Direct To Substrate Print Company

Create stunning artwork and print it onto unique materials that showcase your messaging perfectly.

Make your mark onto any material

Trying to advertise your offering, brand your restaurant, or create a vibrant outdoor space? Direct-to-Substrate printing is a great way to produce outstanding messaging and branding inside creative spaces. As the name would suggest, this form of printing is when we print directly onto the surface of the chosen substrate.

A highly durable option, direct-to-media allows creative freedom brands to transform spaces into something magical. By working with the material directly, we cut out any hassle of potentially damaging elements of the print or having to wrap, press or stick artwork to a surface, meaning once it’s printed it’s ready to go.

What Materials Can We Print Onto?

We have worked with many different materials creating unique patterns and effects, the only requirement is that the material can fit underneath our 50mm ink heads, and has a flat surface area to print upon. Our printer is able to handle 3m by 2m at one time, and can be printed within a few minutes!

We tend to recommend running a quick test print on the desired material first, to ensure that the desired effect is created as images might display differently depending on the substrates before printing full artwork.

Glass & Perspex

One of the most satisfying materials we have printed directly on is glass & Perspex as our glass prints tend to be accompanied by a range of lighting, which highlights the vibrant colours perfectly and illuminates the artwork, creating a more professional look.

Metal

Looking for a durable material to decorate with, but want to brand it correctly? Metal is a great material from copper to aluminium, printing onto this substrate tends to take a metallic look and produce a modern alternative look.

Wood

Used often in restaurants, markets and hospitality, printing directly to wood makes use of our strong coloured inks, but leaves the finish with a beautiful imperfection, our ink doesn’t overwrite the wood effect, and so the marks and patterns that make wood eye-catching are embedded into the artwork, creating a wonderful effect.

Carpet

We have the ability to print on carpet-like materials to produce colourful floor patterns or soft walling that needs to be branded for indoor spaces.

Our Print Process

The process normally uses white ink, which is uncommon for most banner and vinyl print, this allows us to print solid colours onto non-white substrates. The technique usually consists of printing white as the first layer, and then any colours within the artwork follow on. What that allows for is a level of depth in the actual artwork, and depending on the substrate, the effect can look more rustic or embellished into the material.

We have invested in some of the widest machinery you can purchase to help our clients produce amazing displays that aren’t restricted to size.

Our Design Experts

Experts in their field, our designers are on hand to make amendments and changes to any images and designs you have. Not got a design in mind? We can help produce your desired outcome from start to finish.

Our Environmental Goal

We look to improve the impact printing has on the environment, pushing forward with eco-friendly ink, materials that are PVC-free and widely recyclable, ensuring that any print can be produced sustainably, whilst pushing our industry forward to a more sustainable future.

Experts In Our Field

We’ve been around for a long time, celebrating our 10th year in 2023, we have over 100 years of combined experience through our staff, so we know what we’re talking about and know how to guide you to success.

Speak To Our Experts Today

Need help to design your perfect vision? Our internal graphic designers are here to help, working in collaboration with brands to showcase the power of print and discover how our extremely strong and long-lasting prints can benefit you.

Frequently Asked Questions About Direct To Substrate Printing

What Does Direct-To-Substrate Printing Mean?

Direct-To-Substrate printing means the process of printing an image directly onto a substrate material such as wood, glass or metals, apposed to printing onto vinyl and mounting it onto the substrate.

How Do We Apply An Image To A Substrate?

By using a flatbed printer, we are able to print the onto materials laying flat, and our inks trigger a polymerization process that directly adheres to the substrate, creating a perfect ink layer and generate your image and messaging with ease.

What Does Substrate Mean In Printing?

A substrate is the area in which the print is being applied to, usually material such as glass, paper, film, or more traditional printing substrates such as banners, canvas, vinyls and such.

What Is Direct-To-Substrate Printing?

Applying specialised inks that contain monomers, allowing the ink to bond directly to the substrate using UV print and curing, meaning it will be dried and ready instantly. This is how direct-to-substrate is different to screen printing, which used a stencil or screen to transfer the ink onto the substrate, allowing for the ink to pass over some other areas.