In general, any product printed on a flexographic press can use a cold foil process. However, the unique production capacity of the flexographic printing press must be considered. Therefore, the customer needs to contact his equipment supplier. In the cold foil transfer process, wet picking technology requires the cooperation of printing, compounding and film stripping units. Depending on the adhesives, substrates, anilox rollers and printing plates used, this new process should be able to print half to full color. Adhesives: There are countless adhesives on the market. You must carefully test the suitability of the adhesive for your particular task. In addition to being applied to solvent-based or water-based inks, this adhesive should also be used in UV-free, UV-curable inks/coatings. Substrates: In fact, all substrates that can be printed on flexographic printers such as polypropylene, polyethylene, and non-absorbent papers can be cold foil transferred. If there is a problem with the adhesive, contact the adhesive supplier. Anilox roller: According to the design of the substrate, the correct anilox roller must be selected. In the beginning, an anilox roller with 120 lines/cm and an ink storage capacity of 10 cm 3 /m 2 was used. For fine tasks, the ceramic anilox roller should have a higher number of lines. When used in large areas, the number of lines required is slightly lower. A typical anilox roll weight should be in the range of 2 to 5 g/m2 for all non-absorbent materials and plastics. This requires that the number of lines of the anilox roller is 180 lines/cm, and the ink storage volume is 6 cm3/m2. More absorbent substrates, such as paper, use an anilox roller with 100 lines/cm and an ink storage capacity of 14 cm3/m2. Laminated composite units: For cold foil transfer, wet enamel, and UV adhesive applications, silicone rollers with a Shore hardness of 80 to 95 are recommended. The tension of the foil unwinding and rewinding unit should be as low as possible. Take care to avoid wrinkling. If you use a roller with a very low Shore hardness, the effect of cold foil transfer will be poor. UV lamps: For UV curing, medium or high voltage mercury lamps should be used. Taking into account the speed of operation, the output power of the UV lamp should be adjusted. The faster the speed, the higher the output power of the UV lamp. Typical output power is between 120 and 200 W/cm. Color cold foil, UV lamp output power should be set higher than silver or bright gold. Speed: Typical printing and application speeds are between 45 and 120 m/min. Reprinted from: Packaging Expo