Aluminium Can Printing in Dubai

Sun Studio prints artwork directly onto aluminium aerosol and body spray cans at our studio in Al Quoz, Dubai, for brands across the UAE. We print cans that you or your can supplier provide, filled or empty, in short runs with no minimum order. We do not manufacture cans. The can turns under a UV printhead and the artwork goes on in one continuous pass: no label, no shrink sleeve, no adhesive and no seam.

The artwork lives in a file rather than on a plate or a sleeve cylinder, so a second design costs a file change instead of new tooling. Four designs in a thousand-can run are four files, not four sets of tooling.

Print my cans Send a brief

Tell us whether the cans are filled. It changes handling, not whether the job can run.

Four Ajmal Perfumes body spray designs printed full wrap directly onto aluminium cans

What we can print

The can is held at both ends and turned under a fixed printhead, so the artwork wraps the full circumference and meets itself with no visible join. Straight-walled cans are the easy case. On shoulders, tapers and domed bases we define the printable band when we quote.

Body spray and deodorant cans: full 360 degree wraps on standard aluminium aerosol bodies.
Filled and pressurised cans: printable as they arrive. Tell us the fill so we can plan handling and storage.
Empty cans before filling: lighter to jig and the more forgiving route when the filler is part of your chain.
Home fragrance and room spray cans: the same wrap on taller bodies. Slim cans are checked against the press’s minimum diameter first.
Multi-design runs: several artworks through one production run, each SKU a file rather than a tooling charge.
Sample and launch sets: a handful of cans for a range test, printed the same way the run would be.

Capabilities on aluminium cans

We print cans on two LSINC cylindrical direct-to-object presses, the LSINC PeriQ360 and the LSINC PeriOne, supplied by PRO TECHnology.

Sun Studio belongs to the same Dubai group as PRO TECHnology, which distributes LSINC equipment in the Middle East, so read our view of the machines with that in mind.

Full 360 degree wrap The artwork runs the whole way round and ends where it began, with no seam.
White ink base Laid under the colour on dark or coloured basecoats so the artwork holds its own.
Photographic colour CMYK plus white, cured hard onto the can as it is laid down.
Gold and silver in ink Simulated in printed colour, not metallic ink and not foil. Approve them on a sample can.
No minimum order Fifty cans or a thousand run the same process; quantity changes the unit cost, not feasibility.
Low-heat LED-UV cure The ink cures under LED light as it is laid down, with no oven stage.

Printed onto the aluminium itself, so there is no sleeve seam running down the back of the can.

Direct printing, sleeves or labels?

All three routes work. At true mass-market volumes direct printing is not the cheapest: printed or sleeved cans ordered from the can manufacturer cost less per can on very large single-design runs. The short version is below. Our guide to choosing between direct printing, a shrink sleeve and a label for a body spray can goes through it in detail.

Direct UV printing

No tooling, no minimum, artwork as files. It wins on short runs, several SKUs from one set-up, and speed: a launch sample set, four fragrance variants at a thousand each, an event giveaway with a fixed date. The print is on the can itself, so there is no label edge to lift in a hot warehouse.

Shrink sleeves and labels

A sleeve gives full coverage and is very cheap per unit at high volume; a label is simpler still. Both commit artwork to tooling before anything prints, add a seam or an edge over the can, and put a separate converter with its own lead time into the chain. The sensible pattern: test the range direct, move the SKU that sells to sleeves once volume justifies the tooling.

Who this is for

Short-run body spray can printing suits anyone who needs finished, printed cans without a can factory’s minimum order.

Perfume and fragrance houses: body sprays and deodorants printed to sit beside the bottle range.
Cosmetics and personal care brands: a short run of a new line before a factory order.
Private-label ranges under test: several designs printed to see which one sells.
Home fragrance brands: room sprays in seasonal or limited designs.
Event and exhibition marketers: giveaway cans printed to a fixed date.
Corporate gifting programmes: branded cans in gift quantities.
Distributors and packaging companies: printed cans for clients who cannot meet a factory minimum.
Design agencies: real printed cans for a pitch or a shoot.

What we need from you

A quote for aerosol can printing is only as good as what we know about the can. The list is short:

Print my cans Send a brief

A sample can: from the same batch as the production run; coatings differ between suppliers and even between lots.
Dimensions: height and diameter; circumference decides how much artwork fits in one revolution.
Filled or empty: and if filled, what the fill is. It affects scheduling and handling, not just price.
Quantity: and whether the run splits across several designs.
Artwork: vector where it exists, with brand colours named.
The deadline: event dates drive can work more than anything else.

How it works

Step 1Send

A sample can, the dimensions, the quantity and the artwork.

Step 2Review

We check the coating, define the printable band and confirm how the wrap closes.

Step 3Sample

Your artwork printed on your actual can. Essential for gold and metallic colours.

Step 4Produce

The run is printed, checked can by can, and packed.

Cans we have printed

Sun Studio work, printed direct onto the aluminium in Al Quoz.

