Pad printing makes it possible to print a company logo on an arched or round surface of an item, e.g. a Flash Memory Pen. It is also often used for customization of high capacities.
Pad printing is commonly used to print on items do hardly allow customization with other printing processes: keyboards, display panels in cars, sports articles like your golf clubs, toys... Whenever you see a printing on a surface which is not plain, be assured this was done with pad printing.
How does it work?
Pad printing is a so-called indirect gravure printing process. The logo or artwork which is supposed to appear on the item will be etched on a printing plate. For each colour there is a separate metal plate made.
During the process the engraved parts of the plate will be filled up with the ink. The silicone pad - which gives the whole process its name - will pick up the ink from the plate and transfer it to the item.
This silicone pad is very flexible and can have different shapes, depending on the form and surface of the product. This flexibility of the pad is the whole magic of the process because it allows to transfer the image from the plain plate to a convex item.
The pad printing process can be automated and our production facilities use pad printing machines for fast printing and an accurate high quality result.
