The 5-Piece Metallic Foil Shine Set for Cards, Mail, Tags and Folders
Foil is a metal film bonded to the sheet, not a shiny ink, and that is why it mirrors light when everything around it does not. These are the five pieces where the upcharge earns its money, from $86.78 for 100 raised foil cards, with the places foil fails named up front.
The metallic foil set worth printing is five pieces: foil business cards, raised foil cards, foil postcards, foil hangtags and raised foil pocket folders. Cards get handled, postcards get sorted in a stack, hangtags get touched at the moment of the decision, and folders carry everything else. Foil each one as an accent on a matte field, keep it off folds and off address panels, and the set reads as one brand instead of five shiny objects.
The picks
Five foil pieces, from $222.13 for 500 cards to $1,037.97 folders
Order the two card products first, then add the rest as the work demands them. Every price below comes straight from the configurator and drops as your quantity climbs. The diagram shows what separates these products from a metallic ink job, which is the question most people are really asking when they compare the two prices.
Where the foil goes
Foil placement and the area to leave bare
Every foil job has two decisions: what carries the film, and what has to stay bare stock. The second one is the one that gets forgotten, and it is the one that produces cracked marks, smeared handwriting and mailpieces that will not scan. Read the row, tap the piece to jump to its section, then set your artwork up with the bare areas blocked out first.
| Piece | Foil that suits it | Keep foil off | Starts at |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Metallic foil business cards | Flat foil on the logo and one line of type | The back panel people write notes on | $222.13 |
| 2. Raised foil business cards | Raised foil on a mark or a monogram | Any area a card scanner has to read | $86.78 |
| 3. Metallic foil postcards | Flat foil on the front, headline and border only | The whole address panel on the back | $421.91 |
| 4. Metallic foil hangtags | Flat foil on the brand mark, one side | Any box staff write a size or a price into | $257.38 |
| 5. Raised foil pocket folders | Raised foil on the cover mark, clear of the spine | The fold, the score and the glue tabs | $1,037.97 |
Print help
Services that keep a foil run out of trouble
Foil errors are cheap on screen and expensive on press, because the film is applied after the ink and there is no fixing a cracked mark afterwards. These 4OVER4.COM services catch the problems at the stage where changing them is free.
1. Metallic foil business cards, the piece that gets handled the most
Start the set here, because a business card is the only piece in it that a person turns over in their fingers. Metallic foil business cards take a flat foil stamp on the logo and, at most, one line of type. That is the whole design brief. The card does not need to be shiny all over to register as expensive, it needs one bright shape against a matte field.
Flat foil is the version to pick when the card has a job beyond looking good. It sits level with the sheet, so it stacks without scuffing the card underneath, it goes through a card scanner without a shadow line, and it does not catch on a wallet seam. The trade is that you feel nothing when you run a thumb across it. If touch is the point, jump to the raised version below and accept the handling limits that come with it.
Two habits save reprints. Set the foil artwork as its own solid layer with no gradients or screens in it, because foil is either there or it is not, and there is no such thing as a 40 percent foil. Then leave a clear patch on the back, since people write on business cards and a pen will not mark foil. Our walkthrough on how to set up your design files for foil shows the separation, and what foil stamping is covers the die and the press side of it.
2. Raised foil business cards, the one people comment on
Raised foil business cards do something flat foil cannot: they give the mark height. A clear polymer layer is printed first, then the foil film is laid over that dome, so the logo stands proud of the sheet and a fingernail catches its edge. People notice with their hands before they read anything, which is why this is the pick when the card is handed over rather than left in a tray.
It is also the cheapest entry into the set, starting at $86.78 against $222.13 for the flat metallic foil card. That inversion surprises people. The short answer is that these are different stocks and different press paths with their own quantity ladders, so compare them at the quantity you actually need in the configurator rather than at the starting price.
The limit is worth stating plainly. Height means the foil is exposed, so a raised mark scuffs where a flat one would not, and it will crack if it crosses a score. Keep it to a mark or a monogram and keep it away from the card edge. The full mechanics are in our guide to the raised foil printing process, and foil stamping versus raised foil puts the two side by side if you are still deciding.
