Issues When Foiling and How to Combat Them
锡箔打印时应注意的问题及如何解决

In this post, I'll talk about a few common issues that I've experienced when foiling and how I've learned to combat them! Quick disclaimer: I won't be covering every way this process can go wrong, only the issues I've personally encountered and know how to deal with. If you are having a hard time getting this process to work, I recommended experimenting on your own with different products, methods etc. It's totally normal to come across issues along the way, trust me I've struggled for years to get the best results possible! The key is just to keep practicing and experimenting until you find the best combination that works for you!

在这篇文章中，我将谈论一些我在锡箔打印时经历过的常见问题，以及我是如何学会克服它们的！ 快速免责声明: 我不会涵盖这个过程可能出错的每一个方面，只是我个人遇到的问题和知道如何处理。 如果你在这个过程中遇到困难，我建议你用不同的产品、方法等自己试验一下。 在这个过程中遇到问题是完全正常的，相信我，多年来我一直在努力得到尽可能好的结果！ 关键是不断的练习和尝试，直到你找到最适合你的组合！

1) Foil is creasing

1)箔纸有折痕

This is definitely the most common issue, especially if you are using a normal laminator. The quickest way to combat this issue is to purchase the Heidi Swapp minc machine. It is specially designed for this process and comes with a protective sleeve meaning the foil will never crease.

这绝对是最常见的问题，特别是如果您使用正常的层压机。 解决这个问题最快的方法是购买 Heidi Swapp minc 机器。 它是专门为这一过程设计，并带有一个保护性的套筒意味着铝箔永远不会折痕。

If you don't have $100 laying around however, here's what I do when using my laminator. First, make sure to use a straight edge of the foil on the side of the print that is going into the laminator first, and line up the edge as close as possible to the printed portion. This way, the foil will melt to the toner immediately and is less likely to move around with going through. Next, smooth out the foil as much as possible. I like to use the back of my hand to do this.

如果你没有100美元，这里是我在使用我的层压机时所做的。 首先，确保在印刷部分的侧面使用直边，然后在边缘尽可能靠近印刷部分的地方排列。 这样，铝箔会立即融化到调色剂上，而且不太可能随着调色剂的移动而移动。 接下来，尽可能的平滑铝箔。 我喜欢用我的手背来做这个。

Finally, for whatever reason I find that holding the paper up slightly so that it is parallel to the laminator while it goes through works wonders to stop creasing. I simply place my hand under the print as it goes through to hold it up a bit.

最后，不管出于什么原因，我发现把纸稍稍举起来，使它与层压机平行，当它穿过时，可以创造奇迹来防止压痕。 我只是简单地把我的手放在打印机下面，当纸穿过去的时候，把它举起来一点。

These tips will help decrease the percentage of prints that will crease, however the only way to stop it entirely is to purchase the minc machine. I rarely get creased prints anymore, but it does still happen from time to time. Unfortunately, mess ups are just a part of this process, but these tips will help decrease them!

这些小技巧有助于减少折痕的几率，但彻底解决折痕的办法，还是购买 minc 机器。 我现在很少出现折痕了，但这种情况还是时有发生。 不幸的是，一团糟仍然不可完全避免，但是这些小贴士会帮助你减少它们！

2) Spotty Coverage 2)斑点覆盖

If you are getting black dots/ imperfect coverage on your prints, there are a few reasons this could be happening. The main reason boils down to not enough heat is reaching the toner. This could be because your laminator is not hot enough, your paper is too thick, or its not being exposed to heat long enough. I can only speak from experience, but I get the best results on the Amazon laminator using the 5 mm setting, and the minc machine using setting 4. If you are experiencing this problem, you can try increasing the temperature or running the print through your heat source more than once.

如果你的照片上有黑点 / 不完美的覆盖，这种情况可能发生的原因有几个。 归根结底，主要原因是没有足够的热量到达墨粉。 这可能是因为你的层压机不够热，你的纸太厚，或者它没有暴露在热足够长的时间。 我只能从经验来说，但我得到了最好的结果在亚马逊层压机使用5毫米设置，和 minc 机使用设置4。 如果您遇到这个问题，您可以尝试增加温度或多次打印通过您的热源。

This can also happen when using textured paper. The best results will happen with smooth card stock. Moreover, for whatever reason some brands of card stock just do not perform as well. Try switching up the brand of paper you use and see if that helps!

这也可能发生在使用纹理纸。 所以最好使用光滑的卡片。 此外，不管出于什么原因，一些牌子的卡片就是表现不佳。 试着改变你使用的纸的品牌，看看是否有帮助！

Finally, this can happen if your printer does not use monochrome laser toner. I have very little knowledge of printers and how they work, so my best advice if this is the case is to try out a few different print shops and see if the results are better. In my experience, Lexmark laser printers have always worked great for me, so if you are considering purchasing a printer for this process I would definitely recommend a Lexmark printer.

最后，如果你的打印机使用的不是单色激光墨粉，这种情况就会发生。 我对打印机及其工作原理知之甚少，所以如果是这种情况，我最好的建议是尝试几家不同的打印店，看看效果是否更好。 根据我的经验，我使用利盟激光打印机的结果都很不错，所以如果你考虑购买打印机用于这个过程，我肯定会推荐利盟打印机。

3) Black specs 3)黑色块

If there are any dust particles, crumbs, a piece of hair etc. on your print before foiling, it will leave a rather annoying black spec on the design. This is pretty easy to avoid, I like to just blow on the print before putting the foil on!

如果有任何灰尘粒子，面包屑，一块头发在您的纸上，它会在图案上留下一个相当恼人的黑色块。 这很容易避免，只是在打印前，把这些吹干净！

4) Flaking foil 4)剥箔

If you are foiling a design with a lot of small details, you may experience little flakes of foil that don't fully get removed when peeling. I combat this by waiting to peel the foil until the print has fully cooled down (around 5 minutes). I do this with designs that have a lot of small detail that I know will have this issue. I've also found that different foil colors will leave flakes more often. For example, iridescent foil almost always leaves flakes behind.

如果你的设计中有很多细节，你可能会遇到一些箔片，在剥皮的时候没有完全去掉。 我的解决方式是，等待剥离箔，直到打印完全冷却下来(约5分钟)。 如果我做有很多小细节的图案，我知道将有这个问题。 我还发现，有些颜色的铝箔会更容易地留下薄片。 例如，彩色箔几乎总是会留下薄片。

If you have already peeled and notice foil flakes on the print, fear not! The print is not ruined, it just means you need to gently wipe them away. I like tap with a tissue or use a cotton swap to remove these little flakes and voila, good as new!

如果你已经去皮，并注意到印刷上的箔片，不要担心！ 印刷没有被毁坏，只是你需要轻轻地擦掉它们。 我喜欢用纸巾轻拍或者用棉花扫来去除这些小碎片，瞧，就像新的一样！

I hope you guys found this helpful! Like I said above, these are all just issues I have. You may encounter entirely new problems that I haven't. The main advice I can give you is to just keep playing around with different methods and products until you find what works for you!

我希望你们能从中受益！ 就像我上面说的，这些都是我的问题。 你可能会遇到我没有遇到的全新问题。 我能给你的主要建议就是继续尝试不同的方法和产品，直到你找到适合你的！

Thanks for reading,

谢谢你的阅读,

Jessica 杰西卡