metal-leaf embossing (Q1275)

Creating a metallic embossed pattern or letters on a paper by pressing a heated engraved metal plate, usually made of brass and with either a positive or negative design, into the paper in a press. The paper is first covered with metal leaf, usually alloys of a base metal, and then placed on a felt or a soft support to be embossed in a copperplate printing press with the heated engraved plates which create a slight embossing in the paper and a metallic decorative pattern. With a positive plate, the metal leaf only remains in the depressions created by the plate, which therefore leaves a positive metal pattern (when the motif such as a flower is in metal); with a negative plate, the metal leaf becomes the background to a design which is revealed in the colour of the paper.