3. Metallic foil postcards, one bright thing in a gray stack of mail
Mail is sorted standing over a bin, and the sort is fast. Metallic foil postcards earn their cost in that half second, because a foil headline throws light in a stack where nothing else does. Put the foil on the front only, on the headline and maybe a border, and let the offer do the rest in plain ink.
The back is where foil goes wrong on a mailer. Keep the address panel completely clear of it. A reflective surface under a barcode is hard for a sorter to read, and a piece that will not scan gets pulled and handled by hand. Leave the address block, the return corner and the barcode zone as bare stock, and stay with flat foil rather than raised on anything that goes through automation.
Foil also changes what the front can look like. You cannot print CMYK on top of foil, so the foil goes down last and anything that overlaps it has to be part of the foil shape itself. Plan the layout with that in mind and it is straightforward. Our guide on what foil postcards are and when to use them covers the campaigns where the upcharge pays back, and designing metallic foil postcards in Canva walks the file setup if that is your tool.
4. Metallic foil hangtags, the price tag that reads as a brand
A hangtag is the last piece of print a customer touches before they decide. Metallic foil hangtags put a foil mark on a small, thick card at exactly that moment, and on a rack of otherwise plain tags the foil is what the eye lands on. Small pieces are also where foil is at its most efficient, because the foiled area per tag is tiny.
Design around the hole and around the writing. The reinforcement area near the punch takes stress every time the tag is moved, so keep foil back from it, and leave any size, price or SKU box as bare stock because a pen will not write on foil. Retail staff will try, and the ink will bead and smear.
One more thing that decides how the tag looks: the stock. Foil needs a smooth, closed surface to bond to, so on a heavy linen or a kraft tag the film bridges the texture unevenly and comes out broken rather than solid. Sometimes that distressed look is the point. Usually it is not, so choose a smooth coated stock when you want a clean mirror. Tags sit inside a wider finishing decision, and print finishing techniques explained lays out where foil fits against spot UV and embossing.
5. Raised foil pocket folders, the piece that carries everything else
Raised foil pocket folders are the biggest line on this list, starting at $1,037.97, and they are the piece most sets should order last. Buy them when the folder is doing real work: a listing presentation, a proposal handed across a desk, a press kit that sits on a table all day. If your folders end up in a box in a stockroom, spend the money on the cards instead.
Folders are also where foil is easiest to ruin, because a folder is mostly folds. Foil cracks along a score, and a pocket folder has a spine score, two pocket scores and glue tabs. Put the raised mark on the front cover only, keep it well clear of the spine, and never run a foil rule across a fold to tie two panels together. The rule will split the first time the folder is opened flat.
Glue is the other constraint. Adhesive does not bond to foil, so the tab areas have to stay bare or the pockets will lift. Our production team flags both of these on the proof, which is the cheapest place to catch them. Compare the effect against the alternatives in embossed versus debossed and spot UV printing before you commit a folder run.
Specs and pricing
Compare the two cards most brands buy first
Flat metallic foil and raised foil are the same film on two different builds, and the price ladders behave differently as quantity climbs. Here are the live specs and price tables for both, straight from the configurator.
| Quantity | Price Per Unit | Total |
|---|---|---|
| 100 | 86.8¢ | $86.78 |
| 250 | 47.9¢ | $119.73 |
| 500 | 37.1¢ | $185.63 |
| 1,000 | 36.1¢ | $361.37 |
| Quantity | Price Per Unit | Total |
|---|---|---|
| 500 | 44.4¢ | $222.13 |
| 1,000 | 26.9¢ | $269.14 |
| 2,500 | 20.2¢ | $504.19 |
| 5,000 | 19.7¢ | $986.04 |
| 10,000 | 16.4¢ | $1,644.19 |
| 15,000 | 14.4¢ | $2,161.30 |
| 20,000 | 13.5¢ | $2,701.94 |
| 25,000 | 13.0¢ | $3,242.54 |
Wally explains why foil mirrors and ink does not
A film on the sheet beats pigment in the sheet
Wally tilts the card so the foil flashes, then tilts a metallic ink card next to it and nothing happens. That is the whole difference. Foil is a metal film pressed onto the paper, ink is pigment soaked into it, and no amount of silver ink will ever throw light back at you. Use foil as an accent on a matte field, keep it clear of folds and address panels, and let 4OVER4 print the five pieces as one matched set.
