Cylindrical & 360° Printing in Dubai

Sun Studio prints 360° around cylindrical objects at our Al Quoz studio. The item is mounted and rotated against a fixed printhead, so the artwork is laid down as it turns and wraps the whole body with no seam, no join and no label edge.

It is how bottles, cans, tumblers, jars and cups get decorated when a label will not do — because the shape is awkward, because the design has to run continuously, or because the run is too short to justify sleeves or screens.

What we can print

Anything that turns cleanly on its own axis is a candidate. In practice that means:

• Glass bottles — beverage, water, spirits and fragrance.
• Aluminium cans and bottles — including body spray and beverage cans.
• PET and plastic bottles — where the plastic type decides whether pre-treatment is needed.
• Tumblers and drinkware — stainless, glass and coated.
• Qahwa cups and glass cups — small-diameter items printed in batches.
• Jars and candle vessels — straight-sided containers.
• Short runs and samples — single pieces printed before a run is committed.

Printing capabilities

What is available depends on the profile and the material:

• Seamless 360° wrap — a continuous band around the body with no start-stop line.
• Partial wraps and panels — where only one face or a band is printed.
• White ink — printed under the artwork so colour holds on clear, coloured or metallic bodies.
• Full colour — photographic artwork, gradients and fine Arabic calligraphy in one pass.
• Raised and textured effects — on suitable geometry.
• Varnish — gloss or matte over selected areas.
• Batch production — items jigged and run consistently, with personalisation where each piece differs.

Straight-sided or tapered

The profile of the object decides more than the material does. It is the first thing we look at in a photograph.

Straight-sided

A true cylinder keeps a constant distance from the printhead all the way round and all the way up, which is the ideal case. The printable band can run the full height of the straight section, and artwork is prepared as a flat strip whose width equals the circumference.

Cans, straight bottles, tumblers and most jars fall here.

Tapered, shouldered and oval

As soon as the body tapers, flares at the shoulder or is oval rather than round, the surface no longer holds a constant distance from the head as it turns.

That does not rule it out — a great deal of fragrance work is shaped — but it does mean the printable band has to be defined deliberately, usually over the straightest part of the body, and the artwork planned to fit it. Send a side-on photograph and we will tell you where the band falls.

Who this is for

Cylindrical work comes from:

• Beverage brands — water, juice, coffee and speciality drinks.
• Fragrance and oud houses — bottles and body spray cans.
• Cosmetics and personal care — jars, mists and containers.
• Corporate gifting buyers — branded drinkware and bottles for events and giveaways.
• Hospitality — hotels and restaurants branding their own glassware and bottles.
• Private-label manufacturers — decorating the same stock container differently for several brands.

What to send before we can quote

A photograph from the side is worth more than a paragraph of description:

• Photos — front and side, so we can see the profile and the shoulder.
• Diameter and height, and the capacity.
• The material — glass, aluminium, PET, stainless, coated.
• Whether it is straight-sided or tapered.
• The print area — full wrap, a band, or one face.
• Quantity, and whether this is a sample or a production run.
• Artwork, with a note on which elements must stay opaque.
• Whether the items are filled or empty — empty is easier and usually cleaner.

How it works

Cylindrical work we have printed

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

Technical considerations

Cylindrical printing adds a variable that flat work does not have: the object is moving. Everything else follows from keeping that rotation true and the surface at a constant distance from the head.

What decides the result:

• Profile — a constant diameter is the ideal. Tapers, flares and oval sections change the head-to-surface distance as the item turns, which defines where the printable band can sit.
• Circumference is the artwork width — the design is prepared as a flat strip that equals the circumference of the printed band, so an accurate diameter matters more than it seems.
• Obstructions — handles, threads, moulding ridges, seams and embossed logos all interrupt the surface. Tell us about them.
• The material — glass, aluminium, PET and stainless each have their own adhesion behaviour, and some plastics are low surface energy and need pre-treatment.
• Coatings and lacquer — a lacquered bottle or a coated tumbler is a print onto that coating, and its quality sets the result.
• Contents and use — a fragrance bottle meets alcohol, a tumbler meets a dishwasher. Tell us what the item will actually go through, and we will test rather than assume.
• Fill before or after — printing empty is normally cleaner. Say which stage the items are at.

Common questions

Have something cylindrical to print?

Send us photographs from the front and the side, the diameter and height, the material and the artwork. We will tell you where the printable band falls, whether it needs testing, and what a sample would look like.

Cylindrical & 360° Printing projects

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

Technology used

LSINC PeriQ360 — the cylindrical press behind every 360° wrap. See the full printer fleet.