Silver Foil Stamping — Shades, Specs & Press Settings

Silver foil stamping is hot stamping with an aluminium-metallised foil that carries a neutral or cool-toned lacquer, transferred to the substrate by a heated die at 105–135 °C with 0.3–0.8 s dwell. The ~50 nm vacuum-deposited aluminium layer is what makes the finish mirror-bright; the lacquer above it decides whether the result reads as bright silver, matt silver, pearl white or dark gunmetal. It is the second most-specified foil colour after gold and the default choice for electronics, spirits, cosmetics and technical packaging.

Bright silver (gloss 80–95 GU) is a true mirror — best on smooth coated board where the reflection stays undistorted. Matt silver (25–40 GU) hides substrate texture and fingerprints and is the safe choice on uncoated, kraft and soft-touch laminated stock. Gunmetal foil is a dark grey-anthracite metallic (18–30 GU) used when the design needs a metallic that stays legible against white or light artwork — common on premium electronics, tools, automotive and men's grooming packaging. All three run at identical press settings, so you can swap shades without re-making the die.

White foil is a pigment foil, not a metallic one: an opaque titanium-dioxide-loaded lacquer replaces the aluminium layer. Use it when you need clean white type or line art on dark board, kraft, black soft-touch laminate or coloured film, where white ink would sink in and look grey. Opacity is the spec that matters — our standard white gives full hiding on black 300 gsm board in one pass; two-pass stamping is only needed on heavily textured stock. Press 100–125 °C, slightly cooler than metallic silver, because pigment lacquers scorch sooner.

Silver holographic foil is a silver-based metallic foil embossed with a nanoscale diffraction grating before metallisation, so the mirror surface splits light into a moving rainbow. The common patterns are rainbow (general-purpose), fine pillar, dot-matrix and seamless star. Because the base is silver, the holographic effect stays cool-toned and reads brighter than gold-based holographic foil under store lighting. Full technical detail is in our holographic foil guide; if you need registered, logo-specific holograms see the security foil guide.

Bright and matt silver: 105–135 °C die temperature, 0.3–0.8 s dwell, 60–80 Shore A make-ready. Gunmetal: same window, but hold the top of the range (125–135 °C) so the darker lacquer bonds fully. White pigment foil: 100–125 °C. On plastics (PP, PVC, PET) drop 10–15 °C and lengthen dwell instead of raising heat. If the edge of the stamp looks feathered, the die is too hot; if the foil lifts in the middle of a solid area, add pressure before adding temperature.

Coated SBS/FBB 200–500 gsm gives the brightest mirror. Uncoated, recycled and kraft stocks work well with matt silver and gunmetal — the diffuse finish visually integrates with the fibre texture. Films (BOPP, PET, PVC 0.05–0.8 mm) need our film-grade adhesive. Soft-touch laminate needs a high-tack grade; ask for a sample test before committing to a run. Textile and leather use a separate heat-transfer silver.

Stock bright silver, matt silver and white ship from 1 roll (typically 640 mm × 120 m) in 3–5 days. Gunmetal and silver holographic are stocked in the common widths and ship in 5–7 days. Custom widths from 30 mm to 1,600 mm are slit to order in 7–10 days; custom holographic patterns need 1,000 m² and 18–25 days. Free A4 swatch packs covering every silver shade are available to qualified buyers.

Yes — cold foil is silver by definition. A UV adhesive is printed, a plain silver foil is laminated inline, and the silver is then overprinted with CMYK to create gold, rose gold, copper or any tinted metallic from a single roll. That is why high-volume label and carton lines stock silver cold foil only. Break-even against hot stamping is usually 5,000–8,000 sheets per design; see the hot vs cold foil comparison for the full maths.