Your new hot stamping machine is like a blank canvas in need of paint and brushes to become a picture.  In hot stamping, the ' paint ' is called Foil, and the ' brushes ' are known as Dies .

Foil is a thin film coated with the color that will be transferred to the product during the hot stamping process.  The foil market is served by a number of major suppliers, who produce foil for a variety of different types of products.  It is therefore very important to match your foil to the product you're going to stamp.  A mismatch can result in a sub-standard print.

• Foil Catalogue & Matching Guide

One of the best things about foil is it's low price.  Foil is sold in a standard industry unit of 1-inch wide x 200-feet long.  On this web-site, we sell foil by the roll for $5.00 per unit, thus the cost of foil calculates as:

1. 200-feet x 12-inches x 1-inch wide = 2,400 square inches per roll
2. us$5.00 /  2400-inches = $.002 per square inch
3. Cost of Foil = 5 square inches for a penny

Whenever you plan to hot stamp a graphic mile a company logo or a school crest, you're going to need a ' Type-High Mounted Die '.  Graphic Dies are made from a chemically etched magnesium plate (don't try this at home) and are sold by the square inch.  Provided you take care of them, they last for years and many thousands of impressions. 

• Graphic Die Catalogue

Type will be important to you if you plan to use your machine for low-volume, personalization work.  The advantage of type is that it is inexpensive and it allows you the maximum flexibility.  ( The disadvantage is that it is a bit finicky to work with ).  Sold in sets that contain multiples of vowels and common letters, one simple gathers the type pieces to spell out the name.  Lock them in the chase, perform a test stamp, and personalize ! 

• Type Style Catalogue

There will be times when you may want to print a graphic Die and Type at the same time.  This is the when the ' Type-High '  specification becomes important.  A universal standard height of 0.918 inches, this specification ensures that both your graphic dies and your type are exactly the same height for stamping.