Pad printing / Pad printing

Who among us doesn't use a pen or pencil at least once a day, grabbing an easy-to-find keychain, or glancing at the clock while searching for a key? Such simple activities can prove to be excellent advertising opportunities for various businesses. How is this possible? Simply displaying a company logo on various everyday items is sufficient. Car windows, vehicle interior panels, bottle labels, household appliance casings, and, in the medical industry, syringes, injectors, and pens are all excellent places for this type of print. This way, the brand will become ingrained in consumers' minds, evoking positive associations. Furthermore, it will also evoke associations with indispensability and utility, which are desired goals for many companies. So how can you personalize consumer-appealing gadgets? One effective way to brand various items with your logo is pad printing.

What is pad printing?

Pad printing is a popular indirect printing technique in which the image is transferred from a matrix to the target substrate using a silicone pad. Technically, it's called a printing pad. This method doesn't require significant financial outlay and follows a strictly defined procedure. Printing requires a pad printer, i.e., a pad printing machine, a pad, the aforementioned pad, and the ink itself. It's worth noting that this technique is quick and works on many surfaces. Initially, the most important thing is proper preparation of the pad. The design is printed on a slide film. It's placed on a photosensitive plate. This plate is then placed in an imagesetter. This creates grooves consistent with the printed and desired design. Later in the printing process, the ink is incorporated into the prints, which the pad will ultimately transfer to the object. The finished pad is then transferred to the pad printer. A suitable pad is selected for its size (and therefore the size of the entire design). The next step is to coat the pad with ink. Excess ink is removed from the pad printing matrix by a ring, which is part of the inkwell, moving across its surface. This ring is typically made of ceramic, metal, or plastic. The pad is then pressed against the matrix so that the ink with the design is transferred to it, and from there, to the printed substrate. After this, the stamp is pressed against the object being printed. As you might imagine, a crucial factor in this technique is the appropriate selection of ink for the gadget being marked. Keller offers its clients solvent-based and UV-curable inks for pad printing. This makes the print virtually indelible from the gadget. Pad printing inks are created based on RAL and Pantone color charts.

Where can pad printing be used?

Pad printing works well on a wide variety of surfaces – especially uneven or irregular ones. It's ideal for marking items like pens, pencils, car parts, keychains, watches, toys, stress relievers, household appliance components and panels, tablets, lozenges, and dragees (using special food-grade inks). It's also used on interior design elements (e.g., moldings, furniture finials) and medical accessories (syringes, pens, and injectors). In short, any item many people use practically every day. However, many people interested in using this technique to mark corporate gadgets wonder about the durability of the print on various surfaces. In this case, everything depends, among other things, on the printing ink used. When choosing the type of ink, it's important to consider the material being printed. If chosen correctly, the signage can be easily and permanently applied to glass, rubber, metal, plastic, or even wood surfaces. The range of products available for promoting your company is therefore very wide, which definitely speaks in favor of pad printing.

What is the quality of pad printing?

Logos applied using pad printing are legible, clear, and perfectly reproduce the original appearance of the graphic. However, their quality depends on three basic factors. First, it's crucial to choose the right pad for the material being printed on. Most silicone pads are round or rectangular, but some are also shaped like a strip. Pads can have flat or convex printing surfaces. A certain rule applies to the marking process. For printing on flat objects, it's recommended to use pads with a smaller apex angle. For marking various types of convexity, it's better to use pads with a significantly larger printing angle. It's also worth remembering that the harder the pad, the better the results. However, this type of stamp cannot be used on machines with low pressure or when printing on very delicate items. It's worth noting that Keller has its own pad printing workshop, where our customers can order models in any shape, hardness, and other personalized parameters. More information can be found at: PRINTING PAD CATALOG. Another important issue is a properly prepared print matrix. The third and final step is selecting the right ink for the surface being printed. All of this influences the final result. It's worth noting, however, that pad printing works well on very difficult surfaces, and the quality of this method satisfies a wide range of users.

Pad printing – advantages of the printing method

Several advantages of pad printing include: The low cost of the service plays a significant role. Pad printing is suitable for both large and small businesses just entering the market and not wanting to invest large sums of money in company promotion. Another advantage is the high quality of the original reproduction. This is especially important for those with small graphic elements in their logos. Using pad printing ensures that these will be accurately reflected on various types of gadgets. Another advantage is the wide range of products that can be branded. Gadgets made of glass, plastic, metal, wood, rubber, or fabrics such as eco-leather pose no problem. This allows you to choose promotional products that reflect your company's business and easily apply your logo. The high efficiency of this technique is also crucial. Over 1000 different gadgets can be branded per hour, which translates into effective promotion of a given company or event in a very short time. In crisis situations, this is often crucial.

Printable area

It's important to consider the operation of the pad printing machine itself and the specifics of this technique. Primarily, this concerns the marking area. The maximum print area is typically around 70 x 20 mm for oblong prints and 50 x 50 mm for square prints. However, Keller machine designers, by designing equipment specifically for the customer and their production line, are able to create a field significantly exceeding the typical print area.