Are you a business owner or passionate soccer player who'd like to spice things up a bit and design your own soccer balls? Nowadays, it's very common to see promotional content everywhere, even on the soccer balls. Think about it for a moment. If you own a business that sells football equipment, printing your company's logo on a soccer ball might be an ultimate win for your business. Let's dive in and talk about different ways on how to print on a soccer ball and which one to choose.
Choosing the Right Soccer Ball for Printing
First and foremost, before printing on a soccer ball, it's crucial that you've picked the right ball. There are many crucial features for choosing the right soccer ball, but material and size are the first that comes to our mind.
As the market for building soccer balls is drastically developing, so it's the diversity of materials used to build a soccer ball. The highest quality soccer balls are made from synthetic leather, but nowadays, there are many cheaper alternatives made from cheaper synthetic leather as polyvinyl chloride or even rubber. Before thinking about design, it's important to decide on your budget and material you're going to use for printing on soccer balls.
The next step is picking the right size. For instance, if you're providing soccer balls for kid's football tournament, then having a smaller ball might have a sense. If you're sponsoring a futsal tournament, then futsal sized ball will be suitable.
Picking the right size totally depends on the purpose of printing the balls. The weight of the standard soccer ball ranges from 14 - 16 oz while size ranges from 27 - 28 inches in diameter.
Here are all standard sizes of soccer balls:
How to Print a Soccer Ball 101 - Which Method to Choose?
Basically, when it comes to printing on a soccer ball, there are two widely spread methods - screen printing and digital printing.
There is a lot of debate on which way is better and provides higher quality. The shortest answer we could give is that it totally depends on the purpose of printing the balls.
For instance, screen printing is a prevalent method for promotional soccer balls. If you're looking to print a tiny and not detailed graphic (company's logo) then you should definitely go with screen printing. It's a cheaper and way faster method. A printed graphic won't last that long, but having your company's logo on a ball doesn't need to last for a year.
We're using screen printing while putting your logo or promotional graphic on a soccer ball. If you're looking to get a high-quality printed soccer ball, then head over to our Virtual Design Tool and make your own design. We understand if you're not a born designer, so we have a professional designer who can help you in creating the desired design (no additional cost).
On the other hand, digital printing is a method where you directly print on a material of the soccer ball. It's done by using robust printers that can directly apply the pre-designed graphic to the material. It's a way more expensive method, but you can print beautiful and detailed designs on a soccer ball.
Let's jump into more details about each printing method.
Screen Printed Soccer Balls
Screen printing on soccer balls is a prevalent method since it's cheaper and suitable for promotion. Majority of companies who're looking to promote their business or brand choose screen printing.
How does it work?
Well, first you have to have a graphic you'd like to print on a soccer ball. People usually print the graphic on vinyl before applying it to the ball. You have to put the graphic to a certain place you'd like your graphic to appear and transfer the graphic to the ball. The graphic is thermally transferred and we are aiming for the temperature at least 200°C to do it correctly.
This method is perfect for simple graphics like the company's logo or small text. You can't expect to have a high quality and detailed graphic using this method.
Here's the process of screen printing on a soccer ball:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUQb5sSv4b4Digital Printed Soccer Balls
Digital printing is a newer method that is far more superior when it comes to printing detailed and complex graphic. This method of printing doesn't use temperature to transfer the graphic. Robust printers are being used to directly print the desired graphics to the fabric on the ball.
With this method, you can basically print very complex and colorful designs that will look realistic. Also, the quality of the graphic is far better and digital printing ensures the longevity of your designs.
The biggest downside is the cost and equipment to print on soccer balls using this method. It's an ideal method for designing your own line of soccer balls, but if you're looking to promote your business, then sticking to screen printing might be a better choice.
Here's the process of digital printing on soccer balls:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=no2p1BBRocIIf you have any question about which method of printing on soccer balls to choose, feel free to reach us out through email or live chat.