What are the Difficulties witnessed in Pad Printing on Plastic

Pad Printing can be described as a wet process that encompasses image transfer to objects, which are three-dimensional. There are various materials on which the images are transferred such as on metal, wood, plastic, rubber and glass. The reason why this Pad Print process is referred to as wet is because it involves use of concentrates, which are transferred in form of ink-filled etched images on a printing plate. A silicone pad is used and it wraps around the objects adapting to the shape of these objects. There are problems experienced in the process.

This is because; with the various kinds of Pad Printing needs, there may be tiny multicolor application and very fine details that need to be printed in the most sharp image and text presentation possible. For instance, there may be difficulties when carrying through Plastic Pad Printing. Due to the nature of the printing, there may be some inconsistencies in the printing process such as light spots on the prints. Such spots are caused by plate scooping and it's recommended that the lower line screen be used.

Whether you are doing Pad Printing on Metal or on other materials such as Pad Printing on wood, these problems may be experienced due to many factors. Some other shortcomings you may get when carrying out this type of print on plastics is a series of small holes. These are also regarded as pinholes and will appear as patterns of small holes on the print. The small holes are caused by air trapped in etch of the pad because the pad is too soft or flat. This problem may be caused by a deep silicone plate. Therefore, it's imperative to use a pointier and harder pad that does not let air bubbles remain on the object when printing.

Another problem, which may be noted in the process, for example Pad Printing on Bottles, is that you may get a faint image. This means that there is no full release of the image. This problem is caused by ink that is too dry or too wet (light concentration). It can also be caused by an old pad. If you touch the ink immediately after the print and find out that it doesn't transfer to your finger, then it's too dry. If it transfers to your hand, then it has a light concentration. This problem can be rectified by checking the ink concentration or formulation as well as the pad. The pad might have dried out and therefore even after the ink formulation, it does not produce any impressive results. You need to replace it.

It should be noted that the various kinds of printing problems witnessed in the plastic pad prints will also be experienced in other surfaces including Pad Printing on Glass. Furthermore, another problem, which may be encountered, is an image which is not opaque. This means that the image presentation is poor and does not show the clarity which is required. Such opaqueness occurs due to over compressing by the plate. It may also occur when the plate is shallow or the ink is too thin. This problem can be rectified by reducing the compression and ensuring that the plate is not too shallow.