Print & finish3 min readUpdated Nov 13, 2026

Embossing and debossing

Run a finger over a logo and feel it rise from the board, or sink into it. No ink does that: the board itself is pressed into a new shape, with or without print on top.

How the relief is made

Two matching tools, made for your design, squeeze the board between them under high pressure. One carries the shape, the other its mirror image. Pushed up from behind, the design stands out: that is embossing. Pressed in from the front, it sinks: debossing.

The relief can be one flat level, several levels, or a rounded, sculpted shape. The more levels and detail, the more the tools cost.

Blind, registered or with foil

• Blind: no ink and no foil, only the shape and its shadow. Nothing has to line up with the print.
• Registered: the relief sits exactly on a printed shape, such as a logo, so print and relief match.
• With foil: hot foilHot foil stamping A heated metal die presses a thin metal foil onto the board in the shape of your design. The brightest shine of the foils. and the emboss go on in one pass, so the shine sits exactly on the raised shape. Foil stamping explains the foil.

When the pack is also printed, coated or laminatedLamination A thin plastic film bonded over the print, gloss, matte or soft touch. It protects better than any liquid coat., the emboss usually comes last.

Which board holds a crisp relief

Any paperboardPaperboard Thin, stiff board in one solid sheet, well under a millimetre thick. It folds cleanly and takes fine print: the board of shop shelves. can be embossed, but not every board holds the shape equally well. It has to stretch without cracking and then keep its new shape. Strong, fully bleached board such as SBS gives the deepest, cleanest relief. Thicker board allows a deeper shape. Recycled board needs more pressure and wears the tools faster, and a glossy coat can crack on a sharp edge.

The tools are made for one board and one thickness. Choose the board first and give your printer a sample of it.

Set up the artwork

Draw the relief as artwork of its own: solid vector shapes on a layer of their own, exactly where the relief should be. Our PDF has no layer for it, so add yours next to your artwork layer and leave the dieline layers in. Your printer has the tools made from that drawing.

Give letters room around them, and leave out thin lines and delicate serifs. Ask your printer how fine a detail their tools can press.

Mind the folds and the back

Embossing stretches the board, so keep the relief away from the green dashed creasesCrease A fold line pressed into board so it bends cleanly, also called a score. Dashed green on our dielines. on your dieline. Keep it clear of the cut edge too, and ask your printer how close it may come.

The relief also shows on the back: a raised logo on the lid is a hollow on the inside. Inside a box that rarely matters, but on a piece people see from both sides, such as a hang tag, plan the back around it.

The 3D view in the editor shows a flat board, so it won't show the relief. Ask for a sample on your real board.

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