum foil.

447. What are the layers of the electrochemical foil? What is the role of each layer?

A: The galvanized aluminum foil is coated with a release layer on a 12 to 20 μm thick polyester film (16 μm in general domestic use), and then vacuum-plated and glued. Finally, it is made by rewinding and is usually made up of four or five layers. constitute.

The first layer of electro-aluminum foil is called the base film. Domestically, 16 μm-thick biaxially-stretched polyester film is generally used (12 μm thick in foreign countries). The main function is to support the coatings attached to them, so as to facilitate the continuous hot stamping operations during processing. The base film layer can not be deformed due to temperature increase during hot stamping, and should have high strength, tensile strength, and high temperature resistance. And other properties.

The second layer of electro-aluminum foil is called a release layer and is generally coated with a silicone resin or the like. The main function is: After the stamping is heated and pressurized, the pigment, aluminum, and adhesive layers can be rapidly released from the polyester film and transferred to the surface of the stamped object.

The third layer of the electro-aluminum foil is a synthetic resin and dye with suitable film-forming properties and transparency. The main role is two: First, the display color (gold-colored aluminum yellow, silver aluminum gray); the second is to protect the hot stamping of aluminum on the surface of the article graphic is not oxidized. The color of the electro-aluminum may be various according to needs, and it is imparted with luster after the aluminum plating, and there is a certain change, such as yellow becomes yellow after being plated, and gray becomes silver after being plated. However, the coating of the color layer is very demanding and should be fine without any small particles.

The fourth layer of electro-aluminum foil is called aluminum plating layer. The film coated with various materials is placed in a vacuum chamber of a vacuum continuous aluminum plating machine, and the aluminum is melted and continuously evaporated to the thin film by resistance heating under a certain degree of vacuum. Aluminized layer is formed on the color layer. The main role is: reflect light, change the color, make it appear metallic luster.

The fifth layer of the galvanized aluminum foil is an adhesive layer, generally made of a fusible thermoplastic resin, which is coated by a coater and dried to form an adhesive layer. The main function is to bond the stamping material to the hot object.

If it is a four-layer processed aluminum, the separation layer and the color layer are applied together at the same time.

448. What is color foil?

A: The color foil, also called powder foil, is a kind of hot stamping material made by coating pigments, resin adhesives and other solvents on the film base. The variety of colors of the color foil is wide, and the selection range is wide, and it can be used for automatic continuous hot stamping processing. Its packaging method is the same as that of anodized aluminum, but the color layer of the color foil is thinner, and compared with the color film, the color of the color film is not as bright, thick and full.

449. Which layers constitute the color foil?

A: The composition of the color foil is similar to that of galvanized aluminum. The difference is that the galvanized aluminum requires vacuum deposition of a layer of metallic aluminum. The color foil is directly coated on the base film. The color foil consists of two layers, three layers and four layers.

The two-layer color foil: the first layer is a base film layer; the second layer is a paint layer, which is to be processed by separating the layer, the color layer, and the adhesive layer together.

Three color foils: the first layer is a base film layer; the second layer is a release layer; the third layer is a colorant layer.

Four color foils: the first layer is a base film layer; the second layer is a release layer; the third layer is a color layer; and the fourth layer is an adhesive layer.

(author/Wang Huaizhu)