Foil vs Standard Prints: How Our Foiled Keepsakes Are Made

If you have looked at our prints, you have probably noticed that some come in a foiled finish and some come as a standard print. People often ask us which one to pick, and whether the foil is worth the difference. So here is an honest look at how the two compare, how we actually make a foiled keepsake in our Hessle studio, and when each one is the better choice.

We are Lee and Sam, and we make both. Neither is better than the other in every case. A standard print is clean, colourful and easy to live with. A foiled print swaps printed colour for real metallic foil that catches the light. What follows should help you choose the right one for the person and the occasion.

What a standard print is

A standard print is exactly what it sounds like. Your names, dates or lyrics are printed onto quality card in full colour, so you can have any shade you like in the artwork. Illustrations, soft watercolour backgrounds and photographs all sit happily on a standard print, because the colour is part of the print itself. It is the right pick when the design leans on colour, like our illustrated family prints or a photo-led keepsake.

Standard prints also tend to be the lower-priced option, which matters when you are buying for a few people at once. The artwork still gets the same care, the same proof before we print, and the same solid-wood UK frame if you add one.

What a foiled print is, and how we make it

Foiling is a different process. Instead of printing the metallic parts in colour, we press real foil onto the card using heat. The foil bonds only where the lettering or artwork sits, so the words themselves become metallic and reflective. Move the print under a lamp or a window and the foil shifts and shines in a way a printed gold never can.

Because the foil is a physical layer rather than printed colour, a foiled design is usually set on a plain card so the metal does the talking. That is why our foiled keepsakes come on white, black or navy card, with the foil colour chosen separately. Our Personalised Family Heart Connections Foiled Print is a good example. It starts at £10 for an A5 print, £17 framed in white or black, and shows off the foil beautifully because the background is kept simple.

The foil colours you can choose

This is the part people enjoy most. We stock over 30 foil shades, so the same design can feel completely different depending on what you pick. A few of them:

• Gold metallic and silver metallic, the classic choices that suit almost any occasion.

• Rose-gold holographic, soft and popular for weddings and new-baby keepsakes.

• Copper, emerald and teal metallic, warmer and richer for something a bit different.

• Rainbow glitter and holographic foils, playful, and a favourite for children's prints.

One honest tip, and it is the same advice we give every customer. If you choose a black card, a dark foil can be hard to read, so a brighter shade like gold, silver or rose-gold shows up far better. We will always flag it on your proof if we think a combination will not read well.

Foiled quotes, lyrics and soundwaves

Foil suits words you want to keep. Our Personalised Foiled Song Lyric Print turns a line that means something into metallic lettering, with a choice of fonts (Avocado, Backlash, Kind Avenue and Serathine) and any foil shade you like. It starts at £14 for an A5 print and £18 framed. A first-dance line, a favourite lyric or a few words someone always says all work well.

If the person is more into the song itself than the words, a foiled soundwave print takes the shape of a recorded message or a track and sets it in foil. It is a quieter, more graphic keepsake, and it pairs nicely with a lyric print as a set. There is more on the music side in our guide to personalised Spotify lyric prints.

Foiled tickets and reveal keepsakes

Foil is not only for wall prints. Our foiled tickets make a small gift feel like an occasion. The Personalised Gig and Concert Foiled Ticket is designed like a real ticket stub, with your photo and a foil finish, and starts at £10 with a foil colour added for £1. We make foiled driving-lesson vouchers, theatre tickets and scratch-reveal tickets the same way, so a surprise trip or a big present gets a keepsake to open first.

How to choose between them

• Pick a standard print when the design relies on colour, a photo or a soft illustrated background.

• Pick a foiled print when the words are the point, or you want something that catches the light on a shelf or mantelpiece.

• Buying for several people? Standard prints keep the cost down. One foiled piece makes a lovely centrepiece.

The bits that are the same either way

Whichever finish you choose, the rest of how we work does not change. Every order is made to order here in Hessle (HU13). We send you a proof to check before anything is printed or foiled, so you can fix a spelling or move a date before it is final. Frames are solid wood, made in the UK, in black, white or grey, with a 1.2mm acrylic front rather than glass, which is a sensible safety feature if the print is going in a nursery or a child's room.

One thing to keep in mind. Because everything is personalised to you, our prints are non-returnable for a change of mind, so the proof stage is there to make sure you are happy before we press a single sheet of foil.

You can see the full foiled range in our Foiled Art and Foil Gifts collections, the ticket keepsakes in Foiled Tickets, and if you are gift-hunting more broadly, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him and our Best Sellers are a good place to start. Still not sure which finish suits your idea? Message us and we will tell you honestly.