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How To Make Your Own Foil Prints and Stickers

19/1/2018

35 Comments

 
Tutorial on how to make your own foil prints and stickers using a laser printer, a laminator and foiling sheets.  Reviews and recommnedations of Foiling products by Craft Chatterbox blog
I'm very excited to bring this tutorial to you today as I've been a foiling-mad woman for quite a while now!  I've recorded a video which shows you how to foil your own prints.  I've also covered foiling stickers and how you can layer foiling on top of inkjet printed backgrounds. I compare the different foils and give tips on the best printers and card. 

To help get you started, I'm giving away a bumper pack of free printable designs - links at the bottom of this post.

Why A Laser Printout?

Laser printers don’t use water soluable ink, instead they use tiny granules of black plastic called toner.  Laser printers uses static electricity to arrange the toner onto the page and then the hot rollers melt it and fuse it to the paper.  If we heat the page again, the toner will melt and become a perfectly precise glue that the foil will stick to.  Any parts of the paper that are white stay white, whereas anything printed black will be covered with foil.
Before - a normal black and white laser print out.  Gold foil is placed on top and run through a hot laminator, giving the final foiled result.  Tutorial on toner foiling by Craft Chatterbox
Bee image by Nic Squirrell https://www.silhouettedesignstore.com/view-shape/148628

Inkjet Printouts Won't Work, but that can be useful

Inkjet printers will not work, but the fact that they aren't reactive can be used to our advantage.  We can print any design, using black or coloured inks as a background, safe in the knowledge that the foils won't stick to them.  We can then take the inkjet printout and run it through the laser printer, this time printing the design that we want foiled. 
Foiled designs can be layered on top of inkjet printed images, here the stripes are inkjet and the wording is laser printed and foiled.  Tutorial by Craft Chatterbox blog.
Inkjet printed background stripes with laser printed and foiled centre
Foiled designs can be layered on top of inkjet printed images.  This is marble patterned wrapping paper, but equally inkjet printed pattern would work too.  The wording is laser printed and foiled.  Tutorial by Craft Chatterbox blog.
This is marble patterned wrapping paper, but inkjet printed background would also work.

Printer Tips

Mono laser printers that only print in black and white are better than colour ones as apparently the formulation of the black toner is different.  I originally bought a Canon printer from John Lewis but had to return it as it kept getting paper jams.  In the end I bought a Samsung MD3220ND from Printerland, currently £117.58 as it was the only printer I could find under £500 that could take cardstock up to 220gsm. 
If you don't want to buy a laser printer, you can get your local print shop or chain such as Staples to print you copies.  Photocopiers also use toner if you have access to one.

Foiling Sheets

Minc foiling sheets.  Foiling Tutorial by Craft Chatterbox, image courtesy of www.artsyfartsymama.com
The Minc Rose Gold foil comes in a roll which is handy.  I bought mine from Amazon UK for £7.37 and it shipped from America (there is no import taxes as the value is under the threshold).
Deco foil by thermoweb foiling sheets.  Foiling Tutorial by Craft Chatterbox
The Deco Foil Rose Gold foil comes in 6 by 12 inch sheets of 5 or 20.  The 5 sheet tube is £6.42 and comes with free next day delivery if you have Prime.  The larger pack of 20 is £7.16 but ships from America, also no import tax.
Patsy May Toner foiling sheets.  Foiling Tutorial by Craft Chatterbox
Patsy May, a UK company sell 15m rolls of metallic foil in widths of 10, 20 and 30cm for £6, £10 and £15 respectively.  They also sell holographic and patterned foils in the same sizes and prices.  The postage is £2.70, but even adding this, these foils work out the cheapest.

My favourite is the Deco Foil, but in the video, the Patsy May foils actually performed really well on stickers.

Card and Paper

My favourite white card to use is Color Copy by Mondi, its bright white and super smooth, especially formulated for laser printers but also works well with inkjet for those layered looks.
Mondi Color Copy 200gsm is great for foiling.  Tutorial by Craft Chatterbox
Mondi Color Copy A4 200gsm £13.11 from Amazon with free Prime delivery.
I also like the super smooth card from Anna Marie Designs which is £5.99 for 50 sheets.

I'm a massive fan of an innovative paper from Italy called The Tube, sold by Paperstory, both for foiling and for paper cutting.  It has a latex like finish and 10 sheets are £3.10.  There are a variety of colours, my favourite are the matte black, petrol blue and graphite grey.
My favourite papers to foil with.  Matte Black 'The Tube' paper from Paperstory.  Image is  #4051032 from Vectorstock.  Foiling tutorial by Craft Chatterbox blog
Matte Black 'The Tube' paper from Paperstory. Image #4051032 from Vectorstock

Tip For Silhouette Users when Foiling Stickers

Stickers look great foiled, I particularly like to make foiled return address labels.
Foiled stickers cut with a Silhouette Cameo, but circle punches can also be used.  Foiling tutorial by Craft Chatterbox blog
Foiled stickers cut with a Silhouette Cameo, but circle punches can also be used.
For those with Silhouette Cameo cutting machines, the Cameo 3 having two blades is great for stickers.  I do a light kiss cut which cuts the circles but not the backing paper (blade 1 force 5) using the left blade.  It then automatically moves on to cut with more force (blade 2 force 27) through the full sheet using the right blade.  Once you've cut the stickers and removed the registration marks, then you can foil as normal.
Cutting stickers with the Cameo 3.  Kiss cut with the first blade then fully cut the sheet to remove registration marks with the second blade.  Do this in a single pass using the cut by line option within the Send menu
How to kiss cut then trim the sticker sheets in a single pass using the cut by line option.

