PAD PRINTING

Pad printing is a highly versatile indirect printing technology that allows for the simple, high-fidelity, and high-resolution reproduction of designs, lettering, and decorations on both flat and concave, convex, or otherwise irregular surfaces.

Pad printing is an indirect technology that transfers 2D images and graphics to 3D objects and surfaces using a soft, flexible pad, usually made of silicone. A film of indelible ink is transferred from an engraved steel or photopolymer plate (pad printing plate) to the substrate surface.

The printing surface can also be non-planar thanks to the soft printing pad, which easily adapts to the various shapes it is pressed onto.

Pad printing is often the most suitable, and sometimes the only, technique for printing on non-flat surfaces and objects, while also achieving excellent results even on flat surfaces.

Pad printing has a wide range of applications, but is primarily used for printing on small, rigid and semi-rigid substrates.

Pad printing is particularly popular when multicolor printing is required in a single cycle, where rapid drying is essential (on automatic lines, near injection molding machines), and where the highest print quality is desired.

HOW PAD PRINTING WORKS

Pad printing is an indirect printing technology that allows for 2D and/or 3D printing of graphics, text, and decorations on objects of any shape and size, with extreme practicality and extremely high resolution.

Pad printing's distinctive feature is its ability to print with excellent quality on both flat and irregular surfaces, including concave, convex, or irregular surfaces. The process is very simple: the image or text to be reproduced is engraved on a cliché, a simple polymer or metal plate.

During the printing process, the surface of the cliché is cyclically inked and then cleaned, so that the ink remains only on the engraved area that creates the image to be printed.

A silicone rubber pad is then pressed onto the plate to pick up a small amount of ink. It is then pressed onto the object to be printed, releasing the ink evenly and printing the design onto the object.

The pad material is silicone-based and is chosen based on the surface material, the shape of the surface, and the specifics of the component being printed. It is also made with an ink-repellent material, which is essential for ensuring the ink transfers perfectly to the object's surface and does not stick to the pad.

Pad printing is a particularly versatile technology that allows the same equipment to be reused even on different objects, allowing us to serially reproduce multiple designs on a wide variety of objects, even of different sizes.

The fields of application are very broad; simply by looking around, we can easily see that practically every object has some image or text printed on it. Some examples include:

Packaging such as cosmetic bottles
Bathroom or household products
Sporting goods
Technology products
Ceramic plates

HOW TO CHOOSE THE RIGHT PADPRINTING MACHINE

A first general classification distinguishes pad printing machines into the following categories:

Machine without a base
Machine with a base

Pad printing machines without a base are more compact, sometimes fitting on a table or small workbench, and are used for small prints, typically in one or two colors. Pad printing machines with a base are larger and equipped with a support base, capable of printing up to six colors.

Our pad printing machines are electro-pneumatically operated, offering considerable durability and virtually maintenance-free operation. For effective use, it's important to carefully select consumables, such as plates, pads, and inks.

ABOUT PADS and CLICHE'

CLICCHES are metal or polymer plates (green or red) onto which the design to be printed is engraved.

Polymers are photosensitive, so the photoengraving process is performed with ultraviolet light: a transparent film pre-printed with the design or text to be printed is placed on the plate, and the plate is exposed to UV light. Since the plate is photosensitive, the part exposed to light becomes rigid, while the part covered by the graphic is still photosensitive and sensitive to alcohol. To develop the design, simply wash the entire plate with an alcohol-based solution and a special brush. At the end of this process, the engraved design will be in bas-relief so that a thin layer of ink can penetrate the groove of the design to be impressed by the pad.

In general, steel plates, if properly stored and maintained, can last up to a million uses, but have slightly lower definition. For this reason, we will use metal clichés to print a very large quantity of prints in series, with a single design or a few elements that are not particularly complex from a graphic point of view.

We recommend a polypropylene plate when you need to create a plate with a detailed or high-quality design, perhaps requiring extreme precision and definition.

PADS are the element that, in the pad printing process, transfers the design from the plate to the object being decorated. Therefore, it is important that the pad is specifically designed to fit the shape of the surface of the object being printed. Pad printing pads are made of silicone—synthetic elastomers—polymers with a highly elastic structure that allow the pad to adhere completely to the object being printed.

This ensures the image is transferred precisely and cleanly to the surface: all the ink does not bind to the silicone but, in theory, is completely transferred to the object.

Of course, the pads have shapes and sizes specifically designed to perfectly adapt to the type of object to ensure optimal print quality.

A pointed pad is best suited for flat surfaces and allows for the elimination of air bubbles during ink pickup, which would compromise the quality of the printed image. A rounded pad is recommended for curved or irregular surfaces because it conforms better to the object.

Another useful factor to consider is the pad's hardness: the harder the pad, the longer it will last and the sharper the print definition.

A softer pad, on the other hand, is used for large, fragile objects that would otherwise be damaged, or objects with a pronounced curvature.