Custom Printed Plastic Containers: Screen, Offset, Sleeve or Label?

A plain tub becomes your pack the moment your name goes on it. How the name goes on decides more than the look: which shapes you can use, how the print survives a freezer, how much artwork fits, and how much setup stands between approving a design and receiving cartons.

This guide compares six ways branding gets onto injection-moulded packaging in India, what each needs from your artwork, and the ink and labelling rules for food containers.

Key takeaways

• Screen printing suits bold marks on round sides and flat lids; dry offset suits multi-colour artwork on round and tapered tubs; shrink sleeves cover the whole body in photographic artwork.
• In-mould labelling (IML) fuses a printed label into the wall during moulding and needs label-handling equipment at the moulding machine. Embossing needs the design cut into the mould itself.
• Each method has its own setup: screens, plates, printed sleeve film, IML labels, or a mould insert. That setup, not the container, is what makes a new design slow to start.
• Food packaging inks must conform to IS 15495, and the printed surface must not touch the food, under FSSAI's packaging regulations.
• If the print carries mandatory label declarations, FSSAI sets minimum letter heights, and moulded lettering has to be larger than printed.

The six methods at a glance

Screen printing, dry offset printing and shrink sleeving are done in-house at our Dadra works. In-mould labelling and in-mould embossing are explained here for comparison only, because buyers meet them in the market and should know what they involve. We do not offer them.

Screen printing

Ink is pushed through a fine mesh by a squeegee; a stencil on the mesh blocks every area except the image. For a round container, the tub turns under the screen as the stroke passes, which is how a cylindrical container screen printer patent describes it: the screen moves across while the container rotates on its fixture, driven by the squeegee's contact through the mesh.

Shapes. Cylindrical and tapered sides, and flat lids. A square tub is printed face by face, so a wraparound design on it is really four prints.

Colours. One screen and one pass per colour, each registered to the last on a curved surface. It is strongest with one or two bold colours: a logo, a shop name, a phone number. Do a thumbnail and tape test on the samples.

What slows a new design. A screen per colour. Changing the phone number means a new screen.

Dry offset printing

Dry offset is the tub and cup printer's workhorse. A study from the Department of Printing Technology at Guru Jambheshwar University, Hisar, describes it as combining letterpress and offset: each colour sits on its own raised plate, all the plates ink one shared rubber blanket, and the blanket prints every colour onto the container in a single pass. "Dry" means no water is used on the plate, unlike conventional offset.

Shapes. The study lists dairy tubs, cups and lids among its main uses, and injection-moulded round, straight and conical containers among the shapes printed.

Colours. Machines in the study ran six to ten colours. Because every colour lands on one blanket, artwork is usually separated into spot colours rather than printed as standard four-colour process, and the authors note that printers often use six or seven colours to reproduce a job that would be four-colour on paper. Pantone references matter more here than anywhere else.

What slows a new design. A plate per colour and the separation work behind it. Once plates exist, repeat runs are straightforward. Check rub resistance on a sample that has been through your own chiller.

Shrink sleeves

A shrink sleeve is printed film formed into a tube, slipped over the container and shrunk tight with heat. A Cryovac patent on shrink sleeve labels sets out the sequence: the flat film is seamed into a tube, printed on the inside so the graphics are protected, placed around the item, and passed through a steam or hot-air tunnel so it shrinks to the shape it surrounds.

Shapes. Almost any body shape, including square and oval, because the film follows the contours. That makes sleeves the practical way to put the same artwork on a sweet box and a square dairy tub.

Colours. Full colour, including photographs and gradients.

Look and durability. Reverse printing puts the ink behind the film, so scuffing in a delivery bag marks the film, not the artwork. A sleeve that runs over the join between lid and base also shows when a pack has been opened.

What slows a new design. The sleeve film is printed and cut for one container's dimensions. A new container size, or new artwork, means new film.

Recycling note. The US-based Association of Plastic Recyclers advises that on PP containers of 550 ml or less, labels should cover no more than 55% of the side wall and shoulder, and no more than 75% on larger containers, because high coverage can stop sorting machines identifying the polymer underneath. That is design guidance for its own recycling system, not an Indian rule, but it is worth weighing before specifying a full-body sleeve on a 250 ml tub.

Pressure-sensitive labels

A self-adhesive label applied after moulding. It is the lowest-commitment option: the container stays plain stock, and only the label changes between products or batches.

Shapes. Flat panels and simple single curves. Tight tapers and compound curves wrinkle a flat label.

Look and durability. Condensation is the test. A chilled tub that sweats when it leaves the fridge will lift a label whose adhesive was chosen for dry shelves. FSSAI's labelling regulations require that a label on pre-packaged food be applied so that it will not become separated from the container, so ask your label printer for an adhesive rated for your storage temperature and test it in your own cold room.

