Holographic Foil — Patterns, Specs & Anti-Counterfeit Sourcing

Holographic foil is a hot-stamping foil whose ~50 nm aluminium metal layer is micro-embossed with a nanoscale diffraction grating. The grating splits incoming white light into a full rainbow spectrum, producing the dynamic three-dimensional colour shift that defines the look. Structurally it is identical to standard hot stamping foil — PET carrier, release wax, colour lacquer, aluminium, adhesive — with the holographic pattern added at the metallising step.

A 12–25 µm PET carrier is coated with a release wax and a colour lacquer, then vacuum-metallised with a ~50 nm aluminium layer. A nickel shim carrying the diffraction master is then hot-embossed into the aluminium under heat and nip pressure (~120–160 °C, 8–15 bar) to replicate the holographic pattern at nanoscale resolution. A heat-activated adhesive is coated and the finished roll is slit to the customer's width (200–1,650 mm).

Holographic foil is applied with a hot stamping press — a heated engraved die transfers the foil onto the substrate at 110–160 °C with 0.3–1.2 s dwell. Roll-fed flatbed presses (XG1080G class) run cartons; vertical clamshell presses run labels and books; rotary modules run inline on label presses. The same foil can also be used in cold-foil and digital-foil sleeking workflows when supplied with the matching adhesive system.

Holographic foil is a transfer film: only the metal+colour layer is released onto the substrate during stamping, so it can be applied as a small logo, line or pattern on any carton, label, or book cover. Holographic paper is a finished sheet where the holographic film is already laminated onto a paper base — you print and die-cut it like any other board, but the entire sheet carries the holographic look. Foil = selective decoration; paper = full-coverage substrate.

Stock patterns: rainbow / pillar-of-light, fine sparkle, shattered glass, spiral, geometric dot-matrix, and 3D pyramid. Stock colours: gold, silver, copper, rose gold, red, blue, green, purple, pink, bronze, multi-spectrum and transparent (overlay). Custom-logo holograms — your own artwork encoded as a 2D/3D hologram — are available with 1,000 m² MOQ and a one-time origination tooling fee.

Yes — it is the most cost-effective overt security feature in commercial packaging. Custom-logo holograms cannot be photocopied, scanned or reproduced without a matching nickel shim, and add only $0.01–$0.05 per unit at typical pharma/cosmetic coverage. Widely deployed on pharmaceutical secondary packaging, premium spirits neck-collars, tobacco inner liners, electronics warranty seals and government certificates. See our anti-counterfeit security foil for combined overt + covert constructions.

Coated paperboard (SBS, FBB 200–600 gsm), folded cartons, label paper, BOPP / PET / PVC films (0.05–0.8 mm), rigid setup boxes and book cloth all stamp cleanly. Uncoated kraft, recycled board and absorbent stocks dull the diffraction — request a sample test before committing to a run. For heat-sensitive shrink film and lightweight BOPP, switch to cold foil printing.

Stock patterns in stock colours: 1 roll (~640 mm × 120 m ≈ 77 m²), ship in 5–7 days. Custom Pantone colour on a stock pattern: 500 m² MOQ, 12–15 days. Custom-encoded logo holograms: 1,000 m² MOQ, 25–35 working days plus origination. Free A4 swatch packs of all stock patterns ship in 5 business days; NDA available for custom security work.