Economical foil decoration now commercialized for digital printing

To visually enhance digitally printed packaging, a new decoration technique economically applies foil to paper and paperboard packaging and labels—even for short runs. And because Digital Metal from Leonhard Kurz is part of the digital printing process, it can also be used to personalize or customize packages, as well as can be used for serialization for track-and-trace and/or anti-counterfeiting applications.

According to the company, the transfer technology allows partial metallization and achieves a high-gloss level that metallic inks can’t reach. The application process is done in three steps. First, the desired design is printed onto paper/board materials (up to 90 and 350 grams per square meter and in formats from 210 x 297 to 390 x 500 mm) using dry or liquid toner. Second, the Digital Metal foil is laminated onto those preprinted areas. Third, the package is digitally printed and, if required, lacquered. Overprinting produces a variety of half-tone effects.

Digital Metal foil is available in gold or silver, as well as diffractive designs with a rainbow color play or holographic continuous structures.