Church Gifts Printed in Dubai: Icons and Verses on Candles, Wood and Glass

Can a church have its own icons printed on gifts in Dubai?

Yes. Sun Studio, a UV printing studio in Al Quoz, Dubai, prints a church's own icons, Bible verses and names in full colour, directly onto wax pillar candles, wooden plaques, glass and other gift pieces. There is no minimum order for UV printing done in our studio, so one piece, a sample and a set for every family in the congregation are all normal orders. The church supplies or approves the artwork, and we print it. Finished pieces are collected from the studio or delivered within the UAE.

This guide is for church committees, parish organisers and church groups in the UAE who want gifts that carry their own design. Sun Studio is not a gift shop. We do not keep a catalogue or stock, and we do not paint icons. We print the artwork the church provides or approves, on the pieces it chooses.

The photo and the video on this page come from a real order: Sun Studio printed church gifts for an Egyptian church on candles, wood and glass. Below: what was printed, which surface suits which gift, how gold, Arabic and Coptic lettering print, what to send, and how samples, quantities and timing work.

What did Sun Studio print for an Egyptian church?

Sun Studio printed icons on wax pillar candles and wooden plaques, and larger printed panels, as church gifts, at our studio in Al Quoz, Dubai. The same order included pieces printed on glass. This is what the photo shows:

• Wax pillar candles. Flat-sided rectangular pillars, each printed on its front face with an icon of a saint. Several have gold-coloured frames and haloes in the artwork, and one carries Coptic lettering beside the figure.
• Wooden icon plaques. Small plaques with bevelled edges, all printed with the same Coptic-style icon of the Virgin Mary enthroned, holding the Christ child, with letters in the upper corners.
• Printed panels. A flat panel with an icon of Christ as the Good Shepherd, holding a lamb. Two larger panels with the same portrait of Christ, one of them carrying a line from the Psalms in Arabic.

The order shows two ways to plan a set. The plaques repeat one icon as a matched set. The candles carry several different icons. UV printing uses no screen or plate, so a set can mix designs, and each piece can carry a different name at no extra setup.

Wax, wood and glass do not take ink the same way, so in an order like this each material is set up and sampled as its own job. Wax is not new to us: the wax pillar candles we printed for Fête Events carried an event theme matched to printed velvet.

Candles, wood or glass: which suits which church gift?

Choose by how the gift will be used: lit, kept on a shelf, hung on a wall or presented. The same icon prints differently on each surface, and each surface has its own limits.

Candles. Religious icon candles, like the saint candles in our photo, are printed on the wax itself, as display and gift pieces. Every wax job is proved on a sample of the exact candle before a run. A plain pillar is off-white and slightly translucent, so colours land differently than on glass: judge the printed sample, not the screen. Sun Studio prints church candles but does not make, pour or sell them, so the candles come from the church or its candle supplier. Our candle guide explains how printing on wax candles works and what to check before a printed candle is lit. We have no burn figure or temperature rating to quote. To order, go to our candle printing service.

Wood. Icons on wood, such as the wooden icon plaques in our photo, print in full colour under the same rules as a large board. The main choice is whether the grain shows through or white ink goes under the artwork. With white underneath, the icon holds the colours of the file; without it, the wood reads through. Plaques normally come from the church. Send them raw or sealed, not oiled or waxed, and if they are not bought yet, ask us first, because the surface decides the result. To order, see printing on wood and MDF.

Glass. Glass can be printed on the front or on the back. Printing on the back of the glass puts the glass between the viewer and the icon, so the artwork is mirrored and white goes down over the colour instead of under it. Where the surface needs it, the glass is pre-treated before printing; our guide to UV ink adhesion and pre-treatment explains why. We can also source the glass if you ask. To order, see glass printing, or printed crystal awards for a presentation piece.

Presentation. The box a gift comes in can be printed too: see a printed velvet presentation box or printing on gift boxes.

Can gold, Arabic and Coptic lettering be printed?

Yes, as part of the full-colour print. Each needs a little care in the file.

Gold. A halo, a frame or a border in an icon prints as a gold-coloured part of the image, with the same inks as the rest of the design. It is not gold leaf or foil, and it does not have the mirror shine of foil. The gold-coloured frames and haloes on the candles in our photo are part of the print.

Arabic. Arabic prints as it is set in the file, right to left, with its vowel marks. One of the larger panels in our photo carries a line from the Psalms in Arabic, set over the portrait. Send Arabic as outlined vector artwork where you can, so the letters are not changed by a font substitution. Have someone who reads Arabic check the proof, vowel marks included, and approve the printed sample rather than the screen. We give the same advice for gifts for a religious occasion such as Ramadan and Eid: Arabic does not survive being stretched or re-spaced to fit.

