How To Print White On Plastic Paper/ Flexography Method 2023

If you are here to know how to print white on plastic white paper, or if is it even possible or not, we have the answer for you. Yes! It is possible to print white on plastic papers, but I would suggest some alternatives that might work better for your art projects, teaching, or simply presentations.

In this article, I will explain to you how to print white on plastic paper along with some of the alternative methods for white printing. The famous and most reliable method for plastic printing is Flexography.

Table of Contents

Printing for plastic papers

White opaque inks are used in screen printing and flexography, which are frequently used to print on textiles and polymers. If you want to print something with white ink, you can look at the printing possibilities offered by this old technique.

Flexography is the modern counterpart of letterpress printing. Almost every kind of surface, including cardboard boxes, plastic, glass, metallic film, fabric, and label stock can be printed on using this technique.

Flexographic printing uses semiliquid, quickly drying inks thus competing with digital printing in today’s market for large orders and lengthy print runs, especially for product packaging and labeling.

Process of white printing on plastic paper

Printing white on plastic papers is done through flexible photopolymer printing plates, that are wrapped around rolling cylinders in a web press. The design is slightly raised on the inked plates, which rotate quickly to transfer the image to the surface.

Numerous types of absorbent and nonabsorbent materials can be printed using flexography inks. It works well for printing continuous patterns, such as those used in wallpaper and gift wrap even if they are white.

In comparison to the offset printing process, which uses individual sheets of paper, flexography uses rolls of material, which enables huge orders to run with minimal pauses for substrate reload.

Flexographic White Design Formation

Like all printing processes, flexography has specific requirements for certain ink colors (like here in our case white), proof types, image resolution, die cut requirements, tints, drop shadows, knockouts, templates, fonts, and image formats.

The way your design is made, and the file preparation has a direct impact on the quality of the flexography printing. Hence you need to understand the specific requirements (different from offset printing) to have the best possible print.

When printing to a polyester film, uncoated newsprint, corrugated coated paper, or other substrates, for instance, the minimum font size is often between 4-point and 10-point type for both positive and reversed serif or sans serif.

A visit to the Flexographic printing company is necessary for designers who are new to the process to discover the best ways to organize a print project and prevent mistakes and delays.

Advantages of Flexographic Printing

Advantages of Flexographic printing include fast press speed, printing on various types of substrate materials, use of high-quality and low- maintenance materials, utilizing consumables that are reasonably priced, working best for lengthy runs, and completing all die cutting, printing, varnishing, laminating in one pass.

Disadvantages of Flexographic printing

Disadvantages of flexography printing include expensive printing plates, Complex operations involving printing, varnishing, laminating, and die cutting that require several hours to set up. Setting up the work requires using a lot of substrates, which could waste valuable material, and If version updates are required, they take a lot of time to complete.

Alternatives of printing white on plastic paper

White printing on paper by inkjet printers

Printing your text and graphics onto plastic sheets through inkjets does not require you to go to a specialized print from a few commercial print shops. These plastic sheets are printable at home. Just remember to wait until your prints are dry before touching them.

Step 1: Remove all of the plain paper from your printer. If you attempt to print your plastic sheet while using regular paper in your printer, this could jam the device.

Step 2: Verify that there is enough ink in your inkjet printer by taking a look inside. A laser printer will be harmful to both your sheet and printer as it will burn them, so you must use a laser printer. If you don’t have a white background, your ink will appear less vivid, so make sure the print is as dark as you can get.

Step 3: Switch on your printer, then place one plastic sheet in the tray with the rough side facing up. In-home printing plastic sheets have an even, smooth side and a little bit cloudier, rough side. The ink is captured on the rough surface and is kept from spreading.

Step 4: Tell your computer to print the image or text you wish to print. Remember that the less amount of ink or text you utilize when plastic printing at home, the more successful and quality-optimized your print is likely to be. Images with a lot of color saturation, such as photographs, will smear on a home printer.

Step 5: Print the text or image onto the plastic sheet. To avoid touching the ink at all costs, carefully lift the plastic sheet by its sides when it exits your printer with your material. For at least fifteen minutes, position the sheet with the ink side up in a cool, dry area. Be aware that if you rub or fold your ink vigorously enough after it has dried, it may still smear.

Step 6: Keep your prints in a cool, dry environment where they won’t be mixed up. If you wish to stack your plastic prints, put one sheet of ordinary paper between each print and watch out for heavier objects piling up on top of them. This will result in the ink on your paper separating from the plastic prints and transferring to the paper.

Epson White Ink Cartridge Printers

Epson provides printers with an opaque white ink cartridge. This approach may work for limited print runs on your home printer, as white ink cartridges are significantly more expensive than standard cartridges.

Print The Dark Color in Reverse (It is White Actually)

Consider the print or design project from a unique perspective. On white paper, with the type reversed, you can print the darker color.

This means that when you wish to print a white element, you must knock out or “reverse” the white text or component from the background. Anywhere you desire white, only the background, is not inked. “Printing in white” essentially refers to the absence of ink.

When you use white in your design, such as a white heart on a red background, just the red portion of the design gets printed; the white portion of the design is the paper showing through.

Printing this alternative is significantly less expensive. If your chosen paper isn’t white, this procedure won’t work.

Combine Silver and White Ink for A Near White Look

Silver ink and opaque white ink can be combined to create a near-white ink look that offers sufficient coverage. The drawback in this situation is that not all print shops offer this service, and the price can be significantly higher than standard printing.

Use White Foil for a white effect

To get the desired effect, you may also use white foil stamping to add a white color to the page. Plentiful colors and surfaces are existing for foils, including metallic, glossy, and matte finishes.

A white opaque gloss or matte finish resembles paint or white ink, or you can generate unusual effects with silvery foils, pearlescent, or off-white.

Foil processing options are often available at professional print shops. To prepare your artwork for foil stamping or embossing, they could have specific requirements. Additionally, there is typically a premium price for this service.

Why Using White Ink So Difficult?

White ink is often not one of the options available to you if you want the effect of white ink on dark paper. Whatever method you use, printing white typically cost more than printing with other ink colors.

Few professional print shops can successfully print white ink on dark paper. Those who do this for you will charge you a premium for their services of printing white on plastic.

Translucent inks, which make up the majority of offset printing inks, cannot cover dark-colored paper. Even if a print shop uses opaque white ink, many applications are required for adequate coverage, increasing the cost of print production.

Imagine painting a dark-colored room white. The white paint must have adequate coverage with multiple layers, or the underlying paint will darken the white room. Costs increase when the printing press must be cleaned to remove all remnants of other ink colors that would muddy the white ink.

Conclusion

Transparent or colored labels on plastic sheets with text/images are convenient for business presentations, art projects, and teaching. When you think of how to print white on plastic paper or sheets, you enter into a new world of art and design. Various methods (Screen printing, UV litho printing, laser printing, pad printing) allow us to print white on plastic sheets that include Flexography, using the white foil effect, combining silver and white ink, printing dark in reverse, or using opaque white ink cartridges for inkjet printers.