Aluminium foil foil rolling mills to the desired thickness, or by continuously casting and cold rolling. To maintain a constant thickness in aluminium foil production, beta radiation is passed through the foil to a sensor on the other side. If the intensity becomes too high, then the rollers adjust, increasing the thickness. If the intensities become too low and the foil has become too thick, the rollers apply more pressure, causing the foil to be made thinner. The continuous casting method is much less energy intensive and has become the preferred process. For thicknesses below , two layers are usually put together
Cold foil printing spools from an unwind and is nipped to a substrate. Foil sticks to the tacky adhesive on the substrate, and an image with a bright foil surface is created. Foil that does not adhere to the adhesive remains on a thin polyester liner, and waste is directed to a rewind spool. Because the adhesive is applied on press like a conventional ink, no expensive stamping die has to be created. Once printed, the surface of cold foil images may be varnished, laminated, or encapsulated in order to provide a hard-wearing, durable surface. Some printing substrates are unsuitable for cold foil