FLATBED
PRINTING
With our two advanced digital flatbed printers, we excel in crafting top-tier digital prints across an extensive array of materials, extending beyond traditional paper.
The flatbed printing technology allows us to apply digital prints onto solid materials up to 45mm thick. From acrylic to wood, Dibond, aluminum, and glass, our capabilities encompass a diverse range of surfaces.
Our largest digital print size spans up to a maximum dimension of 125cm x 250cm (49'' x 98''), broadening the spectrum of fine art papers we can print on, ensuring a wider canvas for artistic expression.
What is Flatbed Printing?
The UV flatbed technology employs specialised acrylic monomer-based inks. As the UV ink is applied to the substrate, a UV light follows close behind, curing the ink instantly. This rapid process minimises ink spreading or bleeding into the substrate, ensuring exceptionally fine detail and high resolution in the finished artwork.
This printing setup allows for experimentation, enabling an intriguing interplay between the printed image and the material it's printed on. A white pass can serve to either block out the underlying material or, when omitted, reveal the substrate beneath, providing diverse creative possibilities.
Our Flatbed Printing Services
Our printing capabilities extend across wide range of stock fine art papers and accommodate customer-provided materials, ensuring a wide array of options for your printing needs.
Flatbed printing also offers the ability to print over various finishes and effects, such as gold leaf and textured surfaces. This opens up exciting avenues for crafting mixed media prints, opening up more options to elevate your artistic creations.
PRINTS ON SHEET PAPER
The versatility of the flatbed printer is evident in its ability to print on a diverse range of sheet papers, a feat beyond the capabilities of a typical giclee printer reliant on paper rolls.
We've successfully printed on exceptionally thick Waterford 640gsm paper, along with an assortment of colored and metallic effect papers from G.F Smith's extensive collection. Our flatbed printers utilize a dual-axis head movement, allowing precise printing onto stationary materials held in place by vacuum. This level of precision enables layering with utmost accuracy, enabling us to print one layer precisely over another. This offers expanded printing possibilities, such as applying a white underpass to create a more vivid and robust image compared to a single-layer print on paper alone.
PRINTS ON GLASS
AND ACRYLIC
Utilising flatbed printing enables direct printing on glass and clear acrylic, providing opportunities to explore printing on transparent materials.
The possibilities with clear materials are vast. For example, printing on the back of the glass or acrylic followed by a white pass creates an opaque image visible through the material. Conversely, applying a white pass followed by the artwork on the front produces an opaque image positioned in front of the material. Printing on both sides of the glass or acrylic engenders a sense of depth, as the two images are separated by the material's thickness, offering an intriguing three-dimensional effect.
With a single print pass on either side of the glass or acrylic, a semi-translucent print can be made. This technique has sparked creativity with several artists who augment the effect by introducing colored paper or leaf behind the image, resulting in captivating visual effects.
PRINTS ON SHEET METAL
Our flatbed printers offer another capability: printing on sheet metal. With the many different surface finishes of sheet metal at your disposal there are numerous ways to make your print unique. A technique we frequently suggest involves designing your print to seamlessly incorporate areas of the sheet metal background into your artwork. However, if you prefer to omit the material texture, we have the capability to apply a background white pass, or print on white Dibond (composite aluminum panels). This ensures the colours in your print remain as vibrant as your original artwork.
When sourcing sheet metal for printing, we highly recommend reaching out to us. This allows our team to provide tailored advice on selecting the best material for the specific style you're seeking. By collaborating closely, we can ensure your print achieves the desired effect, whether it incorporates the sheet metal texture or presents a seamless, vibrant image.
PRINTS OVER LEAF OR INKS
Another capability is to print directly over inks and leaf finishes. The precision of the flatbed printers is especially advantageous when creating a print with a background finish such as gold leaf or gold ink. Similar to printing on other materials, the flatbed printers allow the application of a white pass layer. This strategic layering permits background finishes, like gold leaf, to show through in varying degrees across different areas of the print. This flexibility ensures precise control over the incorporation and visibility of background finishes, allowing you to enrich your prints with nuanced effects.
PRINTS ON PRIMED BOARD
Printing on primed board with a flatbed printer offers a seamless pathway to art that's mount-ready. It's an ideal method for crafting large-scale pieces, having facilitated artworks as expansive as 4x2.5m, composed from multiple primed panels. Transform your concepts into monumental, ready-to-display masterpieces with our flatbed printing services.
