Printing Services
Four printing processes and a full set of decoration options. This page explains what each one does, when it is the right choice, and what it costs you in tooling and lead time.
Choosing a Printing Process
| Process | Best for | Web width | Colours | Plate cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flexographic | Long runs, colour consistency across batches | 300 mm | up to 12 | Yes |
| PS Plate | Fine text, high ink density, small formats | 300 mm · 450 mm (one press) | up to 7 + 1 | Yes |
| Screen | Heavy ink lay-down, tactile and high-opacity effects | 300 mm | Special effects | Yes |
| Digital UV inkjet | Short runs, variable data, samples | up to 322 mm | CMYK + white | None |
Rough guide: below a few thousand labels, digital usually wins because there is no plate to pay for. Above that, conventional printing costs less per label and the plate cost spreads out. We will tell you which is cheaper for your quantity when we quote.
Colour Printing
CMYK process printing
Four-colour process reproduces photographs and gradients from a single set of plates. It is the economical choice when artwork contains images or many colours. Process colour cannot hit every brand colour exactly — highly saturated oranges, greens and blues sit outside the CMYK gamut.
Spot colour printing
A spot colour is mixed as a specific ink rather than built from CMYK. If your brand colour has to be exact across every batch, this is how it is done. Our flexo press carries up to twelve colour stations, so process colour and several spot colours can run together in a single pass.
Spot colours are mixed to Pantone reference and verified under a standard light source. Send a printed reference if you have one — a Pantone number alone leaves room for interpretation.
White ink on film
Clear and metallic substrates need an opaque white base before colour, otherwise the container shows through and colours shift. We print white on both conventional and digital lines — the digital press carries a dedicated white station, which means short runs on clear or silver film no longer require plates.
Metallic and Tactile Effects
Hot foil stamping
Metallic foil applied with a heated die under pressure. It gives the brightest metallic finish available and a slight physical impression in the material. Standard on wine, spirits and cosmetics. Requires a stamping die, charged separately and reusable on repeat orders.
Cold foil
Foil applied inline on the flexo press using adhesive rather than heat and a die. Less brilliant than hot foil, but no stamping die is needed and it can be overprinted — which allows metallic colours other than gold and silver. The economical route to a metallic effect on larger areas.
Screen printing
Lays down a far thicker ink film than flexo or PS plate. Used for raised tactile detail, high-opacity spot colours and effects that need physical depth rather than just visual contrast.
Security and Anti-Counterfeit
| Technique | How it protects |
|---|---|
| Invisible ink | Marking visible only under UV light — invisible to the counterfeiter, verifiable by you in seconds |
| Microprinting | Text too fine to reproduce by scanning and reprinting; legible under magnification |
| Guilloche | Fine interlocking line patterns, the technique used on banknotes; degrades visibly when copied |
| Variable data | A unique code on every label, so a duplicate can be detected on verification |
These combine. A label can carry a UV mark, microprinted text and a unique serial number at the same time, giving you a check at the point of sale, a check under magnification and a database check.
Variable Data Printing
Every label carries different content: serial numbers, QR codes, batch codes, or entirely different artwork on each one.
| Method | What it can vary |
|---|---|
| Inkjet coding | Codes and numbers added onto a pre-printed label — economical for large volumes |
| Digital press | The entire label, in full colour, different on every piece |
Send your data as CSV or Excel. Typical uses: track-and-trace for regulated products, promotional unique codes, asset tags with sequential numbering, and multilingual runs where only the text block changes.
What Affects Your Price
- Colour count — each additional colour adds a plate and press setup
- Foil — the most expensive single addition; consider whether cold foil achieves the effect
- Quantity — plate and setup costs spread across the run, so unit price falls sharply with volume
- Material — film costs roughly 50% more than coated paper per square metre
- Tooling — dies and foil plates are charged once and reused on repeat orders
If budget is tight, tell us the target price. There is usually a construction that gets close — a different finish, cold foil instead of hot, or process colour instead of an extra spot.
Materials and finishes → · Press specifications → · How an order runs →
Not Sure Which Process You Need?
Send your artwork and quantity. We will tell you which process suits it and what each option costs.