During hot stamping, often also called stamping foil printing, prefabricated printed images are transferred to the plastic to be decorated using pressure and heat. The embossing film consists of an adhesive layer tailored to the substrate for optimal adhesion, the decorative color layer, the protective varnish, the thin separating layer for removing the color system from the carrier film and finally the carrier film for transferring the layers to the molded part.

Possible designs include partial or full-surface metallization, semi-transparent and opaque colors next to each other, raster images, color gradients, holograms and structures. A distinction can be made between endless films and films with individual image decorations. The printed image is transferred using a heated embossing tool under pressure and temperature. At the contact points between the embossing tool and the molded part, the color and protective layer separates from the carrier film and bonds to the substrate.