If you’ve been browsing our mylar bag range, you’ve probably noticed two different production methods on offer: direct printed and labelled. They look similar in the product photos, but the finish, turnaround and price all differ — and picking the right one depends on what you actually need the packaging to do. Here’s the honest breakdown.
What is a direct printed mylar bag?
With direct printing, your artwork is printed straight onto the pouch material itself in full CMYK+White colour, edge to edge. There’s no separate label stuck on afterwards — the design and the bag are one piece. That gives a genuinely premium, retail-ready finish with no sticker edge to peel, lift or fade over time. It’s the option most UK brands reach for when the packaging needs to look like a finished retail product straight off the shelf. See our Custom Direct Printed 3.5g Mylar Bags for an example.
What is a labelled mylar bag?
Labelled bags start as a plain, blank resealable mylar pouch, and your artwork is printed separately as a label and then applied to it. The pouch itself is identical in material and function to the direct-printed version — resealable, smell-proof, durable — the difference is purely in how the design gets onto it. Because applying a pre-printed label is a quicker process than direct-printing onto film, labelled bags are typically faster to produce and more budget-friendly. Our Custom 3.5g Mylar Bags (labelled), 7g and 28g sizes all use this method, as do our Ready-Made bag designs.
Direct print vs labelled: the quick comparison
Finish: Direct print gives an edge-to-edge, no-visible-seam finish. Labelled gives a clean, professional finish too, but with a visible label edge — usually unnoticeable unless you’re looking for it.
Turnaround: Labelled is generally faster, since applying a label is a quicker step than full direct printing.
Budget: Labelled is typically the more budget-friendly of the two.
Best for: Direct print suits flagship products and retail ranges where the packaging itself needs to carry the brand. Labelled suits high-volume runs, testing a new design before committing to direct print, or when turnaround matters more than an edge-to-edge finish.
Which should you choose?
If you’re launching a flagship product or building a retail range you’ll be reordering for a while, direct printing is worth the difference — it’s the finish that reads as ‘proper packaging’ rather than a sticker on a bag. If you need stock quickly, you’re working to a tighter budget, or you want to test a design before committing to a bigger direct-print run, labelled bags do the same job at a lower cost and faster turnaround. Both use the same resealable pouch underneath, so neither is a compromise on the packaging itself — it’s purely a question of finish, speed and budget.
Still not sure which fits your order? Get in touch and we’ll point you to the right option for your quantity and timeline.