Rows of Ajmal Tropical Mango body spray cans printed direct, lined up on white shelving

A full run of aluminium body spray cans printed with a brown marble-effect wrap, laid out in rows at the studio

Four Ajmal body spray designs side by side: Pear Hug, Amber Tide, Mystic Bliss and Tropical Mango

Rows of printed Ajmal Tropical Mango body spray cans racked on trolleys at the studio after printing

Two printed aluminium body spray cans with high gloss raised detail over dark artwork

A printed aluminium deodorant can beside a glass tumbler printed with a painting, both wrapped 360 degrees

Two colourways of one all-over spray range, printed direct and turned in the hand: the artwork runs round the body with no label edge and no sleeve seam.

Technical considerations

Aluminium takes UV ink well once it is clean, but almost no can reaches a printer as bare aluminium. Most carry a basecoat, a lacquer or an overvarnish, and it is that coating the ink has to bond to. Our article on UV printing on bare, anodised and powder-coated aluminium explains how each finish behaves.

Coatings decide adhesion

Some overvarnishes carry a silicone slip additive that can stop ink bonding, and you cannot see it until you print. So we test adhesion on your actual can before any quantity is run.

Can sizes

LSINC publishes container limits for the two presses we run. PeriQ360: a diameter of 38 to 114 mm and a length of up to 406 mm. PeriOne: up to 152 mm in diameter and 457 mm in length. These are the manufacturer’s limits, not a promise for every can inside them, and some slim cans fall under the minimum diameter. Send one can first.

Filled aerosols

Heavier to jig than empties, and moved and stored to their own safety requirements. Tell us what the fill is before we schedule the job.

Valve and actuator areas

Kept out of the printable band. Expect the band to be defined when we quote.

Shaped cans

The printhead follows a cylinder, so shoulders, tapers and domed bases limit where artwork can run.

Durability

The cured ink is a hard polymer film made for normal retail and transit handling. A can living in a handbag for a year will show wear on its highest points first. Our article on alcohol resistance on printed bottles and cans has a section on body spray cans.

Common questions

Can you print on a filled and pressurised body spray can?

Yes. LED-UV curing adds very little heat and there is no oven stage, so filled cans can be printed. Filled cans are jigged, moved and stored differently from empties, so tell us at quoting stage that the cans are filled and what the fill is. We print the can only: filling is done by you or your filler.

Is there a minimum order quantity for printed cans?

No. There are no plates, screens or sleeves to make, so one can is a valid order. The Beautyworld run was 1,000 cans across several artworks with no minimum order; there are no plates, screens or sleeves to make, so a second design is a file change rather than new tooling, and the same applies at fifty cans or at ten. Quantity changes the cost per can, not whether the job can run.

Do you supply the cans as well as print them?

No. Sun Studio prints cans. It does not manufacture, stock or fill them. Cans come from you or your can supplier, filled or empty, and we print on them. Send a few spares with the run, because printing is a physical process and setup uses a piece or two.

What do you need to quote a can printing job?

One can from the production batch, the height and diameter, whether the cans are filled and with what, the quantity and how it splits across designs, the artwork and your deadline. The sample can matters most, because coatings differ between suppliers and between lots, and we test adhesion on it.

How fast can a run be produced?

There is no standard lead time: it depends on the quantity, the number of designs and whether the cans are filled. As a guide from real work, a thousand cans across several artworks were printed in two days for an exhibition deadline. Give us the date with your brief and we will tell you plainly what fits.

How many designs can run in one production run?

As many as you like. Each design is a print file, not a plate or a sleeve cylinder, so changing design between cans needs no new tooling. The Ajmal Perfumes aerosol job ran four designs in one production run. Tell us how the quantity splits across the designs when you ask for a quote.

Can you match a gold or metallic brand colour on a can?

We print gold and silver as colours simulated in ink. It is not metallic ink and it is not foil, so it does not have the mirror shine of foil. On bare or brushed aluminium the metal’s own reflectivity helps the colour; on a solid coloured basecoat it reads flatter. Send a can and approve a printed sample before committing a run.

How is this different from cans printed at the can factory?

A can manufacturer prints or sleeves cans on its own lines as part of making them, which suits very large orders of one design and costs less per can at that scale. We print finished cans you already have, from a single can upward, with each design run from a file. Use us for samples, launches, short runs and several designs.

Have cans to print?

Send a sample can, the dimensions, the quantity and the artwork. We will test the coating, print a sample on your actual can, and tell you plainly whether direct printing or a sleeve is the right route for the volume.

Print my cans Send a brief

Or call +971 4 346 7422 · info@sunstudio.ae

Aluminium Can Printing projects

Real Sun Studio work involving this service. See the full portfolio.

Printed Ajmal body spray cans stacked in layers at the studio, several designs from the same production run — **Ajmal Perfumes**: Aerosol can printing, four designs in one run.

Eight aluminium body spray cans in a row, each printed with a different full-wrap design — **PRO TECHnology**: Aluminium can printing for a Dubai World Trade Centre giveaway.

Technology used

Can printing at Sun Studio runs on two cylindrical presses made in the USA. The LSINC PeriQ360 carries four items at a time. The single-spindle LSINC PeriOne accepts larger containers. Both turn the can against the printhead for a 360 degree wrap with no seam. Read how the LSINC PeriQ360 works and what it can take, or see the full printer fleet.

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