Table of Contents
Introduction
As the market of mobile phone case is getting bigger and bigger, there are more and more solutions to print pattern on mobile phone case. Casefty will tell you how to print pattern on mobile phone case from the factory’s point of view, what are the kinds of technology to print pattern on mobile phone case, the features, advantages and disadvantages of different kinds of printing methods and so on. Among them, UV printing, Thermal Transfer printing, dye sublimation printing, Imd/Iml, Pad Printing, laser engraving, and so on.
UV Printing
Technical Principle:
UV printing technology is through the LED cold light source lamp emits ultraviolet waves and UV ink in the photosensitive curing agent reaction, resulting in UV ink in the pigment molecules cured on the surface of the phone case technology, so no need to wait for the ink to dry. uv printing can theoretically be printed on all objects.
UV printing is currently the most common form of custom phone case printing, casetify the vast majority of phone cases are used in UV printing!
How to work:
Place the mobile phone case on the UV printer, adjust the pattern to be printed on the computer, turn on the machine, and the UV printer can print the set graphics on the mobile phone case.
UV advantages
- Color Accuracy: UV printing is a computer-controlled inkjet process, so color accuracy can be very high. What color is on the computer, what color is printed.
- Can print a variety of processes of bumpy texture: Advanced UV printers can print, for example: electroplating, hot stamping, and other uneven process patterns on the surface of the phone, the pattern layer will look very advanced overall.
- Very low minimum order quantity： UV printing can often be as low as a pattern of 100 pieces of the starting quantity, because the UV printer is convenient to turn on and off, so you don’t need such a large starting quantity.
Disadvantages
- If the printing of the base material is not so matching, long-term use of the surface pattern layer has the risk of falling off.
- Special processes on the base material requirements are high, not all materials can be printed on special processes, such as electroplating, hot stamping and so on.
Thermal transfer printing
Thermal transfer printing technology, that is, the pattern is printed on heat-resistant adhesive paper, and then through heating, pressurization, the ink layer of the pattern printed on the special material phone case of a technology.
How it works:
The pattern is printed on the heat-resistant adhesive film by digital printing, the heat-resistant adhesive film with the pattern and the mobile phone case without the pattern are placed on the thermal transfer machine, and then heated and pressurized by the thermal transfer machine, so as to transfer the pattern from the heat-resistant adhesive film to the mobile phone case.
Features:
The surface of the phone case with heat transfer printing will have a new pigment coating, because the original pigment is newly added to the surface of the phone case.
Advantages:
- The pattern texture is very good: Thermal transfer printing will cover the pigment layer directly on the phone case, so the hand touch will have the illusion of color raised.
- Can be 3D printed: Thermal transfer printing technology can often achieve 3D printing, that is, the back and sides of the phone case can be printed on the back and sides of the full package of patterns.
- Low order quantity: Thermal transfer technology is perfect for ordering small quantities and playing samples!
Sublimation printing
Thermal sublimation is a technique in which a heat-resistant film with a pattern is heated to a high temperature to sublimate the pigment molecules in the patterned layer of the film, which is then cooled and finally reapplied to the new substrate. Thermal sublimation is not only used to print patterns on mobile phone cases, but also applied to various electronic product shells, such as game consoles, keyboards, and so on!
Features:
Thermal sublimation technology transfers the pigment molecules by sublimation, so the pigment molecules will be embedded in the base material of the phone case, thus having a very smooth surface, thermal sublimation technology is currently the best printing technology for the pattern effect on the phone case, and it really realizes the photo-level detail.
Advantage:
- Photo level color: heat sublimation is the real photo level color, if the amount of color of UV printing is compared to 1, then the amount of color of heat sublimation is 1.5, the pattern printed by heat sublimation is able to go to compare with the display at the same time.
- Can realize 3D printing: Heat sublimation technology can also realize the 3D printing of mobile phone cases, that is, the back and three sides are printed at the same time.
- Suitable for small batch purchases: the minimum order of heat sublimation can be tens of pieces.
- Mature printing technology: At present, heat sublimation is not only applied to mobile phone cases, but also applied to various electronic cases.
IMD/IML technology
The imd/iml technology is a technology in which the pattern is first printed on a transparent film sheet, and then the transparent film sheet with the pattern is embedded into the phone case by injection molding the whole film sheet, so that the pattern is sandwiched between the phone case and the transparent film sheet.
Features:
The pattern is on the inside of the phone case, and you can add more than two layers of pattern, the design is richer, the color will not fade with time and will not be scratched.
Pros:
- Multi-layer pattern: imd/iml technology can set up multi-layer patterns, which can achieve very rich effects.
- Pattern durability: Because there is a layer of transparent film sheet insulating the pattern, the pattern will never lose color and never be scratched.
- Suitable for mass production: Because imd technology can be packaged and shipped directly after straight injection molding, so it is very suitable for mass production, as soon as the injection molding machine is opened, hundreds of phone cases are produced, so imd are 300 to 500 individual images with a starting order quantity.
Pad Printing
Principle:
Similar to the principle of hand printing, the soft rubber with patterned indentation is dipped in ink and then printed on the mobile phone case by pressing the pattern, leaving the pattern.
Features:
Advantage: can print uneven surface: many eco-friendly mobile phone cases have uneven surfaces, with many uneven small gaps, so this time can only be printed by pad printing for mobile phone cases.
Disadvantage: due to purely manual operation, so the precision will be poor.
Laser Printing
The laser produces a high-intensity laser beam, which is focused through a focusing lens onto the phone case to be engraved, the high temperature of the laser beam can quickly heat and vaporize the material, thus leaving a pattern on the material phone case.
Features:
Laser printing is the best way to print on metal phone cases. It is the worst way to print on plastic cases because the high temperature of the laser can cause uncontrollable dissolution of the surface of the plastic case, which may cause the pattern to fail.
Laser printing can also be used on leather and fabric cases.
Frequently Asked Questions
Heat Transfer vs Sublimation
- Thermal transfer and dye sublimation both use heat to transfer pigment molecules, but in different ways.
- Thermal transfer involves peeling off the entire pattern layer from the film by heating and pressurizing it, and then re-applying it to the base material of the phone case, while thermal sublimation involves transferring the pigment molecules directly through high temperature.
- Thermal transfer allows you to touch the raised pigment layer with your hand, while the surface of thermal sublimation is very smooth because the pigment molecules have already been integrated into the base material of the phone case.
UV Printing vs Thermal Transfer
UV printing is computerized precise control of inkjet, so the color accuracy is very high, while thermal transfer only transfers the printed pattern layer, so the accuracy will be a little worse. But the pattern color of thermal transfer is richer than UV printing.
UV printing vs IMD/IML
The pattern layer of UV printing is on top of the base material, so it will surely fall off for a long time and is not anti-scratch, while the pattern layer of IMD/IML is in the middle of the base material of the mobile phone case and the film, so the pattern layer can be anti-scratch and will not fall off.
Conclusion:
When creating a mobile phone case project, if you need a low MOQ, go for UV printing, heat transfer printing, heat sublimation, etc. to print mobile phone cases, if you need a large quantity order, then there is no better choice than IMD/IML technology
The above are the mainstream printing methods in the current mobile phone case market, if you have any doubts about mobile phone case printing, you can also send an email to us, we are happy to answer your questions.
