The UV Printing Advantage: How to Customize Promotional Products with Ease

Editor's Note: This article was written for Promo Impressions. For more content on promotional products decoration, be sure to subscribe to the biweekly newsletter at PromoImpressions.com. 

In the promotional products industry, every day brings new challenges, often in the form of various items that clients want to customize. Whether it’s a sleek metal water bottle, a wooden picture frame, or a plastic wireless earbuds case, customers will ask, “Can you print on that?” With UV printing, the answer is almost always “yes.”

To get a sense of the range and potential of UV printing and to understand recent advances in UV print technology, we talked with Roland DGA Product Manager Philip Chu.

Why is UV printing considered a great tool for customizing promotional products?

Philip Chu: UV printing offers several advantages in customizing hard surfaces:

1. UV printing adapts seamlessly to a variety of hard substrates including metal, wood, and plastics without requiring specialized inks or pretreatment.
2. UV prints are vibrant and durable. They resist fading, scratching, or peeling over time.
3. UV ink cures fully after being exposed to UV light, making the printing process more environmentally friendly than other print methods.
4. With UV flatbed printers, you can use a fixture (or jig) to maximize the number of items in your printing area and ensure consistent prints, saving time and money.

How have printer manufacturers responded to the increasing demand for printing on hard surfaces?

PC: Manufacturers have responded to this demand by creating devices and techniques that enable easy printing on surfaces and objects that weren’t possible to print on just a few years ago. For instance, Roland DG and other manufacturers are now offering UV-DTF solutions for hard-to-print-on surfaces like mirrors.

In addition, manufacturers have vastly expanded the range of UV printer sizes available. Ten to 15 years ago, UV flatbed printers were only offered as large devices (4x8' or 3x4') with substantial price tags. Now, manufacturers offer UV printers in a range of sizes, capabilities, and price points.

Last year, for example, Roland DG introduced the VersaSTUDIO BD-8, a desktop UV flatbed printer built for start-ups and smaller retail operations. With 4" of print clearance, this compact UV flatbed brings professional-grade print quality to customization projects like invitations, ornaments, and small objects.

Roland DG VersaSTUDIO BD-8 desktop UV flatbed printer

We also introduced the MO-240, a benchtop UV printer with a 24x18" print bed, making it the perfect size for personalizing an array of objects and creating smaller customized signs.

Additionally, wide-format UV flatbed printers are available in a range of sizes and configurations to accommodate a promotional products business’s needs. The CO-i series printers can print tens or hundreds of items simultaneously (depending on their size) and accommodate objects up to 9.5" high. You can also individually personalize each item with features like variable data printing.

For more high-volume flatbed production, large-format printers like the EU-1000MF can print several larger items or hundreds of smaller items.

What are the benefits of UV inks?

PC: One of the features of UV printing is its exceptional print quality and color vibrancy. This is due to the inks and the UV curing process, which result in sharp, richly colored, and precise prints. UV inks also resist fading and scratching. Whether you are printing a logo, an intricate design, or a high-resolution photograph, your UV prints will be clear and durable.

In addition, UV printing’s instant curing eliminates the need for solvent-based inks, providing a more eco-friendly option when compared with other print methods.

What about software?

PC: Printer manufacturers have been improving RIP software by building in needed features and simplifying workflows. VersaWorks software, for example, has features like automatic special color generation and variable data printing.

Are there accessories available to hold items in place for consistent printing?

PC: When you have repeatable prints for a particular type of object, such as a small earbud case or keychains, commercially available fixtures can help you maximize the quantity you print on while maintaining consistent print quality. For printing on cylindrical objects like water bottles, accessories like the Rotary Rack XL and XXL enable accurate 360-degree printing.

Are there solutions available for hard-to-print-on surfaces, like glass or mirrors?

PC: When UV printing on glass and mirrors, there are two main issues:

1. Light can reflect through the item and bounce back, curing the ink on the printhead, which leads to additional cleaning and ink waste.
2. Glass is a smooth, non-porous surface that lacks sufficient surface tension for ink adhesion. You can use an adhesion promoter, but this will also require more frequent cleaning and maintenance for your machine.

Instead, we recommend using a UV-DTF system. With it, you create a multi-layer “ink sandwich” that can be affixed to your object like a decal or sticker. Since UV-DTF graphics are printed on a separate adhesive transfer sheet, it addresses both of the issues mentioned above, providing a more successful outcome.

A beer stein printed using the Roland DGA UV-DTF Graphic Transfer System (GTS). | Credit: Roland DG

What products do you expect to see from printer manufacturers in the near future that would be helpful for this market?

PC: With its high print quality, ability to print on a wide variety of surfaces, and ease of use, UV is one of the fastest-growing types of printing technology worldwide. Manufacturers committed to innovation will continue striving to develop and introduce new and exciting solutions in terms of equipment, inks, software, and accessories for this market. As demand and applications grow, manufacturers will strive to keep pace with what customers need to accomplish their hard-surface print production.