Coptic and Greek letters. The letters in an icon, such as the abbreviations beside a figure or inside a halo, are part of the artwork. They print as they appear in the file, so the church should check every letter on the proof.

Names and dedications. For personalised church gifts, each piece can carry a different name at no extra setup, because there is no screen or plate. Our gift printing with a different name on each piece works the same way for any group. Send the names as a typed list checked by the church. Names are the main risk in a personalised run, so check every spelling before the sample.

Which church occasions suit printed gifts?

Any occasion where a church gives the same piece to many people, or a special piece to one person. The same printing suits:

• Feasts, Christmas and Easter: a printed candle or plaque for each family or church member.
• Church anniversaries: a commemorative plaque or panel with the church's name and the anniversary.
• Visiting clergy, a priest's ordination or a farewell: a single icon panel, or one of our printed plaques and awards with a dedication.
• Baptisms and first communions: a candle or keepsake with the child's name and date, printed to the family's or the church's design.
• Choir, Sunday school and volunteers: small pieces with a different name on each.
• Visitors: a small printed piece to take home as a souvenir of the church.
• Memorials: a candle or plaque with an icon and the name of the person remembered.

Churches do not all keep Christmas and Easter on the same dates, so plan from your own church's calendar. Give us the date the gifts must be in hand with your first message.

What should the church send, and who supplies the pieces?

The artwork, the text, the pieces, the quantity and the date.

1. The artwork. The largest original file of each icon or design. If all you have is a photo on your phone, that is enough to start: we help prepare the production file, and standard file preparation for your print order is included. We will tell you if what you have sent will not reproduce well.
2. The right to print it. Many icons are the work of an iconographer or a publisher. Use artwork the church owns, has commissioned or has permission to reproduce. An icon found online usually belongs to someone else: see printing a picture you found online. Our terms make the customer responsible for the artwork it supplies, including the right to print it.
3. The text. Arabic, Coptic or English lines as outlined vector artwork where possible, and names as a typed list checked by the church.
4. The pieces. Candles come from the church or its candle supplier, because Sun Studio does not make or sell candles. Wooden plaques and glass normally come from the church too, and we can source the glass if you ask. For anything else, tell us what you are looking for and the quantity, and we will say whether we can source it.
5. One of each item type for the sample. A candle, a plaque and a glass piece each need their own sample, not just one piece from the order.
6. The quantity and the date. How many of each piece, and the date the gifts must be in hand.

Nothing goes into production until the church approves the proof or the printed sample.

How many pieces, what does a sample cost, and how early should we start?

From one piece, normally with a sample first, and as early as the date allows.

• Quantity. There is no minimum order quantity for UV printing done in our studio: one suitable piece, a sample or a full run. The price per piece falls as the quantity rises, so a bulk order for a whole congregation costs less per piece than a handful. No minimum does not mean no setup.
• Sample. A sample is AED 105 or AED 150 depending on what it is. The fee comes off the invoice if you go ahead with the order. A sample is normally ready in one to three working days once the artwork is approved.
• The run. There is no standard figure. We quote the timing once the sample is approved; it depends on the items, the quantity and whether each piece carries a different name.
• Delivery. Pieces are collected from the studio in Al Quoz or delivered within the UAE.

Work back from the date of the feast or service: artwork, sample, approval, the run, then delivery. Seasonal work should start earlier than feels necessary. Send the date with your first message and we will tell you if it is realistic.

What does Sun Studio not do?

We print to order. We do not paint icons, keep stock or make candles.

• We do not paint icons, and we do not keep a catalogue or stock. Every piece carries artwork the church provides or approves.
• We do not make, pour or sell candles. We print on candles the church supplies.
• We give no burn result or temperature rating for printed religious candles. Printed pillars are display and gift pieces. If a candle will be lit, burn a sample before approving the batch.
• Not every object prints well, which is why a sample normally comes first.
• We print for clients in the UAE. Finished pieces are collected from our studio in Al Quoz or delivered within the UAE.

Common questions

Planning gifts for your church?

Send us the icon or design, the pieces you have in mind, how many you need and the date they must be in hand. We will tell you which surface suits each gift, print a sample and quote the run. Our studio is in Al Quoz First, Dubai.

Sun Studio LLC
Al Quoz First, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Call: +971 4 346 7422
Email: info@sunstudio.ae