What the process looks like
Where it is the right choice
- Photographs, gradients, and artwork with many colours
- Short runs — no screens to make
- Complex artwork that would need five or six screens
- Raised tactile effects on gift programmes
Where it is the wrong choice
Saying this out loud saves a sample round. If your artwork falls into one of these, tell us at enquiry and we will point you at the process that suits it.
- Full 360° wraps — the flatbed has a limit; use heat transfer
- Very deep matte textures, where ink sits on top rather than in
- Jobs where the client expects the ink to be invisible to the fingernail
- Budget promotional runs in a single colour — silk screen is cheaper
Ordering in volume? Above roughly 1,700 pieces of one unchanging design, heat transfer usually overtakes UV once its US$600 film is spread across the run — the arithmetic is laid out on that page. Below that, or if the artwork changes between runs, UV stays cheaper.
Cost and minimum order
About $0.20–1.00 per piece. The driver is how much of the body the print covers; a white base on a dark body adds a pass on top of that. MOQ is 500 pieces per design in stock colours, 1,000 if the body is in your own Pantone. The exact figure depends on your artwork and run size, and we come back with it by the next working day.
What to send us
300 dpi or better, or vector. Send the artwork on the body colour you actually want, not on white, so we both see what the base layer has to do. We return the mockup free before anything is quoted as final.
Two runs that show when UV earns its cost
5,000 pieces, artwork added after the colour was locked. An English buyer had a custom Pantone body already in production for an Easter activation, then asked to add a small full-colour graphic with 28 days left. UV took it without new screens or new tooling — that is the property worth paying for. The goods left two days early and the buyer moved to an annual frame contract.
Print position under scrutiny, mixed container. A Thai buyer met us at a show, wanted UV printing on a glass line and was specific about where the print sat on the body, shipping mixed with other items for a Songkran gift season. Three weeks, controlled positioning, arrived at the retailer’s warehouse on schedule. Position control is the part to specify in writing; on a curved body a few millimetres changes how the artwork reads.
Products these ran on: TF-5002, TR-1019.
What we need to quote it
Tell us the body colour and how much of the body the artwork covers — area is the main driver, and the body colour decides whether a white base is needed on top of it. Four things, and the quote comes back by the next working day: the model (or the body size and material you have in mind), the run size, the artwork file, and the destination country. The last one decides carton format, labelling and how the freight is calculated, and it is cheaper to answer at enquiry than after 5,000 boxes are printed.
If you are still choosing between methods, send the artwork and say what it is for. We will tell you which process we would run and why, including when the answer is a cheaper one than the page you are reading.
Frequently asked
Because a white base layer has to be printed first, then the colour on top. That is an extra pass. If a quote on a dark body looks unusually cheap, check whether the base was included at all.
Yes — that is where UV earns its cost. One buyer had 5,000 pieces in a custom Pantone already running and added a small full-colour graphic with 28 days left; no screens, no tooling, shipped on time.
Yes, and you should specify it in writing. On a curved body a few millimetres changes how the artwork reads. One buyer shipping mixed containers for a gift season made position the main acceptance condition, which is the right way to handle it.
Silk screen at volume, in one colour. The comparison across every method, with per-piece figures, is on the logo cost page.
500 pieces per design in stock colours; 1,000 if you want the body in your own Pantone.
A digital mockup comes back the same day or the next working day, free. A printed sample takes 7–10 days, because it goes through the same line the bulk order will. That sample, not the screen file, is what the run is judged against.
Ask for the specific model and decoration combination rather than a general answer — how a mark holds up depends on the body finish underneath as much as on the process. We will tell you what we have seen come back from repeat buyers.