Here at For Your Party, we’re proud to use a variety of different printing techniques. But which is best for you? Maybe you are having a black tie wedding and ordering custom coasters, or a casual birthday party with personalized cups. Whatever event you’re throwing, we’re here to help. Let’s run through our printing styles and when they might be used.
Foil Stamping
Our signature and best selling printing technique! Foil stamped products have a colorful look, and a slight debossing effect, meaning you can feel the impression the print has made.
For foil stamping, your artwork is made into a metal die, and then stamped through a colored foil at a high temperature onto a substrate (your matches, napkins, or anything else). It’s an alchemical process, because each color of foil needs a slightly different temperature to work well, and is slightly more or less prone to filling in and bleeding (shoutout to our skilled production team!). The result is beautiful color, paired with a slight debossing effect that can be felt in art with solid patches of color, or text that’s bolder.
It’s our classic printing technique, and, because we have a wide variety of shiny and matte colors available, they work for all occasions from intimate affairs to corporate galas. You can’t go wrong!
Foil stamping works best with bold logos without too many tiny details, and text. It’s available on just about every product we offer from our best selling napkins to trendy 30 strike matchbooks. The fact that it’s printing something on top of a substrate also means we can offer it in the widest variety of paper styles and colors!
Digital Printing
Another popular printing technique is digital printing, which gives great color for photos and cups at a lower cost.
Think of this as a really fancy version of your own printer at home, where colored inks are applied right onto a surface. It can capture tiny details in small areas better than foil stamping can. Secondly, it can use a full range of colors on one product, so it’s what we use for full color orders. Last, but not least, ink printing is a bit more colorfast, so this printing style works great for guest towels or anything that’s going to be handled with wet hands.
Digital printing is available on our cups, our photo products, and our napkin collection.
Embossing
Want to make an impression (pun intended)? The printing technique of embossing leaves a colorless raised impression of your artwork. Embossing is the process of using two interlocking dies to make a raised impression of artwork. No ink is used in this process, so the impression is the same color as the rest of the napkin. They have a great feel in the hand, because the embossing lends a great texture to the napkins. The result is subtle and classy—try these for a black-tie wedding or elegant corporate events. Embossing is only offered for napkins.
Thermography
While foil stamping, digital printing, and embossing are the printing techniques we use most often, there are still a couple other methods you can choose. For example, thermography lends a uniquely bumpy and old-style look to paper products.
In thermography, wet ink is applied to areas of paper where art or text will be. Plastic powder is then introduced, which sticks to the ink, but not the rest of the paper. Lastly, the paper with the powdered die adhered is baked at 900 to 1300 degrees fahrenheit, fixing the powder in place.
The result is artwork that’s raised up, but a little bit bumpy and inconsistent, lending this technique perfectly to old-style calligraphy and handwriting. Thermography is offered on our menus, making it the perfect option for capturing a vintage wedding aesthetic.
Letterpress Printing
Letterpress is one of the longest-established printing techniques, and one that’s a pride for us to offer as printed! In letterpress, ink is applied directly to art rendered in metal, and then pressed into a substrate. The result is not unlike our foil stamping, except with a deeper impression. Additionally, our letterpress machines require a sturdier paper, so it can’t be used on napkins, however we do offer this luxe printing on invitations, gift tags, RSVP cards, and details cards.
For a deeper dive on this old-fashioned and beautiful printing process, check out our explainer blog on letterpress.
It’s up to you!
Having all of these printing techniques available gives you lots of options. While foil stamping looks great with a simple sketch or cartoon logo, digital printing is perfect for a stunning watercolor crest, or a sentimental photo. It’s also important to consider the mood you’d like to curate at your event—an embossed black napkin looks stunning at a black tie gala, but maybe not at a baby shower or a kid’s birthday party. It’s all about what you’d like for your event, and fulfilling your creative vision. We can’t wait to see what you come up with.
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