Overprintable Polyester Labels · Overprintable rolls
The film costs less than the paper here
The short answer: a white polyester printed by us in full colour, with an area left bare for your own overprint — and at £148 per 100 it is cheaper than the thermal paper at £157. It survives water, wash-down and handling that a paper label does not, and it is offered in 23 sizes, more than any other stock in the catalogue.
Any shape within this size — rectangle, round, oval or custom die-cut.
VAT invoice · card or bank transfer · proof before production · ±5 % quantity tolerance
- Printing
- 1 option
- Protection
- 1 option
- Adhesives
- 1
- Sizes
- 23 formats
- Smallest
- 35 × 30 mm
- Largest
- 150 × 220 mm
- Quantities
- 100 → 10 000, more quoted
- Variable data
- quoted on request
Printed from £148 per 100. Production 2 to 10 working days after proof approval.
The one thing worth knowing
A waterproof film, ten euros under the paper
The reflex is to treat film as the expensive option. On overprintable rolls it is not: this white polyester is £148 per 100 against £157 for the protected thermal paper, and at the most ordered size £163 against £187. The paper carries a thermal coating; the film does not need one.
What changes is your printer. Thermal paper darkens under a bare print head; a film has to be marked with a ribbon, and a resin one if the label is going anywhere wet. If your machine has no ribbon, the film is not an option however attractive its price — take the thermal paper.
- Polyester, from
- £148 / 100
- Thermal paper, from
- £157 / 100
- Up to 55 × 70 mm
- £163 · £187
- Your printer
- transfer + resin · direct thermal
- Water
- immersion · splash only
Why it is worth the ribbon
Three places a thermal paper gives up
Wash-down
A workshop or a food plant hosed at the end of the shift. The paper swells and lifts; the polyester and its reinforced adhesive stay where they were put.
Heat and friction
A thermal paper darkens with heat — that is how it works — so a warm surface or a hot store greys the whole label. The film is indifferent to both.
Time
Thermal prints fade in months under light and handling. A resin print on polyester is still legible when the equipment it identifies is replaced.
The reinforced adhesive is standard on this stock: it grabs powder-coated metal, textured plastic and slightly oily surfaces where a permanent one only touches the high points.
The panel
Bare on a film means bare, and it shows
The rule is the same as on paper — no varnish and no lamination over the free area — but the consequence is more visible here. A polyester would normally take a gloss lamination; on an overprintable roll it cannot, so the whole label ships unprotected and the printed part is a little more matt than a laminated one. That is the trade, and it is worth stating before the proof rather than after.
Twenty-three size bands are available on this stock, from a 35 × 30 mm strip up to 150 × 220 mm — the widest choice in the catalogue, and by some way the largest overprintable label we make. It is the one route that takes an A5 carrier label with a bare panel on it, which matters when the panel has to hold a barcode and the design has to hold a logo.
- We print
- full colour design
- You print
- transfer + resin ribbon
- Protection
- none — panel must stay bare
- Adhesive
- reinforced
- Sizes
- 23 bands, up to 150 × 220 mm
- Quantities
- 100 → 10 000, more quoted
- From
- £148 / 100
Price by quantity
What a run actually costs
Up to 55 × 70 mm, full colour, unprotected — die, setup and printing included.
| Quantity | Run price | Per label |
|---|---|---|
| 100 | £163 | £1.63 |
| 200 | £169 | £0.85 |
| 300 | £175 | £0.58 |
| 500 | £181 | £0.36 |
| 1 000 | £209 | £0.21 |
| 1 500 | £229 | £0.15 |
| 2 000 | £257 | £0.13 |
| 3 000 | £302 | £0.10 |
| 5 000 | £407 | £0.081 |
| 10 000 | £670 | £0.067 |
Excluding VAT and delivery. Other sizes, finishes and quantities are priced in the configurator above.
FAQ
Overprintable polyester — what customers ask us
Can I use a direct thermal printer on this film?
No. Direct thermal needs a heat-sensitive coating and films have none: the label comes out blank. Polyester requires a thermal transfer printer with a ribbon — resin if the label meets water, alcohol or abrasion. With a ribbonless machine, take the overprintable paper instead.
Why is the film cheaper than the paper?
Because the thermal paper carries a heat-sensitive coating and a protective top coat, and this white polyester is a plain film printed in four colours. £148 against £157 per hundred, and £163 against £187 at the most ordered size. The cost moves to your side: you have to buy ribbons.
Can the label be laminated outside the panel?
Not in the online configurator. On this route the roll ships unprotected, panel and design alike, which keeps the print head free and the price where it is. A laminated polyester with a reserved bare window is produced on request — ask us and we quote it.
What adhesive comes on it?
Reinforced, as standard. It is the adhesive made for industrial surfaces: powder coating, textured plastic, cold or slightly oily metal. A permanent or removable version of this film is quoted rather than configured — tell us the surface and we will say which one holds.
How many sizes are there really?
Twenty-three bands on this stock, from 35 × 30 mm up to 150 × 220 mm, against sixteen bands and a 100 × 105 mm ceiling on the other two. Every band is free shape — rectangle, round, oval or custom die-cut — so you choose a maximum size rather than a fixed outline.
Waterproof, printed in colour, and still yours to date.
From £148 per 100 — ten euros under the thermal paper.