Glass Printing in Dubai
Sun Studio prints artwork directly onto flat glass at our studio in Al Quoz, Dubai, for architects, fit-out contractors, glass companies and brands across the UAE. Most clients supply the glass, already cut and processed, and we print it. We can also source the glass if you ask. The ink is cured on the glass itself, so there is no vinyl to lift at the corners and no film edge along a partition leaf.
It is often called digital printing on glass. When a glass processor uses that phrase, they usually mean digital ceramic printing: frit fired into the glass during tempering, which is what a façade needs. We print with UV-cured ink, for interior and protected glass: office partitions and meeting rooms, glass doors, splashbacks, reception and feature panels, and shopfront glass inside malls and stores.
Send a photo of the glass and we will tell you what is printable. There is no minimum order.
Glass printing at a glance
The short version, before the detail below. Coated glass, processing order, white ink and which face to print are covered in depth in our large-format glass printing guide for specifiers.
- Process: UV-cured ink printed directly onto the glass surface, for interior and protected glass. It is not fired ceramic frit, so façades and spandrels belong with the glass processor.
- Your glass: usually supplied by you or your glass company, already cut, drilled and toughened. Printing is the last step before installation.
- Panel size: our IQDEMY EVO 2500 is a belt flatbed 2.5 metres wide with no machine limit on length, and our Direct Color Systems UV84 has a 4 x 8 ft bed. Each panel's size and thickness is confirmed before the glass moves.
- Ink options: full or selective white, first or second surface, and white and colour layered in a set order.
- Preparation: cleaning, and an adhesion promoter where the glass calls for it. Coated glass (Low-E, mirrored, anti-reflective or solar control) is tested on a sample first.
- Samples and quantity: a printed offcut before a panel schedule is committed. One panel is a normal order: there is no minimum.
- Where the work happens: every panel is printed flat at our studio in Al Quoz, Dubai. Who carries the glass to and from the studio is agreed per job, and your glazier or fit-out contractor installs it.
- Panels we have printed: five 3 m panels for a managing director's office, one artwork across a 10 m run of panels at DreamDraw and colour-matched balustrade panels at The Dubai Mall.
What we can print
This page covers flat glass. For glass bottles, see cylindrical and 360° printing or perfume bottle printing; for glass jars, see candle and jar printing.
Flat glass arrives here in a handful of recognisable forms, and each one behaves differently under a printhead:
- Clear float glass: where white ink decides whether artwork reads as colour or as a tint.
- Low-iron glass: the extra-clear stock specified when a design must not pick up the green cast of ordinary float.
- Frosted and acid-etched glass: an already-diffused surface that gives colour a soft ground to sit on.
- Tinted and back-painted glass: where the glass colour is part of the design and white underneath controls how much of it shows.
- Office partitions and meeting-room leaves: full-height panels, usually toughened, printed before installation. The artwork can carry the glass manifestation, so no strip of film is added later.
- Glass doors and shopfront elements: cut, drilled and processed first, printed afterwards.
- Printed glass splashbacks and decorative panels: a kitchen splashback (or backsplash) is cleaned often, which changes what we recommend. Our glass splashbacks for a Dubai hotel apartment development were printed on the back face for that reason. For tiles instead of glass, see ceramic tile printing.
Printing capabilities
Which of these apply depends on the glass in front of us, and we will say so once we have seen it:
- Direct UV printing Ink cured on the glass with nothing laminated over the top.
- White ink Full backing, or selective white behind only the elements that must stay opaque while the rest of the panel stays clear. See colour matching and gradients on glass for how a brand colour is agreed.
- First or second surface Printed on the face you touch, or on the back so the image is seen through the glass.
- Multilayer builds White and colour layered in a defined order, which is what makes a design work from both sides.
- Large-format panels Large panels run on our belt flatbed, 2.5 metres wide. Send each panel's dimensions and we confirm the fit before any glass moves.
- Surface preparation Cleaning, and an adhesion promoter suited to glass where the substrate calls for it.
- Sample panels A printed offcut before a panel schedule is committed.
How large a glass panel can we print?
Large panels go through our IQDEMY EVO 2500, a belt flatbed 2.5 metres wide that carries the glass through the machine, so the press sets no limit on length. We also run a Direct Color Systems UV84 flatbed with a 4 x 8 ft bed (about 1.2 x 2.4 m). We confirm each panel's width, height and thickness before the glass moves, because flatness and handling matter as much as the raw dimensions.
Sun Studio belongs to the same Dubai group as PRO TECHnology, which distributes IQDEMY and Direct Color Systems equipment in the Middle East, so read our view of the machines with that in mind.
Glass panels we have already printed:
- Five panels, each 3 m tall and 1 m wide: architectural glass for a managing director's office.
- 47 panels, the largest 2 m by 3 m: printed glass for Um Khalil, printed in Al Quoz and sent to Amman.
