Digitally Printing on Urns

Personalization isn’t just for drinkware.

At Inkcups HQ, we see a lot of interesting applications come through our doors for application testing. Customers trust us with new products, redesigns, new materials, and applications that require a little extra problem-solving.

But it isn’t always fun and games. Sometimes it’s medical devices, automotive parts, tools, or other everyday products that need to be identified, marked, and distinguishable for years to come.

Lately, our engineering team has received tooling requests for an application we haven’t seen much of before: urns.

These requests have focused on digitally decorating urns with photographs, names, dates, artwork, and other personalized elements to create a more meaningful memorial.

Shapes & Materials of Urns that are Digital Printer Friendly

Generally speaking, urns fall into two broad shape categories: rectangular or box-shaped urns and cylindrical or vase-shaped vessels.

They can also be manufactured from a wide variety of materials, including metal, stone, wood, ceramic, porcelain, glass, and resin. The combination of shape, material, coating, and desired print area all play a role in determining the best way to decorate the piece.

We’ve seen both rectangular and cylindrical urns come through our doors, and each lends itself to a different type of direct-to-object UV printing technology.

Rectangular urns with relatively flat surfaces can be decorated using a UV flatbed printer such as the X5-T High Throw. Cylindrical urns, on the other hand, may be candidates for the Helix® High Throw.

One of the most common urn designs resembles a vase, with a surface that curves significantly from top to bottom. That contour can make the vessel difficult or impossible to decorate using a traditional cylindrical inkjet printer, which is designed for more consistent surface geometry.

High throw technology expands the possibilities by allowing ink droplets to travel farther from the printhead while maintaining print quality. For appropriately sized vessels, this makes it possible to accommodate greater variations in the surface of the urn.

Personalization on Urns

Whether an urn will be displayed during a memorial service or kept in a family member’s home for years to come, personalization can help create a meaningful tribute to the person or pet being remembered.

Digital printing offers the flexibility to produce these highly personalized designs without relying on labels or limiting the artwork to a single color or small engraving area.

Photographs

A photograph can turn an urn into a much more personal memorial. Full-color digital printing allows photographs to be printed directly onto compatible urn surfaces, whether commemorating a family member or a beloved pet.

Depending on the design and printable area, photographs can be combined with backgrounds, graphics, decorative elements, or other artwork to create a cohesive finished piece.

Personalization Content

Names and dates are traditional elements of memorial personalization, but digital printing provides room to go beyond the basics.

Instead of being limited to a small engraving area or a predetermined number of characters, customers can incorporate longer messages, quotes, poems, meaningful phrases, or other personalized text into the overall design.

Because digital printing does not require a separate plate or screen for every design, changing the artwork from one urn to the next is also well suited to personalized, one-off production.

A New Opportunity for Direct-to-Object Printing

Urns may not be the first application that comes to mind when thinking about industrial inkjet printing, but they demonstrate just how varied direct-to-object applications can be.

From a simple name and date to a full-color photograph and completely customized design, digital printing gives manufacturers and decorators another way to create personalized memorial products.

And, as with many unique applications, determining the right solution starts with the object itself: its shape, material, coating, print area, and durability requirements.

To learn more, please visit: https://www.inkcups.com/industrial-printing-equipment/