Can I Pad Print On Dark Fabrics?

Short answer:
Yes, you have 3 options:

• Use Cool Grey 6
• Use ULTRA White with a regular pad printer and get fairly opaque prints
• Get the Brite-100 System to get absolutely radiant light-on-dark prints

Long answer:
Pad printing ink is laid in a very thin layer (hence the softness of the print and low ink costs). Because of the thinness, a white print made by a standard pad printing machine with standard white ink on a dark fabric will look grey. So we recommend using the Cool Grey 6 color, which is standard practice for the majority of clothing brands.

ULTRA White ink is an improvement on the standard white formulation. ULTRA White requires machine speed calibration but results in a noticeably improved opaqueness.

And here is the great news! Inkcups engineers have developed the Brite Tagless System that allows printing brilliant white and light colors (white, yellow, pink, light blue, light green, etc.) onto dark fabrics. The Brite Tagless printer has a lower maximum speed than our standard pad printers. But the softness, flexibility, compliance, and durability of the print is uncompromised and the brightness is stunning. This is the only solution in the world, available exclusively from Inkcups.