Your Guide To Custom Coffee Cup Printing Methods

Different printing methods can produce different results for custom coffee cups, custom plastic cups, and even when printing on mugs and coffee cups. Here is a guide to the most popular printing methods used for custom cup printing. This guide will help choose the best option for your needs.

Printing Methods

CMYK

CMYK printing, also known as full color printing, is the most popular printing method used for coffee cups. CMYK stands for cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. These four colors are mixed to create all of the other millions of colors in the print spectrum. This printing method is great for intricate designs or images with many colors.

CMYK Printing

Pantone

Pantone printing uses a specific color palette to print your design on your coffee cups. You can choose from thousands of different colors in the Pantone palette. This printing method is great for designs that require accurate color matching.

Pantone Color Palette

Spot Color

Spot color printing is similar to Pantone printing, but it uses fewer colors. Spot color printing is typically used for simple and basic designs.

Stamping / Direct printing

With Direct Printed products, you get the accuracy of solid coated Pantone colors stamped onto a surface one at a time. This process has a very high level of accuracy. It is normally used with one color and up to six different colors but as with anything else, there are cons to this process as it can only create simple designs and cannot be used for more intricate artworks.

The Stamping process is a great solution for custom cold cups and custom paper cups if you are only looking to print a logo or a simple design on the front and the back of the cup.

Foil Stamping

Foil stamping is the process of applying heat, pressure, and metallic foil to the surface of a custom coffee cup. The result is a shiny, metallic design on your cups. This printing method is great for simple designs or images that need a little extra flair. This process is hard to find in the US but is more common in Europe and Asia.

Foil stamping on coffee cups doesn't have to be costly but for low minimum orders it tends to be an expensive printing method due to the complexity of the process. with a large order of 30,000 and up the price per cup comes down considerably as the setup fees are spread over a large number of cups.

Again, This printing method is not for everyone but can be great for designs that need this extra flair.

Embossing

Embossing is the process of creating a raised design on your coffee cup. This printing method is great for simple designs such as logos for example. It will give your cup a more high-end and luxurious feel.

Screen Printing

Screen printing is a classic printing method that involves creating a stencil of your design and using it to apply ink to the surface of the paperboard or other items. This method is ideal for designs with few colors and simple shapes.

Offset Printing

Offset printing is a more advanced printing method that uses plates to transfer your design onto the coffee cup. This method is ideal for designs with complex shapes or multiple colors. it is also the best choice for large print runs and more economical for large orders too.

Digital Printing

Digital printing is the newest and most advanced printing method. This method uses a computer to print your design directly onto the coffee cup. This method is great for full-color designs or photographs. It is also the best choice for small print runs. Digital printing is not as economical for large orders as offset printing but is a great choice for small runs.

So after we looked at the different printing methods, we hope you have a better understanding of which one is the best method for your needs. The second part of this guide is the explore the print coverage.

16oz Custom Coffee Cup

Print Coverage

often the most important factor when deciding on your print method and style of custom coffee cups is the amount of coverage you need. The coverage is the area of your cup that will be printed.

There are mainly three types of coverage:

Full Coverage

Also called "Full Wrap" and "All Around Printing". This means that your design will be printed from edge to edge on your cup. This is the most common type of coverage for coffee cups but not all printers offer this service. This type of coverage is great for branding purposes as it allows your brand to be seen better by any angel.

Partial Coverage

This means that your design will be printed on the front and back of the cup but will not wrap around the entire body of the cup. This type of coverage doesn't require a complex printer hence it's more common and offered by more printers.

Vegetable-based ink

When printing over 30% of the cup's total surface, most printers will use vegetable-based inks, such as Soy ink for example. This is to ensure that cups are food-safe, non-toxic, compliant with the FDA, and odorless.

Vegetable-based ink can also be used when printing biodegradable coffee cups, compostable cups, and other eco-friendly printed products.

Single-Sided

As the name suggests, this means that your design will be printed on only one side of the cup. This is the most basic type of coverage and is offered by most printers. In many cases, the printer will create a designated area to be printed on the cup and the design must be printed within this area.

Forming vs. Stamping

Forming Paper Cups

Making a takeaway paper cup that is handed to you at the shop can be an interesting process, and many coffee shop owners are not familiar with the process. To create a custom printed paper cup, there are two ways that the manufacturing process can go: stamping or forming.

In the stamping process, a die cuts the desired shape out of a flat sheet of pre-printed paperboard. The resulting shape is then sent through a series of rollers that curl the edges of the cut-out to create a hollow tube. This tube is then glued together at the seam and trimmed to create a finished cup.

The forming process begins with a pre-printed sheet of paperboard that is cut into a long, continuous strip. This strip is then fed into a machine where it is heated and formed into the shape of a cup. The cups are then cut from the strip and sent through a series of rollers that curl the edges of the cup. Finally, the cups are glued together at the seam and trimmed to create a finished product.

Because the printing process is done on a flat sheet of paperboard it provides more design flexibility and can allow for almost any type of design to be printed with almost no limitations. Later, the sheet is cut and formed into cups.

Stamping

In the stamping method, the printing is done after the cup is formed and this means that there is a limit to the artwork and the design, as well as the number of colors that can be used in the design.

More often than not, printing on the cup after it was already formed allows for front and back printing in a designated area only (e.g logo, slogan, etc.)

Unlike custom coffee mugs, where the design can be printed all around 360 degrees using a silkscreen machine, with custom coffee cups there is a limit to how far the artwork can wrap around the cup if not using a forming method.

So after we looked at the different printing methods, we hope you have a better understanding of which one is the best method for your needs. It really comes down to what you are trying to achieve with your design. If you need a simple design with one or two colors, then things may be a bit easier for you. However, if you need a more complex design that wraps around the entire cup, using a four-color process or full coverage then you will need to use a printer that uses an advanced printing machine and forming methods.

This article was meant to provide coffee shop owners with some information on custom coffee cup printing methods so that you can make an informed decision when it comes to printing and branding.

If you have any questions about custom coffee cup printing or, feel free to reach out to us and we would be happy to assist you further. Don't forget to ask for our free mockup package to see how your design will look when printed on a paper or plastic cup.