Custom Pad Printing Services

Multicolor Pad Printing

Unique offers the highest quality in multicolor pad printing services. We have an army of in-line multicolor pad printing machines capable of pad printing complex images with tight registration, gradients, and halftones for nearly any rigid material type or shape, and for large quantity or bulk orders. With this equipment and our expert staff, we have successfully taken on projects for the NFL, NBA and MLB, pharmaceutical companies, toy manufacturers and major food distributors.

High Volume Pad Printing

Based on our customer feedback, Unique's ability to incorporate automation for high volume pad printing orders often separates us from our competition. The use of automation, combined with creative tooling concepts that are designed and manufactured in-house, allows for decreased tooling cost. This cost savings gives our customers an edge for large-order, highly competitive pad printing projects.

Multi-Location Pad Printing

Using our “carousel” style multicolor pad printers capable of flawless registration and fast production rates, we can print multiple locations of a part in one pass.  With tooling that is designed and built in-house, we can turn or move the parts to print the part in multiple locations.

For example, the circumference of round plastic depth gauge used in cosmetic surgery can be pad printed in one pass or we can print a medical device in four different locations in one pass.  Without this capability, the parts would have to pad printing in multiple passes - thus increasing the decorating cost.  So, the obvious benefit with pad printing a part in multiple locations in one pass is the reduction in decorating cost - giving Unique and our customers a competitive edge.

Rotational Pad Printing

With custom rotational pad printing, we can pad print a continuous band around small diameter plastic, glass or metal parts, with the capability to small or large quantity orders. In this process, the printing pad presents the full length of the band to the part. The tooling then automatically spins the part under the pad thus transferring the band onto the round part as it passes under the pad. For maximum ink opacity, the band wraps three times around the part.

Pad Print Inks

Having an inventory of multiple pad printing ink lines allows us to easily determine the best ink for your plastic, glass, or metal product that will provide the maximum adhesion. Once we receive parts for your order, we sample print the parts with inks that are compatible with your parts based our experience and our ink manufacturer recommendations and the material of your parts. The sample printed parts are subjecting to testing such as scratch testing, tape testing, or cross-hatch tape testing to determine which ink provided the best results. Determining the proper ink for each part we print is the foundation of a successful project. 

What is Pad Printing?

Of all the product decorating services that we offer, we get the most questions about pad printing. So what is pad printing?

Pad printing is a printing method that allows the transfer of a 2-dimensional image onto a 3-dimensional object. While just as effective for flat surfaces, this process is most often used for printing on parts that are round, have complex curvature, that are round, have a concave or convex surface, or have recessed or raised areas.

Read on to learn more about pad printing and Unique Assembly & Decorating's pad printing capabilities.