FREEBIES!

Please feel free to download and use the following PDF printable freebies that I have designed (personal use only).  I've also included SVG and Silhouette Studio Compatible formats (GSD) if you'd rather cut the designs instead of foil them.  The PDFs are black and white, I've just shown them in gold to help envisage the final product.  Click on the images to open the download links
Free printable PDF file for foiling by Craft Chatterbox.  You Make Me Happy When Skies Are Grey
Fool For Love font https://mistifonts.com/fool-for-love/ Arsenale White font https://www.dafont.com/arsenale-white.font
Free printable PDF file for foiling by Craft Chatterbox.  Silently Correcting Your Grammar
Ostrich Sans font https://www.fontsquirrel.com/fonts/ostrich-sans
Free printable PDF file for foiling by Craft Chatterbox.  Origami insects
Icons created by Agne Alesiute and kindly shared under Creative Commons licence. https://thenounproject.com/grrrauf/collection/origami-animals/
Free printable PDF file for foiling by Craft Chatterbox.  Insect mandala
Icons made by Freepik and kindly shared under creative commons licence https://www.flaticon.com/pack/animal-kingdom
Free PDF printable by Craft Chatterbox.  Little Sleep Thief foiling file.
I Love Glitter font by Misti Fonts http://mistifonts.com/i-love-glitter/
35 Comments
Honey link
13/5/2018 11:08:24 am

Hi, thanks a lot for the very helpfull blog post and the youtube video, which brought me here.

Maybe you can answer my question. I started playing around with foling especially with ink printer and laser printer. First I print out a design on my ink printer (Canon ip7250) and then a pattern with my laser print (brother HL2340DW) above. But I'm quite disappointed of the result, cause the printings wont align. I have the feeling the laser printer is the problem, which prints crooked and every print is different. I was wondering maybe the thickness of the paper is the problem for my laser printer. I tried the manual Papertray as well. It's a little bit better but still not satisfying.

Do you had any experience like that? And are you satiesfied with your printer? I was wondering if the weight of the paper is the problem and if I should upgrade to a better one like yours.

Maybe you have an idea?

Thanks a lot, Honey

Reply
Michelle
19/9/2018 01:51:26 am

Could you tell me which transparent sticker paper you use for your sticker labels for foiling

Reply
Shawna Stobaugh link
25/10/2018 10:58:19 pm

Thank for you for sharing this! So helpful! I am now confident on making the purchase of my own laminator and foils. Love your designs and wonderful designs.

Reply
Sunita
2/5/2019 02:25:50 pm

hi can you please help with how i only foil parts of a print?

Reply
Ash
8/11/2020 07:02:17 am

Hi if buying 2 printers is too expensive try using a glue pen on parts of an inkjet colored image that you want foiled wait till it dries completely should be able to heat foil over the areas you applied the glue pen

Reply
Jacaueline
24/5/2019 04:23:24 pm

Im wondering about foiling my addresses on wedding invitations. Rose gold on navy blue envelopes. I know it will be a bit tome consuming but was wondering if you have ever tried this and any helpful tips. Ie fonts and size of font

Reply
Rachel Pedder
8/7/2019 06:40:13 pm

Thank you for sharing! I tried this for the first time the other day but I didn't get great results. I got them printed at a nearby copy shop but they only had 300gsm paper. I also bought a cheap laminator but I don't think it was hot enough. What laminator did you use? Does the paper weight make a difference to?

Reply
Sue
27/6/2020 02:17:55 pm

What a waste of time, all you do is talk about it, but not really show any step by step.
You are a windbag. You talk about nothing except for products. Pissed that I even came here.

Reply
Rebecca
20/8/2020 05:35:32 am

woah, sue, chill out my dude. this was already informative enough, don't be lazy and do the rest of the research yourself.

Reply
Sally
31/8/2020 12:46:51 pm

Go away Sue ... you are so rude . If you don't like it, just leave.

Reply
Marie-Josée Bouliane
27/12/2022 05:24:46 pm

I hope you have pissed somewhere else since your comment, like your own house...
If you don't like something, go away.
If you are positive, express it.
Seems like life is hard on you and you are making everyone and everything responsible for it, apart from yourself...
Namaste !

Reply
Samantha link
28/11/2020 09:43:16 am

This post helped me with the decision, thank you for that! Your insight is very good!

