Aluminium foil Aluminium foil Aluminium foil (or aluminum foil), often referred to with the misnomer tin foil, is aluminium prepared in thin metal leaves with a thickness less than ; thinner gauges down to are also commonly used. In the United States, foils are commonly gauged in thousandths of an inch or mils. Standard household foil is typically thick, and heavy duty household foil is typically . The foil is pliable, and can be readily bent or wrapped around objects. Thin foils are fragile and are sometimes laminated to other materials such as plastics or paper to make them more useful. Aluminium
Cold foil printing transfer. The best results are obtained on glossy coated papers and papers with a smooth surface. Weights from about 80 to 500 g/m^2 are possible. The process does not require stamping tools, but instead uses printing plates, which are cheaper and can be made in a few hours. In contrast, delivery time for an engraved or etched stamping tool can be up to two weeks. More importantly for the designer, gradients and halftone images can be introduced. Cold foil evolved from hot foil stamping. Hot foil stamping is mostly used offline when foil is required on a preprinted substrate, such