Shop metallic foil printing →See it in use
Metallic foil cards off our stamping press
Explore more
Where to go next
By the numbers
The stock range that carries a foil stamp
Common Questions
Common questions about metallic foil printing
Is metallic foil the same as metallic ink?
No, and the difference is easy to see in a room with one lamp. Metallic foil is a pigmented film bonded to the sheet under heat and pressure, so it behaves like a mirror and flashes when the paper tilts. Metallic ink is pigment carried in a vehicle that sinks into the paper fibres, so it reads as a warm or cool gray and only hints at shine. Ink prints across a whole sheet cheaply and foil does not, which is why the two are usually used for different jobs on the same piece.
What is the difference between flat foil and raised foil?
Flat foil sits level with the paper surface. Raised foil is the same film laid over a clear polymer layer printed first, so the shape stands above the sheet and a fingernail catches its edge. Raised foil is what people notice in the hand, and flat foil is the safer choice on anything that folds, stacks, gets scanned or goes through mail automation.
Will foil crack if the piece folds?
Yes, if the foil crosses the score. Foil is a film sitting on the surface, and a fold stretches that surface until the film splits along the crease. On pocket folders, greeting cards and anything scored, keep the foil shape entirely on one panel and clear of the fold line. A foil rule running across a fold to join two panels is the single most common way this goes wrong.
Can you write on foil with a pen?
Not reliably. Ballpoint skates across the film without depositing much, and gel and rollerball inks bead up and smear because there is nothing porous to absorb them. Leave a bare patch of stock anywhere someone will write: the back of a business card, the size box on a hangtag, the notes line on a folder.
Do foil postcards mail normally?
They do, as long as the address side stays clear. Keep the address block, the return corner and the barcode zone as bare stock, because a reflective surface under a barcode is hard for a sorting machine to read and a piece that will not scan gets pulled for manual handling. Flat foil on the front is the safe configuration for automation. Save raised foil for pieces you hand over rather than mail.
How do I supply artwork for a foil layer?
Build the foil as its own layer of solid shapes, filled 100 percent black, with no gradients, screens or transparency, because foil is either present or absent and there is no half-strength foil. As a working rule, nothing below 6 pt and no stroke thinner than half a point goes in that layer, since fine serifs and hairlines are the first things to fill in or break up on press. Send the foil layer separately from the CMYK artwork and label it clearly.
Does a big foil area show fingerprints?
It does, and that is the main reason to use foil as an accent rather than a background. A large solid foil panel holds every fingerprint from the bindery onward and shows every speck of dust that settled on the sheet before the film went down. A foiled logo and a foiled rule stay looking sharp through handling. A foiled full-bleed background rarely does.
What does the five-piece metallic foil set cost?
Each piece prices live in its own configurator and the per-unit cost falls as quantity climbs, so the total depends on your run lengths. Starting points at 4OVER4.COM are $86.78 for raised foil business cards, $222.13 for metallic foil business cards, $257.38 for metallic foil hangtags, $421.91 for metallic foil postcards, and $1,037.97 for raised foil pocket folders. Most brands start with the two card products and add the folder once the cards are proven.
Can I run foiled stock through my office laser printer?
Do not. A desktop laser fuses toner with heat and roller pressure, which is exactly the combination that can lift, dull or wrinkle a foil film, and melted film in a fuser is an expensive repair. Anything that needs variable data on a foiled piece should be printed before the foil is applied, or handled as a separate imprint on a bare area of the sheet.
Get Started
Print the foil set as one matched run
Pick your stocks, sizes and quantities at 4OVER4.COM and watch every price update live as you build the order. Order the pieces together and the foil, the paper and the turnaround stay aligned across all five.
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Gold Standard guarantees apply to all standard orders placed through 4over4.com. Price match requires verifiable proof of a competitor's published price for an equivalent product with matching specifications and turnaround time. Satisfaction guarantee covers manufacturing defects and print quality issues. Contact support with order number and documentation. On-time delivery rate based on tracked orders 1999 to 2026. Individual results may vary based on shipping carrier performance.
