Finishing processes can add texture and depth to your printed piece. Foil stamping and embossing are two popular finishing techniques. If you've admired annual report covers, pocket folders, stationery products, announcement cards, calendars, or book jackets, chances are that your eye is being drawn to the finishing touch, which just might be foil stamped or embossed.

For this column, I interviewed a local expert. Jay Smith is President of Matheson Higgins/Congress Press (http://www.mhcp.com.) in Woburn, MA. Thanks for shining a light on finishing, Jay!

Finishers are not commercial printers; they're specialists who take printed materials from a printer and perform one of several processes to the materials, giving them additional impact and beauty. As Jay's Web site states, "We gild the lily!" If your print job requires foil stamping or embossing, your printer will work with a graphic arts finisher.

Sometimes called leaf stamping, foil stamping is the process of applying a pigment to paper or plastic. Most of the pigments (and there are hundreds of colors and patterns) are of bright metallic finish, but there are also satin metallics, gloss and matte pigments, pastels, pearls - and even holographic foils. The foils, or pigments, come on rolls and are applied to the sheet of paper on a stamping press using a die, heat, and pressure.

Are there many kinds of foil stamping, I wondered? A flat foil stamp is the most common, Jay noted, although there's also a combination stamp, in which the foiled image is raised.

The embossing process, on the other hand, always adds dimension, since it raises an image on the surface of the paper. (You can do the opposite, too, called a deboss.)

Both stamping and embossing are done on presses that are very different from offset printing presses. The image to be stamped or embossed is transferred to a die, which is heated on press at temperatures ranging from 200 to 350 degrees. The die comes in contact with the paper at 10 to 150 tons of pressure.

Because so much pressure is being applied to a thin material, it's critical that the die hits the paper evenly in all areas. Too much pressure in stamping will leave an impression on the back of the sheet. And too much pressure in embossing will cause the paper to crack. It's the job of the press person to apply just the right amount of pressure.

Blind embossing creates a raised impression on a blank sheet of paper, not over a printed image, although you can emboss over a printed image, which is harder to do and more expensive.

Many people think that there's only one level of embossing, when in fact, there are many, as Jay explained. A single-level emboss, the most common, raises the whole image to the same level. A multi-level emboss raises the image to distinct multiple levels (usually two to four). Picture your corporate logo inside a box, where the logo's embossed at one level and the box at another. That's a multi-level emboss.

There's more! Sculptured or modeled embossing has many, many levels, but none are distinct. One example would be embossing a person's face or a building. These embossing dies are modeled by hand and are the most expensive.

You should also know that there are many different types of edges for an embossing die, including rounded, beveled, or straight.

Is paper choice critical? Absolutely! Certain stocks limit the depth of the emboss or the sharpness of the foil edges. Jay says that coated stocks are great for stamping. Their smooth surface allows the foil to break cleanly, producing crisp edges and the ability to hold fine detail. But the results are different when embossing. Because of a coated stock's hard clay surface, the embossing may crack or break through.

The stock's thickness also plays a key role. The thicker the stock, the deeper the emboss, and the less likely the image will show through the back of the sheet when stamping as well. Jay's firm likes to have a sheet of the actual stock when making a die for a customer.

You can see a proof of stamping or embossing before your job is actually run. It can get expensive if the finisher sets up your die on the press to make a proof. An alternative is to stamp or emboss the actual paper with a die that's currently on a press (someone else's die), so that you can see how the foil or embossing will look. Usually there's no charge to do this. Then when your job runs, you should do a press check.

Are there common mistakes that consumers make when specifying stamping or embossing? "I think the biggest problem is when we are unable to meet their expectations," Jay noted. "When we're involved early in the process, it really helps eliminate any problems."

Be sure to show your finisher your layout and design when requesting estimates. Finishing processes, like everything else in printing, are not 'push-button simple.' They're complex specialties. You're creating something beautiful, so meet the builder early!