Gold edge gilding: foil on the edges instead of the face
A mirror-metallic band running the entire perimeter of the card — the effect a Bible has, or a bespoke book from a bindery. Used well it feels like heraldry.
Pricing — gold edge gilding on 32pt cotton
| Quantity | Per card | Total |
|---|---|---|
| 250 cards | 1,20 $US per card | 299 $US |
| 500 cards | 0,90 $US per card | 449 $US |
| 1,000 cards | 0,70 $US per card | 699 $US |
Prices from our live price list. Free proof, checked by a person, before anything prints.
Gold edge gilding: foil on the edges instead of the face
Edge gilding is what happens when instead of painting the edges of a card, you apply foil to them. The result is a mirror-metallic band running the entire perimeter — the effect a Bible has, or a bespoke book from a bindery, applied to a business card. It's the loudest and most old-world thing we make; used well, it feels like heraldry, used badly, it feels like a Vegas menu.
The process is different from face-side foil stamping. The cards are clamped in a tight stack, the edges are burnished flat, and gold leaf (or a metallic foil equivalent) is heat-transferred onto the exposed edges under pressure. Because it's a stack process, the entire perimeter of every card in the run gets gilded in one pass — which is why the price scales with quantity more forgivingly than face-foil.
Where it works: 32pt cotton is the minimum; on thinner stock the gilded edge is a hairline and the effect is lost. Gold edge gilding on a cream cotton card with a small letterpress monogram on the face is the wedding-invitation-adjacent spec that founders and law firms have been ordering for a hundred years. Silver, copper, and holographic edge gilding are all possible with the same process — silver reads modern-editorial, copper reads warm-craft, holographic reads maximal-fashion. Every gilded run is finished by hand and inspected edge-by-edge; a chipped or uneven gild is the difference between the card looking heirloom and looking cheap, and we'd rather remake one than send a bad one.
Common questions
- How is edge gilding different from painted edges?
- Painted edges are Pantone ink hand-applied to a stack. Edge gilding is metallic foil heat-transferred to the stack under pressure — a fundamentally more premium (and more expensive) process. The result reads as mirror-metallic rather than as color.
- Does the whole card have to be gilded, or just parts?
- The whole perimeter, because it's a stack process — all four edges of every card in the run get gilded in one pass. Partial-edge gilding isn't something the process supports. If you want a partial metallic element, foil-stamping on the face is the right choice.
- Silver or copper or holographic edge gilding — same process?
- Same process, different foil. Silver reads modern-editorial. Copper reads warm-craft. Holographic reads maximal-fashion. Gold is the classic. Every gilded run is inspected edge-by-edge and remade if we find inconsistency — a chipped gild ruins the object.
The next step
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Every painted and gilded edge, priced: painted edge business cards.