Send your artwork
EPS, PDF, AI or TIFF. Digital files only. Not sure it’s ready? Send it anyway; our in-house artworkers will check it.
From artwork to plate
We'll hold your hand from artwork to plate
No trade jargon, no minimum order fuss. Send the file, get a quote within the hour, and let our in-house artworkers take it from there, scaling, checking and preparing your design free of charge.
- FormatsEPS, PDF, AI, TIFF
- QuoteWithin the hour
- Minimum50 sq cm
- ScalingFree of charge
The journey
Four steps from file to foil
Quote within the hour
A no-obligation email quote, priced simply by the square centimetre with a 50 sq cm minimum.
We prepare the plate
Artwork is scaled up or down free of charge, checked for strike-worthiness, and etched or engraved in-house.
Dispatched to your bench
Couriers and Royal Mail, priced by weight. Same-day dispatch on magnesium ordered before 1pm.
What strikes well
Designing for the die
Hot foil loves confident line-work: solid shapes, clean strokes and breathing room between fine details. Hairlines under half a point and large solid floods both have their quirks. Send the design and we'll flag anything that won't strike cleanly, before it costs you a plate.
Working from a sketch, a photo or an idea? Our artworkers redraw logos and motifs for foil every week, the elephant on this page included.
A soft spot
We love rosettes
Show societies, gymkhanas and prize-givings. Rosette centres were some of our first ever dies, and they still get special treatment. Reciprocating-head presses, centre dies and foils in every ribbon colour: if you make rosettes, you're among friends here.
Need a starting point? Download our rosette centres sheet and border designs sheet for ready-made centre and border artwork.
Guides & downloads
Set your file up right first time
Setting up artwork in IllustratorPDF guide: outlines, strokes and export settings for vector artworkSetting up artwork in PhotoshopPDF guide: resolution, mode and flattening for raster artwork
Handy while you design: identify a typeface at Identifont, source imagery from Pixabay, iStock or Shutterstock, and if you need affordable design software, Affinity has our vote.
The numbers
Artwork, in brief
One email with the file and the finished size is all we need to get started.
- Accepted formats
- EPS, PDF, AI, TIFF (digital only)
- Die pricing
- By the square centimetre
- Minimum die area
- 50 sq cm
- Quote turnaround
- Within the hour, by email
- Artwork scaling
- Reduced or enlarged free of charge
- Shipping
- Couriers and Royal Mail, priced by weight
#makeitshiny
Make something shiny with us
Order spare parts, get expert advice, or arrange a test drive with one of our hot foil machines. We'll have the tea and cake ready and waiting.
- Replies within a day
- Machines on every continent
- Supported for life