Foil Stamped & Embossed Pocket Folders: What's The Difference?

The difference between embossed and foil stamped folders is fairly simple: embossed imprints are raised up from the paper, foil stamped imprints are pushed down.

But there are so many nuances to these pocket folder personalization techniques!

What’s a foil stamped pocket folder?

First, let’s look at the foil. The foil we use for stamping pocket folders is a super thin strip of metal that’s wound up on a roll.

Two rolls of gold foil on a table, one metallic, one less shiny — The foil comes in rolls like this. On the left is Metallic Gold, on the right is Satin Gold.

To foil stamp a folder, the foil unrolls a little at a time, and the machine stamps the imprinting plate down on the foil, onto the folder. The combination of heat and pressure adhere the imprint to the pocket folder.

Copper stamping plate with foil stamped gray pocket folder. — The imprint on the plate is backwards; it stamps down on the unrolled foil onto the pocket folder.

How to choose between metallic and non-metallic foils

Part of this depends on the paper you choose. While metallic foils look great on any color of paper, our non-metallic foils look best on white or ivory paper stock.

We imprint with both non-metallic (left) and metallic foils (right).

What’s an embossed pocket folder?

With embossing, you have two plates: one with the logo the “right” way, one with it the “wrong” way (wrong as in backwards). The right plate is set underneath the pocket folder, with the wrong above it. The plates are stamped together, pushing the imprint up, creating the raised effect.

In the image below, the “right” plate is the translucent plastic piece with the black design. The copper plate is the “wrong” way; it pushes down onto the plastic plate.

We primarily create blind embossed pocket folders, like what’s shown here. Blind embossing is simply pushing the imprint into the folder. You see the logo raised up, but it’s simply the color of the paper.

It’s simple, it’s subtle, it’s classic.

Blue pocket folder with two embossing plates. One plate is copper, the other is semitranslucent plastic.

We can also emboss with printing or foil stamping. Please contact us for details.

Need help deciding what kind of custom folder you need?

Hi, we’re Easy Pocket Folders. As the name implies, we know pocket folders! And we’re here to help you out. If you want to do a little more research on your own, check out these educational resources:

If you’d rather talk to someone, you can send a message or call us at (800) 346-3063.