Pad printing is a printing method that involves transferring a design to a 3-dimensional object using a silicone pad. The process involves etching the design onto a metal plate and coating it with ink. Then, the pad is compressed onto the plate to pick up the ink, and finally onto the object to transfer the design. Pad printing is commonly used for printing on curved, irregular, or uneven surfaces, such as golf balls, pens, toys, and electronic devices. It is a popular printing technique for industrial manufacturers and promotional product companies.

The process starts with creating a printing plate or as known in the industry as a “cliché”, which is a 1:1 image of the design to be printed. Clichés can be made from short run photo-polymer material or chemically etched onto hard steel material.  They can also be laser engraved into special laser clichés.  The etched printing plate is flooded with ink and the excess ink is wiped off using a sharp edged ink cup and the ink remains only in the etched design area. The silicone pad then lifts up the ink from the printing plate and transfers it onto your product.

Pad printing is perhaps the only printing methods that can print excellent detailed images onto unique surfaces such as a golf ball or even a walnut.  It also excels at printing onto textured plastic surfaces and smooth surfaces alike.  This unique ability to print irregular shaped products is because the printing pad is made from soft RTV silicone material, and it can flex and move around a curved surface or a recessed surface.  Pad printing can print very fine text down to 3 or 4pt typefaces. Because of the thin layer ink deposit (around .001”) pad printing inks are specially formulated with 4 times the amount of pigment vs. a screen printing ink.  Furthermore, with pad printing, you can print multi colors on a product without having to cure the ink in between each color.

• Versatility: Pad printing can be used on a wide range of substrate materials including hundreds of various plastic materials, metals (anodized aluminum, powder coated steel), glass, silicone and ceramics to name a few. Pad printing can print on flat, round, convex or concave shaped parts.
• Accuracy: With high quality pad printing equipment (such as our microPrint brand of Swiss Precision machinery), the pad printing process is very accurate and delivers tight color to color and artwork repeatability. Typically, color to color registration would be ± .002” and repeatable placement of the image on the part ± .002” (with a quality nesting fixture and accurate parts).
• Durability: The inks used in pad printing is highly resistant to abrasion, chemicals and sunlight fading. Pad printing inks are available is 1 component solvent based inks, 2 component solvent based inks and UV cured pad printing ink formulation (still contains some solvent to get the graphics to transfer onto the part).

Limitations for pad printing are typically found when attempting to print very large images. Any image larger than 150mm diameter (5.9”) can be problematic and such sized images are perhaps better suited for screen printing or digital printing solutions. You can go beyond these size limitations if you utilize a transverse cup slide device to print longer images. But this is not always ideal, and you should consult with the experts at (714) 639-DECO to discuss your specific needs and project. Transverse cup slides are ideal for pad printing onto medical catheter tubing – which are often time printed with depth marks along the length of the tubing to help guide the surgeon to a particular depth in the body during surgery.

• Complexity: Pad printing requires multiple steps and equipment, making it a more complex process than other printing methods.
• Cost: Pad printing equipment and materials can be expensive, making it a more expensive option for small runs.