Printing Anodized Metal

A wide range of products, from baseball bats and surgical tools to signs and furniture, use printing over anodized coatings for aesthetic and/or functional purposes.

High resolution images and full color graphics can be printed directly onto metals coated via standard anodizing or hard anodizing. Silkscreen, sublimation transfer, digital printing, and other processes can be used to deposit colored inks and dyes into the porous oxide layers of unsealed anodized coatings. Graphics may also be applied directly by hand, using standard paint brushes or airbrushing. After printing, anodized coatings can be sealed to reduce or eliminate dye leaching and bleed out.

Micro-crystalline anodized coatings can be specially printed with ink embedded within the aluminum oxide layer. The process is referred to as SANFORD PRINT™. Because the printing is not on the outer surface of the treated part, it results in a more durable, permanent marking. After being sealed within the oxide layer, this printing is impervious to abrasion, chipping, and delamination, enabling it to withstand exposure to cleaning detergents, thermal cycles, and repeated physical handling.