Printed Electronics with Pad Printing Technology

In the age of smart devices, wearables, and embedded electronics, the way we build electronic components is evolving fast. While screen printing and inkjet dominate headlines, a quieter but powerful technology is making waves in the background: pad printing.

What is Pad Printing?

Pad printing is an indirect printing process that uses a flexible silicone pad to transfer ink from an etched plate (cliche) to a substrate – even if that surface is curved, irregular, or textured. That makes it an ideal technology for printing on non-flat surfaces where traditional printing processes struggle.

Why Use Pad Printing in Electronics?

Pad printing is capable of accurately depositing functional inks – including conductive, resistive, and dielectric materials – onto materials like plastic, glass, and flexible films.

This enables a wide range of applications, including:

Capacitive touch sensors
Printed antennas
RFID tags and NFC circuits
Membrane switches
Flexible hybrid electronics (FHE)
3D circuits on molded parts
Biosensors and wearable tech

Key Advantages of Pad Printing for Electronics

Advantage	Why it Matters
Micron-level precision	Enables fine traces and consistent contact points
Works on 3D surfaces	Ideal for curved, convex, concave, or irregular shapes
Low ink waste	Important with costly functional inks
Fast setup	Great for prototyping and R&D
Easy automation	Scalable to industrial environments
Specialty inks	Conductive silver, carbon, dielectric layers
Compact equipment	Fits in cleanrooms or small labs

Considerations for Printed Electronics

Of course, pad printing for electronics isn’t plug-and-play. To ensure performance and reliability:

Ink formulation must be tuned for adhesion, drying, and conductivity
Cliche design impacts the layer thickness and resolution
Process control is critical
Environmental conditions may affect repeatability

Where Innovation Meets Reality

Today’s electronics are no longer confined to flat PCBs. From smart packaging to wearables, medical diagnostics to flexible human-machine interfaces – electronics are going 3D. Pad printing offers a precise, scalable, and cost-effective way to make that happen.

Ready to Explore Functional Printing?

If you’re developing a next-gen product and need an agile, surface-friendly printing method – pad printing might be your secret weapon.

Let’s talk materials, machines, and possibilities.
Contact us today for a demo or technical consultation.

PRINTED ELECTRONICS

Pad printing offering and opening new possibilities and innovations enabling to direct print on any shape and any surface. Another major advantage of pad printing in general is the high accuracy and repeatability of the print technology. The desired accuracy and repeatability can be the determining factor of the right choice of print technology. In a continuous search to have functionalities incorporated in smaller, thinner, micro-systems a reliable printing technique is demanded. Printing International, due to patented technology and data integration technology makes existing pad printing even more accurate. Taking accuracy between different print positions in account, f.e. print with respectively conductive secondly dielectric ink, towards 0.01 mm and angular accuracy is excellent.

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PRINTED ELECTRONICS PAD PRINTING MACHINES

ORION

flexibility for multiple processes

Automatic	Pneumatic or servo
1-6 ink cups	up to 12 000 pcs/h

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MODULO

multiple colour pad printing

Manual	Pneumatic
2-4 ink cups	up to 1 200 pcs/h

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PRINTED ELECTRONICS PRODUCTS

Printed electronics is a rapidly growing field that involves the use of printing technologies to manufacture electronic components and devices. This technology has immense potential for creating a new generation of low-cost and flexible electronic products and systems. Some examples of printed electronics products and industries:

Printed sensors, printed displays, printed batteries, printed antennas, smart packaging, wearable technology; in Automotive industry for various applications, including printed sensors, lighting systems, and displays; in Aerospace industry to create lightweight and flexible components for space exploration missions.

PRINTED ELECTRONICS INKS

We offer a range of printed electronics solutions using metal-based inks to manufacture electronic components. Our printed electronic inks are cost-effective and offer low-temperature capabilities, resulting in significant impacts on product performance and manufacturing costs.

Our wide range of printed electronics inks includes conductive inks, making them the best choice for printed electronics devices and components. While there are more conductive ink manufacturers, we pride ourselves on our extensive range of printed electronics solutions, including but not limited to silver conductive inks, copper-based conductive ink, carbon nanotubes ink, and graphene-based inks, to help clients navigate the increase in silver ink prices.

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