- Six panels, each 2.4 m tall and 1 m wide: meeting room glass for the PRO TECHnology office.
- One artwork split across a run of panels 10 m wide and 2.4 m tall: printed glass in the DreamDraw offices.
First surface or second surface printing
On glass the same artwork can be printed on the face you touch or on the back, seen through the thickness of the glass. Deciding early matters, because it changes the file you send us.
First surface
The ink is on the visible face. Artwork is supplied the right way round, and the print is what a hand and a cloth meet. It is the straightforward option for panels fixed against a wall, and for anything where the back of the glass will never be seen.
Second surface (reverse)
The ink is on the back, so the glass itself sits between the viewer and the print. That gives depth and gloss and puts the print out of reach of cleaning on the visible side.
Two things change: the artwork must be mirrored, and the layer order reverses, so white goes down over the colour instead of under it. It suits partitions seen from one side and panels bonded to a substrate. Tell us how the glass is installed and which face is accessible, and we will tell you which way round it should run. Why the white goes on last, and when the back face is the better choice, is explained in how UV printing on glass works.
Who this is for
Most glass work here arrives through one of these routes:
- Architects and interior designers: specifying printed glass as part of a scheme rather than as an applied graphic.
- Fit-out contractors: with a partition package that needs decorating before installation.
- Glass and glazing companies: who supply, cut, process and install but do not print. We are the step in between, not a competitor.
- Signage companies: needing the graphic in the glass rather than on it.
- Hotels, restaurants and retail: branded and decorative glass inside the space. Our article on printed glass for cafes, restaurants and retail covers tabletops, cleaning and shopfronts.
- Offices: meeting-room privacy handled as design instead of a band of frosting film.
What to send before we can quote
What moves the price of a glass job is explained in our guide to UV printing cost in Dubai. Two panels that sound identical can behave differently, so we price from specifics rather than from a description:
- Panel dimensions: width and height of each panel.
- Glass thickness, and whether it is toughened, laminated or annealed.
- Glass type and any coating: clear, low-iron, tinted, mirrored, Low-E or acid-etched, and which face carries the coating.
- Quantity, and whether the panels are identical or all different. One panel is fine: there is no minimum.
- A photograph of the actual glass, especially if it is already cut.
- Artwork, with a note on which elements must stay opaque.
- Application and location: partition, door, splashback or feature panel, indoors or outdoors, and how it will be cleaned.
- Programme dates: when the glass reaches us, when it must be back on site, and who is carrying it.
Not sure which file to send? Our artwork preparation guide covers file formats, vector conversion and what each surface needs.
How it works
Panel sizes, thickness, glass type, quantity and artwork.
We check the glass, any coating and the artwork, and say what is printable and what should change.
Where the glass is unknown, coated or heading somewhere demanding, we print a test piece first.
The schedule is printed, checked and packed for site.
Printed glass we have produced
All Sun Studio work, printed direct onto the glass in Al Quoz.
A Google review from Muharram Tayarah: “We UV printed on large format glasses, which most suppliers aren’t able to do due to size limitation of their printers, but Sun Studio have large format UV printers which is great.”
Technical considerations
Glass is smooth and non-porous, so adhesion depends on the exact surface finish, contamination, coatings, cleaning, pre-treatment and the ink system. The specific panel decides the result, not glass as a category. Clean glass wets readily; a contaminated or coated face is the harder case.
The points below govern the outcome. For coated glass, processing order and panel schedules in depth, read our large-format glass printing guide for specifiers.
Coatings
Contamination
Pre-treatment
Transparency
Processing order
Exterior and structural glazing
Cleaning regime
Common questions
Can you print directly on glass?
Can you print a glass kitchen splashback?
Can I supply my own glass?
Is there a minimum order for glass printing?
Can large glass panels be printed?
Can office glass partitions be printed?
Can printed glass go outdoors or on a façade?
What artwork files do you need?
Where is the glass printed, and do you work outside Dubai?
How do I get a quote for glass printing?
How much does glass printing cost in Dubai?
Have a glass panel to print?
Send us the dimensions, the thickness, the glass type and the artwork, and tell us where the panel is going. We will come back on what is possible, whether it should be tested first, and how it fits your programme.
Glass Printing projects
Real Sun Studio work involving this service. More glass case studies: the DreamDraw offices (a ten metre feature wall, entrance doors and shopfront glazing), McDonald's at The Dubai Mall, glass walls and tabletops for Segafredo Zanetti and the light blue colour-matched balustrade panels at The Dubai Mall. See the full portfolio.
Technology used
Direct Color Systems UV84: a flatbed that prints glass panels, with white ink and pre-treatment where the glass calls for it. IQDEMY EVO 2500: the belt flatbed, 2.5 metres wide, for glass panels at larger sizes. See the full printer fleet.