How do I Laminate something with Foil?

One of the best ways to make your documents and crafts stand out is by adding foil accents. This can create an eye-catching touch to several projects including business cards, report covers, photo albums, party invitations, greeting cards, certificates, and more.

It used to be expensive to have items accented with foil and it usually involved having your materials processed by a third party. However, it’s now possible to do in the comfort of your home or office thanks to the production of laminating foil. This article will answer your burning questions about laminating foil and how to use it.

What Do I Need to Foil Laminate?

• Laminating foil comes in rolls that are either 8” or 12” inches wide and up to 1000 feet long. There are lots of great colors available including the old standards (black, blue, red, yellow) as well as matte colors, metallics (silver, gold, even holographic), and vibrant hues such as purple, pink, turquoise, and so on.

• A pouch laminator is necessary to use laminating foil. You will need a machine that is pouch carrier compatible/can handle 10mil pouches and reaches at least 300°F. Ideally, you will also be able to control the speed of your machine. Some great pouch laminators to use include the GBC HeatSeal H600 and 700. The Speedy-Lam 330R-10 from James Burn is also a great choice.

• A laser printer, not an ink-jet, must be used to print your project. The foil will only adhere to laser printer toner, not water- or wax-based ink like the kind you use with ink-jet printers. However, if you only have access to an ink-jet printer, you can try copying the image or text on a photocopier instead.

• A pouch carrier that’s larger than your document. This will ensure that the foil won’t accidentally come into contact with the machine’s rollers. Without it, the foil can do some real damage.

• Scissors are important to keep nearby so you can easily cut off correctly sized pieces of foil from your roll.

How do I Laminate Something with Foil?

If you’ve had your pouch laminator for a while, you’re probably very familiar with how it works and what you can do with it. The good news is that it’s rather easy to add foil to documents with your laminator.

1. First, you’re going to need to gather up all the supplies we listed above.

1. Next, warm up your laminator. This shouldn’t take very long – probably around 5 minutes at most. You’re going to need to adjust the temperature setting and make sure it’s pretty high. It should be somewhere between 250 and 300 degrees Fahrenheit. (If you’re using the Celsius scale, that’s about 150 degrees.) A high temperature is required to get the foil to adhere to your document.

1. Now you can begin preparing your document. Be sure to print it using either a photocopier or a laser printer. (The foil won’t stick to water- or wax-based inks/toners.) Place your project into a pouch carrier, cut the foil down to size, and place it in the area where you want it to go.

1. At this point, you can run your document through the machine so long as it’s reached the appropriate temperature. Close the pouch carrier and feed it through. (TIP: Support the carrier so it stays flat during this process so the foil can’t shift or fall out)

1. When the item comes out, allow it to cool, carefully remove it from the carrier, and then peel the excess foil away. The heat from the laminator should have fused your foil to the toner leaving a stunning result.

1. Gaze upon the glory of your foil-fused project!

What are the Best Practices When Adding Foil to Documents?

When you try out foil lamination, you might discover it doesn’t always turn out so glorious. You’ll end up with lots of spots in your foil (spots that didn’t adhere to the printed areas). You might also see edges that look jagged and messy. There are a couple of different ways to try and avoid this.

How to Print for Foil Lamination

• Everything should be printed in solid black. No greys, colors, or gradients.
• Use vector-based images for best results. If your image is rasterized, then do not change the size.
• Print using a laser printer only.

Before printing, we must review what you are printing. Laminating foil adheres best to solid black prints. If there are any fades or gradients in your image your foil is sure to turn out spotty! To avoid this, it is best to use vector-based images. All text fonts are automatically vector-based images, and you can create shapes that are vector-based in programs like Adobe Illustrator. A vector-based image means that no matter how big or small you make them they retain their clean edges. Rasterized images, however, are based on pixels. If you change the size of a rasterized image the computer will interpret the new edges into pixels, which generally creates softer/spotty edges. Using non-vector-based images when foiling can cause jagged or funky edges on your finished product.

Some printer toners don’t work as well with laminating foil. For example, our large company printer’s toner does not work as well as the toner in one of our employee’s personal printers. Be sure to test your results with this in mind. If you need to, you can send us samples from your printer, and we will laminate it for you and get back to you with results on how it worked. Contact us for inquiries about this.

What is the Best Paper to Use for Foiling?

• Smooth papers only (glossy works best; no textured paper).
• Must be able to print in a laser printer.

Technically, whatever material is appropriate for laser printing can be foil laminated. But there are different results. The smoother the surface, the better your foil will fuse onto the laser toner. Surfaces like linen or paper with embossing and rough textures won’t work. Glossy paper generally results in the best foil laminated projects since it is smooth and holds the toner on the surface better than normal printing paper.

If you want to foil something that cannot be printed by a laser printer, then you’ll have to use foil stamping, which is a completely different machine and process. This also works better with textured paper and even plastic covers.

How Do I Optimize My Laminator for Foil Laminating

• Use a laminator that has a 10 mil setting or higher. Full control of temperature is preferred.
• Use slower speeds.
• Make sure your machine is wide enough to fit your entire project and carrier.

Slow and hot, that’s what we want to ensure the laminator we choose can do. Pouch laminators with adjustable heats and speeds are the best for foil laminating. Since the process requires a carrier, more heat is needed to get through to the foil. Laminators that can laminate 10 mil pouches or higher are best. Slower speeds also allows the foil to reach appropriate temperatures when going through the machine. Some laminators don’t necessarily change the heat for each pouch setting, they only change the speed--so ones with actual temperature controls (above 300 degrees Fahrenheit) are preferred. It’s best to experiment with speed and heat to find what works best with your machine.

How Do I Apply Foil Only to Sections of My Project?

• For projects where you want foil and printed text on the same page, or even multiple colors of foil on the same page, make sure to cut pieces of foil to fit each corresponding section.
• For sections you don’t want to apply foil cover them with paper to prevent ink transfer to the carrier.

Sometimes you don’t want to foil every section of your project--sometimes you’ll want foil and printed text on the same page. When doing this, cut out a section of foil so it only goes over the appropriate area. It’s also important to cover the non-foiled prints with a thin sheet of paper. If you don’t, some of the toner/ink will transfer onto the carrier. If ink gets on your carrier, the next time you use it, the old toner/ink will transfer onto your new project. So, cover every section of your print with either foil or paper to prevent cross-contamination between projects.

This video will also show you how to add multiple colors of foil to your important documents. Essentially, whichever foil is making direct contact with the toner, the bottom layer, will be the foil that adheres. To foil with multiple colors simply cut each piece to size, place in their appropriate sections, and laminate as usual.

What About Professional Foil Machines?

For those with high demands for foil laminating we recommend looking into a foil fuser. These laminate faster with better results and really simplify the process.

There are also foil stamping machines that can apply foil to virtually any material, even those with textures! You should be able to find print shops that offer this service. Plus, we offer custom-stamped binding covers. So, you don’t have to purchase an expensive machine if you don't want to. Both machines are designed for professional foiling in print shops and finishing houses. But they can be worthy investments for those who have enough demand or need for professional finishing.

In Conclusion…

Using laminating foil is easy and it will give your materials a high-class look that everyone will love. All you need is your document, a roll of foil, and a pouch laminator and you’ll be ready to go. Be sure to follow the instructions in this article to ensure the process goes as smoothly as possible. Good luck! If you still have questions, we recommend calling up our customer service team at