The chemistry of hot stamping

Heat embossing is sometimes an art worthy of an alchemist. General recommendations from foil suppliers, material manufacturers or machine settings rarely work in practice. The only thing you can really rely on is your own experience and patience. Heat embossing is always a combination of many factors and finding the perfect balance is often a challenge.

The type of material, its surface, texture and moisture, cliché quality, foil colour and adhesion, temperature, pressure and embossing time, and even the way the foil is pulled off - there's a lot to keep track of! But this is what makes hot stamping one of the most fascinating techniques in our production - it creates an effect that no other technique can replicate.

The cliché

No embossing without a cliché. It is the three-dimensional embodiment of the graphic design and allows it to be transferred to the surface of the material. Which clichés are the best? At Hässlers, we use brass clichés almost exclusively. Thanks to their precise milling, the motif is sharp, and a brass cliché also retains its precision for a long time.

foils

There's more than just gold and silver! We love using foils from the British company Foilco, whose range covers almost every shade we could ever dream of. As well as the classic metallic designs, we're particularly fond of their pigmented, transparent, smoky, hybrid and holographic foils.

The machine

We affectionately refer to the machines we use for hot stamping as the "little gold nuggets" in our factory - and they really are worth their weight in gold! We have several different variants, each with its own unique function. Often they are of the older type - robust, mechanical masterpieces that only do one thing, but do it perfectly. Modern multifunctional machines simply cannot match their precision.

We have a Heidelberg cylinder press, several platen presses, a hand-operated "Baierka" from the 1950s that generates an impressive 6 tonnes of pressure, and a series of vertical presses that can emboss very high objects, such as box lids.

The master behind the craft

But the most important part? Our skilled and experienced colleagues. Setting the perfect combination of pressure, temperature and other parameters, customised to the material, is a true art and craft.

Hot stamping behaves differently depending on the material - smooth paper reacts differently to textured cardboard, and rough fabric requires a completely different technique. And it's not just the material that matters - different motifs and desired effects also require different approaches. Sometimes it's a detailed design for subtle surface embossing/foiling that mimics print, other times it's a powerful graphic intended for deep embossing - a stunning effect for box covers or book covers.

But no matter what, one thing is always true: the tactile experience brings the product to life and creates a unique feeling.

Traditional crafts in the digital age

At Hässlers CZ, we believe in physical, genuine craftsmanship. But that doesn't mean we're turning away from digital technology or AI - quite the opposite. However, we believe that traditional techniques should not be forgotten. They still have a natural place in the modern world; it's just a matter of finding the right balance between them and digital developments.

We believe that the combination of the latest technologies and tried and tested craftsmanship yields the best results - not only in packaging production but also in our approach to life today.

In many ways, hot stamping is a perfect example of a technique that combines traditional craftsmanship with modern precision.

We just make sure that nothing reaches 451 °F! 😉