How do you do digital print on LEGO Minifigures?

On 12/17/2020 at 3:55 AM, LegoFanDK said:

Hi everyone in this thread. Im curious to hear your thoughts on where the digital print technology is today.

Is it faster? is it as durable? Is the quality and detail compareable to pad print or better? Is it cheaper than pad printing? What is the ideal setup for digital printing on Lego both in small volume and in large scale high volume. 

 

As a person who deals with both pad and print I will say they both have their strengths and weaknesses. 

Some of the benefits of digital printing:

More colors can be used
More durable (depending on the vendor offering the service and how current their technology)
More detailed, digital printing can really produce some fine details at a small scale. With some of the books we offer in lego size, you need a magnifying glass or a cellphone photo to actually read the words. You can not get this level of detail with pad printing. (again dependent on the vendor being used)
The ability for textured print (this can add depth to a print)

Pad printing advantages
The ability to print metals
smoother flatter prints (great for photos)
Ability to print on round surfaces without losing details and also a greater coverage on round surfaces

In terms of speed, it all depends on the project at hand. 

All results will vary depending on the printer being used and if the person cares about the details they are producing. We have a high standard that causes us to chuck a lot of, what would seem like, good prints. 

Both have setup costs, but pad will have more set up costs, typically per color. 

I would definitely do pad prints for large volumes when possible but it depends on the amount of colors involved. 

hope this helps.