The silicone pad is a very flexible material, this enables printing to be done on a variety of surface shapes and materials. This can range from paper, plastic, glass, vinyl, leather and wood. Some of the product commonly printed include golf balls, pens, stress shapes, clocks, tins and gift packaging.

The image to be printed is created on the plate, etched using a film image in an exposure unit. The etch depth is about 25 - 30 microns.

The process is basically, the etching is filled with ink, the printing pad picks up the ink from the plate and transferred to the item being printed. Depending on the iem being printed, it may need to be pre-treated so the ink will adhere to it, or in other cases a post-treatment may be necessary.

The printed item is left to dry, this curing process can be as little as a few minutes or up to several days.

Pad with ink on ready to impress item.



Item being printed, Pad pressing down



Printed item still in mould waiting to be moved for curing