Reply
Stephany
12/12/2020 07:30:13 am

Could the same be achieved with an iron to create the heat transfer? Very informative btw, ty!

Reply
Jessica Fulford
12/1/2021 08:50:11 am

Hi, I'd love to know how to print black stickers and then foil them. Do you have any advice on how to do this? I've tried printing on the inkjet and then the laser, but it doesn't work...

Reply
Becci Robinson
27/1/2021 11:59:46 am

I used deco foil on clear sticker paper using my brother monolaser printer. It transferred onto almost the whole page instead of just the black. Do you know why this is? I tried using the cooler setting but it didn’t transfer at all?

Reply
Lisa Dorsey
24/2/2021 09:20:13 pm

This is the exact same issue I'm having right now...literally! So of course, I jumped on the internet to find out why. Haven't found the reason thus far, so I'm zero help, but sometimes it feels better just knowing you're not alone!

Reply
nadine muir link
25/2/2021 07:47:40 am

Hi both,

I’m afraid I’ve never had this happen. The only time it did I was accidentally using a foil that wasn’t for laser foiling (it was the foil quill ones). I suspect your laminators hot setting is too hot. What type of paper /card are you using?

Sahar
4/2/2021 03:39:50 pm

hi does anybody know if foil printing can be done on photo paper with a satin or gloss finish?

Reply
Nadine
5/2/2021 03:49:32 pm

Yes foil printing should be fine on gloss or satin photo paper. If you want to print inkject backgrounds, this is also fine. The only exception is pure black inkjet ink will not dry on glossy paper, but if you select the correct paper type, your printer will make adjustments and try and mix a black from all the coloured inks - its not a true deep black, more of a purply shade. There shouldn't be any issues with the black laser on glossy paper. Best of luck :)

Reply
Dad's Printing link
18/6/2021 03:24:56 am

Wow this is by far one of the most detailed information about how to make your own foil print and stickers. Thank you for sharing the printer tips as well. Keep up the good work!

Reply
Arlene Tydings
4/7/2021 09:51:37 am

Hi, this was great - thank you so much. Just one question regarding the stickers - not understanding the cutting machine story. Do you print on sheets of A4 sticker/labels? If anyone can explain, I would be most grateful. I need to do foil stickers for wedding favours for a friend. Many thanks in advance

Reply
Tez link
22/7/2021 10:07:00 pm

I had no idea that you could apply your own adhesives for stickers. I need to get a sticker set for my little sister. I'll have to see if I can get them custom made.

Reply
Singh
20/12/2021 12:16:09 pm

Hi,

Your site was very useful - thank you.

I tried using deco gold foil on a picture I printed on my inkjet brother printer. I transferred through a new laminator but the foil seemed to have softened up but didn’t transfer onto the paper at all. I tried this a couple times but it didnt seem to work. Any idea why?

Thank you for your help

Reply
Rick Jones link
21/12/2021 06:19:30 pm

I didn't know that photocopiers use toners. I'll see if I can get a photocopier and an inkjet. Then I can just get toner sent to my house.

Reply
Amy
23/1/2022 09:43:02 pm

I have a color laser printer. Will it still work because I don’t want to buy another laser printer…

Reply
Nadine
24/1/2022 08:53:56 am

It may work Amy, definitely worth a try but the toner in mono laser printers is different and generally works better for this purpose. Do let me know how you get on if you try it.

Reply
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8/2/2022 11:37:16 am

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Reply
Glenda
13/3/2022 09:01:54 pm

Am i correct that if i print a design with an inkjet printer that the foil wont
Adhear to the ink. I would have to print with a laser printer
TYIA

Reply
Ayesha Usman link
23/4/2022 10:22:03 am

Hi. Can you please tell which sticker paper you used for making stickers? I get evergreen from Amazon, but your stickers look more shiny and glossy.
Thanks
Ayesha

Reply
Darelys
26/5/2022 01:30:30 am

I print my background using my epson et4800 how ever when i going to foil. The foil get transfer to the background (ink printed) and the laser prints on top. 🤦🏻‍♀️😮‍💨

Reply
Jordan
21/10/2022 08:48:28 pm

hiya! I wonder if you could help advice me on how I turn everyday pictures into suitable black outline/detailed so they're suitable for foiling?
I hope this makes sense, but I'm struggling to find the best way to do this
thank you!

Reply
Tex Hooper link
15/11/2022 12:19:48 am

You make a great point about using PDF formatting. My wife needs to print some brochures for work. I'll have to find a service that does mass printing.

Reply
judi
16/11/2022 11:46:31 pm

I print on a laser printer and use deco foil and run it thru a laminator. Works great. It does not matter what color your paper is it adheres to the toner. The smoother paper the better the adhesion. Make sure the foil is ritht side up, so the backside adheres to the toner.

Reply



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    Blog about craft, design and interiors. Includes DIY tutorials for gifts and the home, often using my trustee Silhouette Cameo.

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