In-mould labelling (IML), explained for comparison

With IML, a printed plastic label is placed inside the mould cavity before the mould closes, and the molten plastic fuses with it. A label handling system patent from Rollquett describes the mechanics: labels are picked from a magazine, carried into the tool, held by static electricity and suction, and moulded into the surface layer of the part.

The label becomes part of the wall: smooth, full colour and hard to scuff off. But the moulding machine needs label-handling automation and the mould has to suit it, so IML is decided when tooling is planned, not when artwork is ready. Moti Multi Plast does not offer IML; if it is what your brand needs, ask any IML supplier which of their moulds are already equipped for it.

Embossing and debossing in the mould, explained for comparison

A logo cut into the mould comes out raised or recessed on every part, with no ink, so it never rubs off. The trade-offs: a mould insert or engraving per design, so it suits a mark you will keep for years; no colour, so on a clear part it reads as texture; and moulded declarations must be larger (see the next section). We do not offer embossing; it is described here so you can compare it fairly.

Printing mandatory declarations on the container

If your printed pack carries the label information itself rather than a separate sticker, the Food Safety and Standards (Labelling and Display) Regulations, 2020 set minimum letter heights by the area of the principal display panel. For a rectangular pack, that panel is taken as 40% of the height × width of the largest face; for a round or oval pack, 40% of height × average circumference.

Take the 500 ml square tamper-proof container at 100 × 100 × 75 mm: 40% of its largest face is far below 200 cm², so Table I sets 1 mm for printed text and 2 mm for moulded. Label contents must also be indelible and readily legible, and packages of not more than 100 cm² surface area may carry some declarations on the multi-unit pack instead. What a label must declare is listed in the tamper-proof dates box guide. The regulations are amended from time to time, so check the current compilation before printing.

The ink rules for food containers

Two lines in the Food Safety and Standards (Packaging) Regulations, 2018 govern printing on food packs: printing inks on food packages shall conform to IS 15495, and the printed surface of packaging material shall not come into direct contact with food.

IS 15495 is the BIS code of practice for printing ink for food packaging. The 2004 text lists substances excluded from ink formulations, asks printers to avoid set-off so the food-contact surface stays free of ink, and tells the print buyer to design packs so printing does not sit where it contacts food. The standard was revised in 2020 as IS 15495:2020; trade coverage reports that the revision added toluene, phthalates and titanium acetylacetonate to the exclusion list and capped combined heavy metals at 100 ppm.

What that means on a tub:

• Print the outside only. No artwork inside a lid or on an inner rim.
• Mind the stack. Nested tubs put the printed outside of one against the inside of the next, which is where set-off happens. Ask how printed stock is cured and packed before despatch.
• Ask for the paper trail. Ask which inks are used and for the ink maker's statement of conformity to IS 15495. The food grade guide covers the container itself.

Preparing artwork that prints first time

Most delays on a printed order are artwork delays. A press-ready file has:

1. Vector artwork. AI, EPS or print-ready PDF, not a JPEG of the logo. Sleeve photographs at full size and high resolution.
2. Fonts converted to outlines, or embedded in the PDF, so no typeface gets substituted.
3. Pantone references. Pantone's Formula Guide carries ink formulations for each spot colour, so printer and designer share one reference. Screen and dry offset print mixed spot colours, so a Pantone number beats a screen colour or CMYK value.
4. The print area for each surface. Ask for the drawing of the printable area on side and lid. A tapered side distorts straight artwork, so it may need curving.
5. Bleed where the design runs to an edge, mainly on sleeves and labels.
6. Mandatory text at legal size, checked against the chart above.
7. A signed proof, and for a new design a printed sample on the actual container. Check the FSSAI licence number and phone number twice; after approval, changes mean new screens, plates or film.

Which method for which pack

Questions buyers ask

Can I start plain and add printing later?

Yes. The container is the same part either way, so many brands begin with plain stock and a label, then move to a direct print or sleeve once the artwork has settled.

Which method survives the freezer best?

The ones that put the ink out of reach: a reverse-printed sleeve, or an in-mould label. A direct print can perform well too, but test any method on samples that have been through your own cold chain and condensation, not just a shelf.

Is a printed container still recyclable?

Ink and label choices matter. The recyclers' guidance cited above warns that inks used in direct printing can bleed and discolour PP during recycling, and that heavy label coverage affects sorting.

Ordering printed containers

Pick the container first, then the method, then prepare artwork to that container's print area. We keep a low MOQ on a first order, so a new brand can trial a printed design before committing to volume. Browse the sweet and dry-fruit containers, dairy and ice-cream containers or saree boxes, then send your logo and the part you want, and we will say which of screen printing, dry offset or a shrink sleeve suits it.