Foil finishing is becoming increasingly popular, in particular in the label sector. Cold foil applications are therefore also gaining importance in narrow web printing. Generally speaking, most self-adhesive label printing machines with a laminating station or rotary stamping unit will be suitable or can be adapted to this process. Most machine manufacturers also offer specially designed cold foil transfer units.

Machine systems for cold foiling are now available from almost all printing machine manufacturers, for example:

• Aquaflex
• Arpeco
• Codimag
• FOCUS
• Gallus
• Nuova GIDUE
• Komori 
• Ko-Pack
• Labelmen
• Mark Andy
• MPS
• Nilpeter
• OMET
• Rotatek
• and others

The foil is usually supplied on 3 inch cores for these cold foiling modules. The standard lengths are 2000 m - 4000 m, depending on the length of the substrate. The width should be approx. 0.5 cm wider than the desired design.

The cold foiling modules differ with regard to their individual design features, for example they may have a different web guiding system or method of regulating the foil tension or release. There is hardly any difference between them in terms of capacity, however. Depending on the substrate, design and foil grade, processing speeds of 35 to 120 meters or more per minute are possible!

Cold foiling can be performed in conjunction with UV flexographic, UV offset or UV letterpress printing. The most frequently used process in narrow web printing is flexographic printing. The processor can generally select freely between these options when choosing the process for applying cold foil. This is especially true given the current trend towards producing printing machines that are suitably equipped to perform the various printing methods on one and the same machine.