Almost every question that reaches the studio is really a question about a surface. UV ink is cured on top of the material rather than absorbed into it, which is what opens up glass, metal, wood, stone and leather — and also why the finish of the surface, not the machine, decides whether the print holds.
This is the largest group on the site, and the most useful place to start if you are new to the process. It runs from the plain explainer through the individual substrates to the two articles that matter most in the Gulf: why prints peel, and how long they actually last.
13 guides in this category
- Logo rugs printed in Dubai
- Any colour, light or dark rugs
- From one rug, plain rugs supplied
- GoldPrivé, a Dubai luxury maison
- Gold finishes, leather and PU
- Names, logos and artwork
- Photos and paintings on leather
- Natural, PU, faux and vegan
- UV vs DTF, sublimation, foil
- The metal as the lightest tone of the picture
- How much metal shows, and how it is controlled
- Approving the look on the actual metal
- Smooth gradients and how banding is avoided
- Raised UV ink texture on selected details
- White ink, panel finish and multi-panel alignment
- What to print on acoustic panels
- Acoustic panel artwork
- PET felt printing
- Specifying printed wood and MDF
- Grain through the artwork, or white under it
- MDF vs plywood vs solid timber
- Printing on plastic Dubai
- Why PP and PE reject ink
- Identify your plastic by resin code
- Bare, anodised and powder-coated metal
- White ink on metal
- The finish decides adhesion
- Printing on marble & stone
- Hotel and retail cladding
- Texture kept under the ink
- UV printing on leather
- Natural hide vs PU
- Leather finishes and flex
- Direct, reverse, face mounting
- Reverse printed for depth
- Retail, interiors, museums
- Printed tiles in kitchens and bathrooms
- Tile or glass splashback
- Printing on the glaze