FAQ

How much does Origination and Carriage cost?

Origination costs vary from product to product depending on the printing process used and carriage charges are based upon weight. A quote on both origination and freight costs can be supplied by contacting our Sales Department.

Is Printing included in the Unit Price?

A one colour print to the barrel is included in the unit price unless otherwise stated. There are a few products that are suitable only for laser engraving or can not be printed and a few that are only suitable for clip printing but this will be stated underneath the pricing details within the Product Information window.

How many pens are contained in a carton?

Please see the Product Details section shown in the Product Information window.

What is the minimum order quantity for a product?

Please see the Product Details section shown in the Product Information window.

What is the print area?

Please see the Print Area section shown in the Product Information window.

Do you have suggestions for a suitable presentation box for the pen I have chosen?

Please see the Options section shown in the Product Information window.

I have arranged my own courier collection - what size is the box and what does it weigh?

Please see the Additional Information section shown in the Product Information window.

I need a pen matched to a specific pantone colour - is this possible?

There are several models in our range that can be matched to a specific pantone reference.

Rubber grips on the LPC 064 Special Range.
The barrel of the Futura Special Range.
The components of both the X-Five Swing Special Colour and the Allegra Swing Special Colour Ranges.
Read more about our Extensive Colour Ranges

I would like four-colour process printing applied to a pen - is this a service you offer?

We have a wide range of promotional pens that we can reproduce photographic artwork onto which include:

Spectrum Ballpen
Prodir DS5 Ballpen
Futura Digital Ballpen
Fotofinish Ballpen.

In addition to the pens we also offer pen clips, highlighters and miscellaneous items which are included in this range.

Read more about them in our Full Colour Printing section.

I need peripheral printing applied to my pen - Can you help?

The Futura Digital and Fotofinish Ballpens are both suitable for peripheral printing.

I would like a virtual mock-up of my customised pen - is this possible?

You can create your own virtual mock-up of the Kiki Fantasia, X-Three Fantasia, X-Five Fantasia, Mandi Fantasia and Allegra Fantasia Ballpens.

Details can be found here.

Is my choice of pantone colour suitable for my pen?

Read here about how pantone colours behave and advice on choosing the right pantone swatch to avoid disappointment.

Where can I purchase a pantone book?

Please contact our sales department for details.

I would like to know more about the printing processes you use?

Information about printing techniques and pen manufacturing can be found here.

Why don't metallic inks last as long as solid colours?

Metallic inks (gold and silver) have a reduced life due to their formulation. If you took a droplet of ink and viewed it under an extremely powerful microscope you would see that its composition is made up of pigment (particles of metallic powder) held in a suspension of resin.

The hundreds of particles of the metallic pigment are larger than those that are found in solid colour inks. Their enlarged size makes them stand proud of the ink surface and are therefore more exposed to general wear-and-tear. Solid colour pigment is more deeply embedded into the ink's surface area and is therefore much more resistant to abrasion.

The composition of the metallic pigments is another important factor. Silver pigment is made primarily from aluminium and gold pigment is largely made from brass. As neither of these elements are resistant to saline solution (perspiration) you have the additional problem of their inability to defend a chemical attack.

For this reason, we can not guarantee adhesion and would suggest that you have an over-varnish applied to protect metallic colours. This service is available on most products at additional cost.

Why does the print look dull?

The most accurate colour matches can only be achieved when Pantone references are printed onto a white surface as they rely on surface reflection.

Generally speaking, orders for vibrant colours to be printed onto dark surfaces will be the least accurate. An example of this would be to request white to be printed onto a black surface and the result wouldl appear light grey. All central Pantone colours and all basic Pantone colours will appear very dull when printed onto black or coloured surfaces.

This guide is purely to illustrate how the colours are affected when printed onto coloured substrates. The image below shows how a number of popular pantone colours might appear when printed onto coloured surfaces. The colours shown can not be taken as precise colour matches.

Taking all this into consideration, how can you determine how accurate a requested colour match will be on a coloured substrate?

Put simply, there is no perfect method available to give you a definitive answer. However, you can get a pretty good idea if you bear in mind the following:

The best pantone book to use is called the "Colour Formula Guide". This shows you the mixing ratios that lithographic printers use to make up their colour matches. Although, screen and tampo printers do not use these guides for mixing inks as their base mixing colours are different, the formulae themselves are reveal quite a lot of information. With the exception of Grey, metallic and fluorescent colours, the formulae guide focuses on central colours. This means that each page in the formulae guide has a central colour and you can identify which colour on the page that is because the formula listed does not contain black or white.

This central colour is the starting point for colour matchers; the other colours on the page use this basic mix to create the colours above and below that swatch by simply adding either black or white to it. Usually increasing amounts of white go up the page and increasing amounts of black go down the page. As black and white are the only two pigments that a colour matcher can use to increase the opacity of an ink and as we mentioned earlier, these central colours contain no black or white, then it follows that the most translucent colour on each page is the central colour.

This is the colour that will give the worst colour match when you are printing onto a non-white substrate. The colours furthest away from the central colour on each page will usually provide the best colour match because the opaque pigments, white and black, will help obliterate the colour of the substrate beneath.

The printed colour is always influenced by the surface colour. It is recommended that you order a printed proof if the colour match is critical. We will assume that our best attempt to match the colour reference requested is acceptable to you if a printed proof is not ordered. This is taking into consideration the constraints or limitations of the ink system in use and the nature and colour of the surface being printed.