--- title: "Precious Metal Printing in Dubai | Gold & Silver" description: "Direct UV printing onto solid gold and silver in Dubai: commemorative pieces, bars and collectables, including faces that are shaped rather than flat." url: https://www.sunstudio.ae/services/precious-metal-printing-dubai/ type: service site: Sun Studio Dubai --- # Precious Metal Printing in Dubai Sun Studio prints directly onto **solid gold and solid silver** at our Al Quoz studio in Dubai, for minting houses, jewellers and gifting programmes across the UAE. The artwork is printed onto the metal itself and cured there, so there is no sticker, no vinyl and no transfer film between the image and the piece. This is a different job from printing gold-coloured ink or foil onto paper. Here the precious metal is the substrate, and it stays visible as metal. Aluminium, stainless steel and coated sheet belong to [metal and aluminium printing](https://www.sunstudio.ae/services/metal-aluminium-printing-dubai/). ![Solid gold commemorative pieces printed with a black ground, the Dubai skyline left as bare metal, each sealed in a clear capsule](https://www.sunstudio.ae/cases/uv-printed-gold-bars-dubai-skyline.jpg) ## What we can print on Precious metal arrives in a narrow range of forms, and the shape of the face matters as much as the metal: - **Gold pieces and bars**: commemorative, collector and protocol pieces. - **Silver pieces and bars**: the same work in a brighter, more reflective metal. - **Shaped and contoured faces**: pieces whose surface rises and falls rather than sitting flat. - **Medals, coins and tokens**: small formats where artwork has to stay legible at scale. - **Plated and filled stock**: where the surface is precious metal over a base. - **Presentation pieces**: printed before encapsulation or framing. ## Printing capabilities What suits a piece depends on the finish, the shape and what the artwork has to do: - **Direct UV printing**: Cured onto the metal with nothing laminated over it. - **White ink base**: Laid first where artwork has to read as true colour rather than take on the metal beneath it. - **Print without white**: Colour laid straight onto the metal so the gold or silver reads through the image. - **Reverse-ground artwork**: Printing the background and leaving the design as bare metal, so the artwork is the piece itself. - **Fine line and micro detail**: Skylines, guilloche, text and marks. - **Sample-first production**: Proved on the actual material before a run. ![Silver commemorative pieces with a Dubai skyline printed in black across the bright face](https://www.sunstudio.ae/cases/uv-printed-silver-bars-dubai-skyline.jpg) *On silver the artwork is printed onto the bright face. On gold the same design is often reversed, with the ground printed and the metal left to be the artwork.* ## Printing on precious metal or printing in gold These are different services and are often confused when a job is specified, so it is worth separating them before anything is ordered. ### Printing on precious metal The substrate is gold or silver. The piece has material value before anything is printed, the metal stays visible as metal, and the ink is cured onto its surface. This is the work described on this page. ### Printing in gold The substrate is paper, card or board, and gold is the effect: hot foil, metallic ink or a gold-toned varnish. Nothing precious is involved. It is a finishing process, and a commercial printer is usually the right supplier for it. ## Who this is for Precious metal work reaches us from: - **Minting houses and bullion brands**: commemorative issues and series pieces. - **Jewellers**: bespoke and one-off commissions. - **Government and protocol offices**: delegation and state gifting. - **Corporate VIP programmes**: board, founder and milestone pieces. - **Event and anniversary organisers**: dated keepsakes in a counted run. ## What to send before we can quote Precious metal is quick to assess once we can see the piece: - **The metal**: gold, silver, plated or filled. - **The shape of the face**: flat, domed, shaped or contoured. This is the key fact. - **A photograph from the side**: surface shape is far easier to see than to describe. - **Dimensions** of the printable face. - **Quantity**, and whether the pieces are already finished or still to be made. - **The artwork**, and whether any part of it should be left as bare metal. Not sure which file to send? Our [artwork preparation guide](https://www.sunstudio.ae/insights/vktr-studio-image-to-vector-for-printing/) covers file formats, vector conversion and what each surface needs. ## How it works **Step 1** Send The metal, the shape of the piece, the quantity and the artwork. **Step 2** Review We confirm whether the face is flat enough to print as is, and whether white should go under the artwork. **Step 3** Test On precious metal we always print and check a sample on the real material before committing a batch. **Step 4** Produce The run is printed, checked and packed. ## Precious metal work we have produced Sun Studio work, printed direct onto the metal in Al Quoz: solid gold and solid silver commemorative pieces for Phoenix Minting Jewelry, on a face that waves rather than sitting flat. Read the case study: [printing directly onto solid gold and silver for Phoenix Minting](https://www.sunstudio.ae/portfolio/phoenix-minting-uv-printing-gold-silver-dubai/). ![Gold and silver commemorative pieces with a waving profile, printed with a Dubai