Embossing is simply raising the surface of your design so that it has some depth. It’s the real world equivalent to bevel effects and likely derives from relief sculptures—resembling most closely the bas-relief where the depth is perceived as a lot more than is actually there. The word itself is old French, coming from em (into) and boce (protuberance).

As for how it relates to graphic design—embossing has been used as a finish for high end printed products for hundreds of years. It’s a great way to give your design another dimension that print simply cannot do. Emboss can be used by itself or together with foil, coatings or printing.

How it’s Done

Embossing is done by pressing a sheet of paper (or other substrate) into a female die, that has a design engraved or etched into it. This is usually done with a male counterpart underneath the paper, so that the paper is sandwiched between the two and the design is transferred to the paper.

Although embossing seems to be quite deep visually, it is commonly no more than 15 microns and at most, 25 microns. That’s 25 thousands of an inch. Your average emboss is about 1/64th of an inch. You can see in this photo how the depth of an emboss die affects the appearance of the final piece. Note that as the depth of the die increases, there’s a higher chance of the paper tearing (as can be seen in the “D” of “guide”).

While embossing technically refers to a raised surface, embossing can also be done to create a depressed design in a surface. In the graphic design and printing industry, this is usually referred to as “deboss.” For a deboss, the male and female dies are switched so that the topside (front) of the sheet is pressed with the male die and the female die sits underneath it. When a deboss is registered to printing, one can create the appearance of engraving.

For the most part, presses that do embossing are interchangeable with presses that do foiling. Both processes require a lot of pressure and, for certain effects, a heated plate. Moreover, foiling and embossing are most often done together and so it makes sense to have a machine that can handle both.