From artwork to arch
How we print on balloons
Every printed balloon is screen printed, one colour at a time. Here is what happens between you sending a logo and a box of balloons arriving — and why the number of colours changes the price.
1Your artwork is checked
A person opens your file, checks it will hold up at balloon scale, and prepares it as one layer per ink colour. If something will not reproduce, you hear about it now — not after you have paid.
2A film for every colour
Each colour in the design is output as its own film, the stencil the screen is made from.
3Screens are exposed
The film is exposed onto a fine mesh screen. Where the light is blocked, the mesh stays open and the ink will pass through.
4Inks are mixed to your Pantone
Give us a Pantone reference and the ink is mixed to it by hand, rather than you getting the nearest stock colour.
5The press is set up
The screen is fitted to the press and registered, so that on a multi-colour job every screen lands in exactly the right place.
6Balloons are printed inflated
Each balloon is inflated on the press so the surface is taut, printed, and taken off again. It is why a design stretches evenly when you blow it up.
7Every balloon is checked
Prints are checked as they come off the press for coverage and position, and anything that is not right is pulled.
8Dried, packed and dispatched
Balloons are left to dry, deflated, counted and packed flat — then dispatched on the date you chose when you ordered.
Why colours change the price
Every ink colour is its own film, its own screen and its own pass through the press. A one-colour logo is the cheapest per balloon and registers the most accurately; each extra colour adds a screen and a set-up. Printing both sides doubles the passes, which is why two-sided printing is one colour per side.