How to Create Artwork Using foil Blocking in InDesign

Adobe InDesign is the desktop software for publishing application produced by the Adobe Systems which is used to create flyers,, magazines, brochures, newspapers, and books. You can transform your InDesign with special finishes which includes varnishes, foil blocking, embossing.

Here, I will walk you through some steps to create foil block designs in Photoshop.

How to create foil blocking in InDesign?

The easiest way to supply your foil blocking artwork is to make a separate PDF file. You can design the document as a mockup and can use a block color to represent the foil elements and then add those foil block element to final print artwork. This will help you to test that how the final printed product will look and also reduce the risk of mistakes and additionally you will have a mockup version ready to print.

Follow these steps:

• Finalize your design, with the element of foil in a solid color on separate layer over to the top of artwork which is for print.
• 3 times duplicate the page. One is your mockup, one is the final printing artwork, and one will foil block
• Delete unwanted elements, and save the relevant name
• Delete all the unwanted pages from your each file
• In your document of foil, change the solid black color, and make sure you’ve covered all thing by turning off black ink and Separations looking Preview panel
• Some of the printers may be require you to set up the spot color and work with one document. In that case, make sure the Overprint set as spot color (via ‘Window > Attributes’) so you can’t lose any detail underneath of the foil element block.

Here are some points to consider:

• Get rid of any foil lines which is thinner than 0.5mm/1pt
• Give at least 1mm Gap between separate foiled-elements to stop shapes to be bleeding into one or another
• Do not try to align the fine details of the foil such as type of small(serifs) or thin lines
• While line up the foil with the printed image, add 1mm to the foil guide allow for mistakes
• Large size areas of the solid foil can be tricky sometime to get right or you may be not always get  best results.

Hope it’s useful for you.

About Author

Anuj Bisht

I am an experienced UI/UX designer, Responsible for creating the sketch, wireframe, prototype, and visual mockups. apart from that, I like traveling and singing.