Pad Printing Solution

The Pad printing is an indirect method of printing, a combination of offset & gravure printing process. Plate system is like gravure & printing system is like offset. In gravure printing, design is etched on a roller whereas in pad printing, flat plate carries an image. A rubber blanket, in offset process, picks up image from the plate & transfer it on the substrate. Similarly a solid mass of rubber called pad, picks up ink from the etched plate & prints on the substrate hence the process is known as pad printing.

Theory of pad print :
The ink is spread over the plate to fill up the image on it. Doctor blade cleans the plate leaving ink in the etched portion. The upper surface of the ink film is exposed to air. Thinner in the ink starts evaporating from the exposed surface making ink tacky. The silicone rubber pad come down & rolls on the image area on the plate. It goes up with ink film on it. Because of the tacky ink film pad is able of pick up ink from the etched portion. The another side of ink film is now exposed to air & starts evaporating thinner from it. Ink becomes tacky and sticks to the substrate as pad come up after rolling on it.