Hard goods
Pad Printing
Precise ink transfer for small surfaces and irregular shapes. The standard for branded pens and compact accessories.
Pad printing transfers ink from an engraved plate onto a surface via a flexible silicone pad. The pad conforms to curves and contours, which makes it uniquely well-suited to the kinds of small, irregular surfaces that other methods cannot reach cleanly. It is the standard process for printing on pen barrels, the caps of bottles, and other compact items where the print area is small and the surface is not perfectly flat.
Best for
- •Pens and writing instruments
- •Caps of bottles and small cylindrical items
- •Logos on curved or irregular surfaces
- •1 to 4 color artwork on compact promotional items
Not ideal for
- •Large print areas (use silkscreen printing instead)
- •Highly detailed fine artwork at very small sizes
- •Items where the surface texture breaks up pad contact
Pad printing: the standard for small surfaces and irregular shapes
Pad printing solves a specific decoration problem: how to apply a clean, accurate logo to a surface that is small, curved, or irregular. A pen barrel, a clip, the cap of a water bottle, the front of a USB drive. These are surfaces that a flat screen cannot conform to cleanly. The silicone pad in pad printing is flexible enough to press into those contours and transfer the ink without distortion.
The technique works via an engraved plate, called a cliché, that holds the ink in a recessed image area. The silicone pad picks up the ink from the plate and deposits it onto the item. Because the pad is flexible, it adapts to the surface geometry rather than requiring the surface to be flat. This is what makes pad printing the default method for pens and compact accessories.
The constraint is scale. Pad printing is optimized for small, precise applications. The print area is typically under one square inch. For larger surface coverage, silkscreen or full-color digital printing are better choices. Artwork should be kept simple: clean logotypes, wordmarks, and simple marks that read clearly at a small size.
Most pen decoration in the Goldstar portion of our catalog uses pad printing. It is the method that produces the most consistent, durable results on the kinds of surfaces that pens and compact accessories present.
Artwork requirements
File Format
Vector (AI, EPS) required.
Color Mode
Spot colors only. Pantone references required.
Resolution
Vector only. Maximum print area is typically 1 inch by 1 inch or smaller.
Notes
Keep designs simple and bold. Fine lines below 0.5pt width may not transfer cleanly.
Questions about pad printing for your order?
We will help you confirm the right method for your artwork and quantity. Reach out and we will give you a straight answer.
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