Shaping the printed film is a key stage in producing three-dimensional decorated plastics components using Film Insert Molding FIM. In particular, there are two processes - available to the processor - Thermoforming and High pressure forming HPF. The latter method was developed by Bayermaterialscience and involves the film being formed below the softening temperature using compressed air at a pressure of 20 to 300 bars.

If the printed symbols need to be positioned wiht high accuracy, the HPF process is at an advantage since distortion is constant and can be compensated by disortion printing. If matt and velvet films are beeing processed, HPF is preferable too as the texture suffers damage through heat, and the film becomes glossy. Thermoforming allows a greater degree of stretching and improved forming precision, especially in the corners of the component. It is therefore particularly attractive for large-format components, where decorative features do not need to be positioned with pinpoint accuracy.