TEXTURED PRINTS
Using our flatbed printers we've developed a technique to introduce texture into prints. By strategically layering ink through either flatbed or silkscreen printing, we form a texture that becomes an integral part of the final flatbed print. Through this method, prints can embody the appearance and tactile quality of brush strokes or other captivating effects. Elevate your prints with this innovative texturing technique by capturing the depth and detail of your original artwork.
What is Flatbed Printing?
The UV flatbed technology employs specialised acrylic monomer-based inks. As the UV ink is applied to the substrate, a UV light follows close behind, curing the ink instantly. This rapid process minimises ink spreading or bleeding into the substrate, ensuring exceptionally fine detail and high resolution in the finished artwork.
This printing setup allows for experimentation, enabling an intriguing interplay between the printed image and the material it's printed on. A white pass can serve to either block out the underlying material or, when omitted, reveal the substrate beneath, providing diverse creative possibilities.
Utilising flatbed printing enables direct printing on glass and clear acrylic, providing opportunities to explore printing on transparent materials.
The possibilities with clear materials are vast. For example, printing on the back of the glass or acrylic followed by a white pass creates an opaque image visible through the material. Conversely, applying a white pass followed by the artwork on the front produces an opaque image positioned in front of the material. Printing on both sides of the glass or acrylic engenders a sense of depth, as the two images are separated by the material's thickness, offering an intriguing three-dimensional effect.
With a single print pass on either side of the glass or acrylic, a semi-translucent print can be made. This technique has sparked creativity with several artists who augment the effect by introducing colored paper or leaf behind the image, resulting in captivating visual effects.
PRINTS ON GLASS
AND ACRYLIC
Our flatbed printers offer another capability: printing on sheet metal. With the many different surface finishes of sheet metal at your disposal there are numerous ways to make your print unique. A technique we frequently suggest involves designing your print to seamlessly incorporate areas of the sheet metal background into your artwork. However, if you prefer to omit the material texture, we have the capability to apply a background white pass, or print on white Dibond (composite aluminum panels). This ensures the colours in your print remain as vibrant as your original artwork.
When sourcing sheet metal for printing, we highly recommend reaching out to us. This allows our team to provide tailored advice on selecting the best material for the specific style you're seeking. By collaborating closely, we can ensure your print achieves the desired effect, whether it incorporates the sheet metal texture or presents a seamless, vibrant image.
PRINTS ON SHEET METAL
Another capability is to print directly over inks and leaf finishes. The precision of the flatbed printers is especially advantageous when creating a print with a background finish such as gold leaf or gold ink. Similar to printing on other materials, the flatbed printers allow the application of a white pass layer. This strategic layering permits background finishes, like gold leaf, to show through in varying degrees across different areas of the print. This flexibility ensures precise control over the incorporation and visibility of background finishes, allowing you to enrich your prints with nuanced effects.
PRINTS OVER LEAF OR INKS
Printing on primed board with a flatbed printer offers a seamless pathway to art that's mount-ready. It's an ideal method for crafting large-scale pieces, having facilitated artworks as expansive as 4x2.5m, composed from multiple primed panels. Transform your concepts into monumental, ready-to-display masterpieces with our flatbed printing services.
PRINTS ON PRIMED BOARD
Using our flatbed printers we've developed a technique to introduce texture into prints. By strategically layering ink through either flatbed or silkscreen printing, we form a texture that becomes an integral part of the final flatbed print. Through this method, prints can embody the appearance and tactile quality of brush strokes or other captivating effects. Elevate your prints with this innovative texturing technique by capturing the depth and detail of your original artwork.
TEXTURED PRINTS
The versatility of the flatbed printer is evident in its ability to print on a diverse range of sheet papers, a feat beyond the capabilities of a typical giclee printer reliant on paper rolls.
We've successfully printed on exceptionally thick Waterford 640gsm paper, along with an assortment of colored and metallic effect papers from G.F Smith's extensive collection. Our flatbed printers utilize a dual-axis head movement, allowing precise printing onto stationary materials held in place by vacuum. This level of precision enables layering with utmost accuracy, enabling us to print one layer precisely over another. This offers expanded printing possibilities, such as applying a white underpass to create a more vivid and robust image compared to a single-layer print on paper alone.