How to print on wood?

Do you print on wood?

Yes!

How do you print on wood?

There are several ways that you can print onto wood. The traditional way to do this is by screen printing, using a screen printing press. However, with new technologies and state of the art machines, UV flatbed printing is the best way now. It is much faster, is photo quality and easy to personalise each piece.

The wood is placed onto the flat table of the machine, and the print heads pass over at around 1.5mm above.

We have a number of these to print onto wood and get fantastic results.

Can you print double sided?

Yes of course, but double sided will cost a bit more than single sided due to time and ink.

What types of wood can you print onto?

Usually, if the wood is clean, dry and fairly flat, it can printed on. The most common types of wood that we print onto is Birch Ply, Marine Ply and OSB, but also solid woods such as Oak, Walnut, Cherrywood, Maple, Douglas Fir and Ash. Generally, we can print on pretty much any wood if it's from a sustainable source.

We are also able to print on wood veneers as thin as 0.5mm thick and on timber up to 120mm thick.

Generally, the smoother the wood, the finer the finish, but printing onto very grainy wood looks rustic and very nice.

Can you print and engrave on the same item?

Absolutely, lets get creative! We have state of the art laser cutting and engraving equipment here which can be used to cut the wood into any shape, or engrave onto the surface, creating a 'burnt on' look. We can also print into the engrave or have the machine engrave out the printing.

By combining both engraving, cutting and printing together, we can achieve any look you wish.

Does engraving cost more than printing?

Generally yes. It takes longer to engrave most things than it does to print, so the cost can be more.

What format do you need for my artwork?

We can accept most industry standard files, but our preference would be Print ready PDF's with fonts outlined and colours in CMYK. If you have any doubts on your artwork or if you have it in a different format, please get in touch!

Can you do the design and artwork for us?

Yes, we have a team of designers here in-house that can create your artwork for you. We would create a visual to start with so that you are able to see if it is what your looking for and give you the chance to make changes.

What dimensions can your printer go to?

We have several different size print machines here. The largest size we can print in one go is 2.5m x 1.3m in size, but normally we are restricted to the size of the wood sheets which generally come in at 2.44m x 1.22m. For larger areas, we can tile the boards.

The smallest size we can do is 1mm x 1mm!

We can also print up to 150mm thick in some circumstances

What dimensions can your laser go to?

Again, we have several laser cutting machines. We can laser cut sheets up to 2.5m x 1.48m.

We can generally cut up to around 10mm thick, anything thicker would need to be CNC cut.

What kind of inks do you use?

UV cured inks. Kind to the environment and have great longevity.

What is your turnaround time?

Our average turnaround time is 7-10 working days from payment and approval of visuals.  This can vary at certain times of the year and we will always try and accommodate your requirements

Can you produce my job prior to payment?

No, unfortunately not.  As everything we do is bespoke, we require full payment prior to production.

Do you provide samples?

Yes, for a small fee we can produce a sample of your own work.

Can I pay by card?

We prefer BACS but yes you can pay by card.  Invoices over £500 will incur a 1.5% handling fee.

Can you supply the wood?

Yes, we have many items of wood already in stock, and great suppliers who can provide us with almost any wood you want. In fact, we would prefer to supply the wood as we know what specifications we need to get the best results.

Is your wood sustainable?

Absolutely! All the wood we use is from managed forests which are regulated by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) or Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC), both of which we are certified with.

We do not use any wood that has come from ancient forests.

Where are you based?

Teignmouth in Sunny Devon, UK