Custom Printed Mylar Bags with Full Colour Digital or Plate Print

What makes a printed mylar bag different from a labelled one?

A printed mylar bag carries the design in the laminate. The artwork goes on the back of the clear outer PET film, then the foil or metallised layer and the PE sealing layer are bonded behind it. The customer touches smooth film, never ink.

A labelled bag is a plain pouch with a sticker. Labels work for a first batch of fifty, but they peel at the gusset, sit crooked when applied by hand and cover only part of the bag. Printed bags let the design run across the front, back and gusset without a join.

Both bags in our photos are printed this way: the stand up pouch with the cartoon monkeys and the striped sweet bags. If you need the lighter clear or kraft versions, the custom stand up pouches range covers those styles.

Which products and businesses use printed mylar bags?

Snack brands are the biggest group. Crisps, banana chips, popcorn and nut mixes all need a foil barrier against oxygen and light, and they sell on the shelf by the strength of the print. Sweet shops and confectionery makers come next, with bright designs on small zipper bags.

We also print for supplement brands, pet treat makers, bakeries selling biscuits by post and bath product makers who want a foil pouch with a pattern across it.

• Crisps, popcorn, banana chips and pork scratchings
• Gummies, fudge, bonbons and sherbet
• Protein bites, energy balls and jerky
• Freeze-dried fruit and sweets
• Dog treats and training biscuits
• Bath salts, bath tea and scrub powders

Digital or plate print: which should I choose?

Digital print is the usual choice for a first run or for several designs in one order. There are no plates to make, so five flavours at a few hundred bags each cost no more per bag than one flavour at the same total. Colours are close to the proof and photographs print well.

Plate print suits one design at higher volumes. Each colour needs its own plate, which adds a set-up cost, but the per-bag price drops as the run grows. Plate print also gives the most even solid colours and exact spot colour matches for brand guidelines.

Tell us your quantity and how many designs you have. We quote the method that costs you less and say so on the quote.

How does white under-print work on foil?

Foil and metallised films are silver. Print yellow straight onto silver and you get a dull gold. Print red and you get a muddy brown. A layer of white ink goes down first, and the colours print on top of that white, so they look the way they do on your screen.

Where you leave the white out, the foil shows through the colour and you get a metallic effect for free. The silver stripes on the sweet bags in our photo use exactly this trick. Mark those areas on your artwork as no white, or ask our designers to suggest where the effect would help.

Full silver bags with a one colour logo and no under-print are covered on our silver mylar bags with logo print page.

What size printed bag do I need for my fill weight?

Size follows the product's density, not just its weight. Popcorn at 100 g fills a bag that would hold 400 g of rice. Send us the product and we match a pouch to it, or check the stand up pouch sizes in the UK guide for the dimensions behind each weight.

Leave room above the fill line for the zipper and the top seal, usually 35 to 45 mm. Printed bags also need the artwork sized to the finished pouch, so changing size after the proof means a new layout. Settle the size first and the design second.

If you sell several weights of the same product, the usual pattern is one design scaled to two or three pouch sizes. Each size is its own print job, so tell us all the sizes on the first request.

Laminates, finishes and barrier

The standard build for printed mylar bags is PET / foil / PE, with a layer of aluminium foil that blocks light, oxygen and moisture. Metallised PET / PE replaces the foil with a thin metal coating on the PET, which costs less and bends without creasing but gives a lower barrier.

Finishes sit on the outside. Matte hides fingerprints and gives a paper-like look. Gloss makes colours brighter. Soft touch matte feels like suede and suits premium sweets and bath products. Spot gloss over matte lifts a logo or a product photo off the background.

Food-contact, high-barrier and compostable film options are available on request and confirmed on the quote. The guide to laminates and barrier films for pouches explains what each layer does.

Closures and extras on a printed bag

A press-to-close zipper with a tear notch is the standard closure for snacks and sweets. A slider zipper is easier for children and for bags over 500 g. Heat seal only, with no zipper, suits single-serve packs and sample sizes.

Hang holes above the zipper let the bag go on a peg hook in a corner shop. A round hole or a euroslot are both available on request. A window can be left in the print on bags where the product sells itself, though a printed bag usually relies on the artwork instead.

How do I prepare artwork for a printed mylar bag?

The steps below are what our designers do for you when you send a logo through Design Your Pouch. If you have your own designer, they cover the same ground with the dieline we supply.

1. Pick the bag size, so the dieline matches the finished pouch.
2. Place the design on the dieline with 3 mm of bleed past every edge.
3. Keep text and barcodes 8 mm inside the side seals and away from the zipper band.
4. Mark the areas that should have no white under-print for a metallic effect.
5. Set the file to CMYK, with spot colours named if plate print is being used.
6. Export a PDF with the dieline on its own layer and send it for a free proof.

What goes wrong with printed bag orders?

The most common problem is a design signed off on screen without reading the proof carefully. A missing allergen line or an old phone number costs a reprint. Read every word on the proof, not just the picture.

The second is dark, heavy ink coverage on a gloss finish, which shows every fingerprint. Choose matte or soft touch matte for dark designs.

The third is expecting an exact screen match for a colour. Screens are backlit and bags are not. For a critical brand colour, ask for plate print with a named spot colour. The matte black pouches with logo print page shows how a dark bag can be kept simple.

How do I order printed mylar bags?

Send your artwork or logo, the product, the fill weight and the quantity. Quantities are quoted per order, from £0.25 per unit, and your written quote states the figure with the print method we recommend.

Nothing is printed until you approve a free design proof. After that, production takes 4–6 business days, then free tracked delivery reaches any UK address in 2–3 business days.

Misprints or damage reported within 10 days with photos are reprinted or refunded. The quote form for custom printed pouches takes files up to 3 MB, or send larger artwork by email.