skyline](https://www.sunstudio.ae/cases/phoenix-minting-gold-silver-bars-dubai.jpg) ## Technical considerations Precious metal is demanding for reasons that have little to do with its value and everything to do with its surface. Two things decide the outcome: how bright it is, and whether the face is flat. What matters in practice: ### The metal is part of the colour Process UV inks are semi-transparent. Light passes through the ink, is returned by the surface underneath and passes back out, so a bright metal changes every colour laid over it. An opaque white base is the fix where colour has to read true. ### A flatbed sets one height The printhead crosses the bed at a fixed gap, and that gap has to clear the tallest point in its path. On a shaped face the ink crosses a longer distance over the lower areas. ### Detail costs distance Drop placement error grows with the gap and with carriage speed, so the further ink has to travel, the more a hairline drifts from where the file put it. ### Reflected UV is managed in setup The metal itself is passive. A polished surface returns some of the press's own UV toward the nozzle plate, where it can begin curing ink at the nozzle. It is a geometry problem, handled in how the job is run. ### Adhesion is decided at the interface Nothing soaks into metal, so the bond depends on how thoroughly the surface is degreased, on the ink chemistry and on the cure. ### There is no spare stock Pieces come in a counted run and cannot be reprinted on fresh material, which is why a sample is proved first. ## Common questions ### Can you UV print directly onto real gold? Yes. Sun Studio prints artwork directly onto solid gold pieces in Dubai and cures the ink onto the metal, with no sticker, vinyl or transfer involved. Because the metal is bright, we agree first whether the artwork should be printed over a white base to read as true colour, or laid straight onto the gold so the metal shows through. ### Can you print on real silver? Yes. We have printed solid silver commemorative pieces for Phoenix Minting Jewelry alongside the gold ones. Silver is brighter and more reflective than most metals we handle, which affects how colour reads and how the job is set up, but it is printed the same way: direct onto the surface and cured. We prove a sample on the actual material before a run. ### Can UV printing be done on a curved or non-flat surface? Within limits, yes. A flatbed press carries the printhead at one height, and that height must clear the tallest point of the piece, so ink crosses a longer gap over lower areas. Gentle shaping prints well. The greater the height difference across the face, the softer fine detail becomes, which is why we ask for a photograph taken from the side. ### Do you supply the gold or silver, or do we? You do. Sun Studio prints the pieces; it does not make or sell gold or silver. Send the finished pieces, or tell us if they are still to be made, and give us the exact quantity: a counted run has no spare stock, and the sample is proved on the actual material. ### Will the print rub off precious metal? Nothing soaks into metal, so adhesion is decided entirely at the surface. It depends on how thoroughly the piece is degreased before printing, on the ink and on the cure. We test on the same material the job will run on rather than quote a figure, because finishes vary between suppliers. ### Can you print a single piece or a small run? Yes. There is no minimum order. Direct UV printing has no plates or screens to make, so a one-off commission and a counted series are both practical. Precious metal work is usually small-run by nature. ### Is this the same as gold foil printing? No. Gold foiling puts a gold-coloured effect onto paper or card. This service prints onto solid precious metal, where the gold or silver is the object itself and remains visible as metal. ## Related services - [Metal & Aluminium Printing](https://www.sunstudio.ae/services/metal-aluminium-printing-dubai/) (Service) - [Corporate Gift Printing](https://www.sunstudio.ae/services/corporate-gift-printing-dubai/) (Service) - [Crystal & Awards Printing](https://www.sunstudio.ae/services/crystal-awards-printing-dubai/) (Service) - [Print on Any Surface, Any Material](https://www.sunstudio.ae/services/print-on-any-surface-any-material/) (Service) ## Related insights - [Why UV Print Peels: Ink Adhesion and Pre-Treatment](https://www.sunstudio.ae/insights/uv-ink-adhesion-and-pre-treatment-dubai/) (Printing technology) - [GoldPrivé × Sun Studio: UV Printing for Luxury Personalisation in Dubai](https://www.sunstudio.ae/insights/goldprive-sun-studio-luxury-uv-printing-dubai/) (Materials & surfaces) - [Custom Printing for Luxury Retail Displays in Dubai: Glass, Acrylic, Wood and ACP](https://www.sunstudio.ae/insights/luxury-brand-printing-services-the-2026-guide-to-direct-to-surface-excellence/) (Glass & interiors) - [Custom Trophies, Awards and Plaques in Dubai](https://www.sunstudio.ae/insights/custom-trophies-awards-plaques-dubai/) (Corporate gifts & events) --- *This is the Markdown rendering of a page on sunstudio.ae. The canonical version is the HTML at https://www.sunstudio.ae/services/precious-metal-printing-dubai/.* **Sun Studio**: direct-to-surface UV printing. Al Quoz First, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Phone and WhatsApp +971 4 346 7422 · info@sunstudio.ae · [https://www.sunstudio.ae/contact/](https://www.sunstudio.ae/contact/) A curated index of this site for agents: https://www.sunstudio.ae/llms.txt